The Miser's Dream: (An Eli Marks Mystery Book 3) (The Eli Marks Mysteries) by John Gaspard

Author:John Gaspard [Gaspard, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert's Bridge Books
Published: 2019-07-21T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“Mr. Marks, welcome to BuyMax. Have you been offered a beverage?”

Sherry Lisbon asked the question in such a manner that it came out more like a potential accusation against her assistant than a warm, hospitable offer directed toward me. I'll say this for her, she knew how to establish an immediate tone for a meeting.

As a corporate magician, I’ve met my share of CEOs and you can set your comic bungling stereotypes aside; the ones I’ve met have been dynamic, magnetic and surprisingly sharp. Their focus may be on the bottom line, but most have known how to carry a conversation and how to win over a room. Some have even been remarkably warm and funny.

This last was not the case with Sherry Lisbon, the CEO of BuyMax. The snowy and icy view through her large office windows was warmer than the hand which shook mine. Her steel blue eyes were colder than the skating rink visible through the window on what must have been a corporate-built manmade pond.

Her well-coiffed hair was so blonde it might have been white, but that could have been a trick of the light. She wore a tailored skirt and coat combination which was accessorized with a variety of bracelets and rings emblazoned with stones of various colors. Around her neck was a simple gold necklace, which she touched unconsciously after shaking my hand, perhaps reassuring herself I hadn’t lifted it in some well-practiced pickpocket move.

Of the four possible suspects I had met, Sherry Lisbon was the biggest puzzle and that was clearly by design. Clifford Thomas was a flat-out local celebrity and Randall Glendower was an Internet sensation, so research on those two--if I had needed it, which I hadn't--would be deep and plentiful.

Chip Cavanaugh's presence on the Internet was less pervasive. The Cavanaugh Bank empire was publicly owned (albeit a huge percentage of the company was still owned by the family), and so finding out about him had been a relative ease. In fact, I had been able to accomplish it with my phone while parked in a visitor spot outside his downtown condo.

Sherry Lisbon was something else altogether. BuyMax was a privately held company and a little digging on my part demonstrated just how private it was. The company website was designed to sell products of all shapes and sizes and make that process easy; it also seemed designed to tell you as little about the company and its owner as possible. Mission accomplished, I had decided that morning, after spending two fruitless hours trying to get a sense of my next and final interview subject.

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