The elevator doors opened. Ray’s assistant, Aaron, was waiting for them. “Right this way.”

“What’s with the VIP treatment?” Sam asked.

“Ray asked us to fully cooperate with your investigation,” Aaron said. “That’s what we’re doing.”

“It’s very refreshing,” Sam said. “We don’t get a lot of cooperation in our line of work.”

Aaron knocked once and entered Ray’s office. He was seated at his conference table with Bob Minor. Sam was glad to see them both there, as she had questions for Minor too.

“Do you have news?” Ray asked, looking to his friend Hill. Ray had aged overnight and looked like he still hadn’t slept at all.

“No, but we have more questions,” Sam said.

“I have a question too—why did you arrest my general manager?”

“He wasn’t arrested. He was brought in for questioning.”

“Why?”

“There were some irregularities in his financial records that we needed to have explained.”

“What kind of irregularities?”

“The all-but-broke kind.”

“How is that possible?” Ray asked, incredulous. “He makes several million dollars a year.”

“That answers one of my questions.”

“When I went to speak with him yesterday,” Hill said, “I found his home all smashed up. He’d taken a baseball bat to anything that could be smashed. Why would he do that?”

“Other than losing the biggest game of his career due to an error by one of his highest-paid players?” Minor asked, his tone thick with sarcasm.

“Is it possible Collins wagered on the game?” Sam asked.

The two men exchanged glances. “I wouldn’t have any information about that,” Ray said.

“Me either,” Minor said. “If he bet on the game, he was risking his job and his career. That’s one quick way to get banned from the game for life.”

Sam knew there was more to the Collins story, but she wasn’t going to get anywhere on that here. “Let’s talk about Jamie Clark and her relationship with Willie.”

“What about it?” Ray asked, taken aback by the question.

“We’re told it was somewhat common knowledge around here that there was more to it than just a trainer-player relationship.”

Ray’s face slackened with shock. “Told by whom?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Hill said. “Was it common knowledge to you?”

“Not to me,” Ray said.

All eyes fell on Minor who squirmed and then wilted under the intense glare of the team owner.

“Did you know about this, Bob?” Ray asked.

“I suspected there was something going on,” Bob said haltingly. “They spent an awful lot of time together.”

Ray’s face got very red. “And you never said anything?”

“I didn’t think it was any of my business.”

“None of your business,” Ray said, astounded. “Like we’d need that kind of scandal with one of our marquee players, who is known for being a devoted family man?”