Chapter 26
“I’d like to speak with Dennis Friedman, please.” Harlan sat in a small conference room on the second floor of the resort. He needed privacy and this was the best place.
Kian was with Storm back at the room. She had wanted to at least sit by the pool, instead of pacing like a caged animal all morning, but he couldn’t give in to that request. Too many people came and went. Neither he nor Kian would be able to watch all entrances with any real effect. She had been unhappy with him. He promised to make it up to her in other ways.
A fancy chandelier hung above the wood conference table. Beige walls outlined with molding stretched to the twelve-foot ceilings. One of the walls could be opened to make the room bigger for another event. From the wall-to-wall carpet in swirls of gold and black, along with the walls and lighting, he guessed this room was better suited for those special occasions that required a suit and tie.
“Hold for Mr. Friedman, please.” A pleasant female voice put him on hold.
An instrumental version of a song from high school played on the other end of the phone. When did the music he listened to at parties become the soundtrack for holding on a call?
“Hello, this is Dennis Friedman. How may I help you?” His voice was deep and scratchy as if he played it over and over on repeat.
“Mr. Friedman, my name is Harlan Fender. I’m a former Navy SEAL and I’m assisting in the investigation of Storm Richard’s recent attack.” He didn’t like to lead with the SEAL piece, but many men were impressed with the rank and would be willing to listen to what he had to say, versus when without it, they would be more likely to say nothing.
“A SEAL? My nephew is in the Navy. Wants to train to be a SEAL. I don’t think he has the constitution for such a difficult job. Calls his mother too often.”
“I see. Sir, I’d like to ask you a few questions.” He ignored Dennis Friedman’s comment about his nephew. If he engaged, the man would probably ask for a recommendation or pointers. Neither of which Harlan could provide.
“Why is a Navy SEAL involved in helping Storm with anything?”
“I was recently assigned the task by a commanding officer involved in assisting Storm while she’s in his jurisdiction.” Close enough to the truth and important enough sounding. Dennis would not question him.
“Actually, I have a meeting in five minutes. You’ll have to make your questions quick.”
“Will do. The night that Storm was sick at work, what did you see happen?”
He preferred to have this conversation in person so he could watch Friedman’s behavior, but there was no way to do that in a timely manner. He also doubted Friedman would have taken a video call from a complete stranger.
“Oh, that was what… a week… maybe a week and a half ago? Let me think.” Friedman paused.
Friedman was stalling. Harlan would let him take a minute or two and allow him to believe he was in control of the conversation.
“I saw the door open and the light on in Storm’s office. I was at the school for something, but I don’t remember specifically. It was most likely a meeting with one of my directors. My office is down the hall. I went in to see if someone had forgotten to shut off the lights. It was unusual for her lights to be on at that hour. That’s when I heard Storm vomiting in her bathroom. I rushed in to help her.”
“Wasn’t it Storm’s habit to work late?” Storm and Robin had made mention of Storm’s work habits. It would stand to reason someone like Dennis Friedman would be aware as well.
“Oh. I suppose so. I guess I thought it was later than it actually was. I didn’t check the time before entering the office.”
“Did you see anyone who didn’t belong near her office?”
“Mr. Fender, this is a college. There are people walking around all the time. I don’t know every employee or student. Parents have been known to wander into the president’s office. We also have a cleaning staff that’s quite extensive.”
“But at that hour, Mr. Friedman, would there really be students or parents around an administration building?” Storm had explained the layout of the campus to him this morning. The president’s office as well as the vice presidents’ and several other administration departments were all housed in the same building.
Dennis hesitated. “No, I suppose not, but it could happen. I wouldn’t know if someone belonged there or not without asking them for identification. That’s not my responsibility unless I saw foul play of some kind. Even then I’d be inclined to notify campus police.”
“What about the food that Storm ate? Did you happen to notice it?”
“I didn’t pay attention. I went straight into her bathroom and tried to help her. She was retching something terrible. I fetched her some water and a towel. I offered to take her to the hospital. She refused and insisted she was poisoned and wanted to go to the police, the town police. She said she couldn’t trust the campus police at that point.”
“What were your thoughts when she said she was poisoned?”
“Well, between you and me, I thought she was mad. Who would poison her? Preposterous.”
“Why do you believe that?” Harlan checked the time on his phone. Dennis must have more than those five minutes he warned about.
“She’s been under a lot of stress lately. We’ve had some problems on campus with hazing and cheating. We had a professor fired recently, and then she sued us. Donations are down. I know because that’s my area. Storm and I have met several times to discuss options on how to increase funding. If she doesn’t get the funding up, the board could sack her.”
Storm also explained to him that Dennis Friedman was the vice president in charge of the fundraising departments. He had four directors reporting to him, all of whom collected funds in different forms.
“If I may, sir, when the fundraiser dollars are low and causing concern for the board of trustees, would your job be at risk as well?”
“Did Storm tell you that?” Dennis’ voice held a note of indignation. Harlan couldn’t help but smile to himself.
“Could you answer the question, please, sir?”
“If I’ve proven that I have done all I can to collect monies for the college, in the end it comes down to Storm to find the money from the high donors. Those donors prefer to speak with Storm or attend our galas instead of receiving phone calls from my staff asking for donations.”
“What does Storm need you for then?” The question was designed to poke a little at Dennis and see what he might give way with.
“I’ll have you know, my position is very important in higher education. I have a staff of thirty people, all working to raise funds for things like building advancement. A college can’t compete if its technology and infrastructure are behind the times. Students want the latest and greatest of everything and that costs money.”
“But you just said the high donors prefer Storm. You seem to be just middle management. You know, the guy who makes sure the time cards get punched.”
“I don’t have any more time for this ridiculous phone call,” Dennis said with a huff.
“I just have one more question.”
“Hurry it up.”
“Did you poison Storm Richards?”
Dennis ended the call.