Page 60 of No Rules
“No, but get this. Jeffries had been about to sign a lucrative syndication deal with Lucky Lady’s Gamble when those accusations were filed and proven true. It cost him the deal.”
He’d had to look up what a syndication deal meant in the horse business, but it came down to a bunch of people being willing to pay a lot of money to own a part of that horse. If Lucky Lady’s Gamble had been successful, they would’ve easily made their money back.
Alex whistled. “That would’ve been worth millions.”
“Yep, but instead, he got sued for breach of contract and lost that case. That poor horse ended up retiring from racing, and Jeffries lost everything. From what I can tell, he’s drowning in financial problems.”
“That’s a plausible motive to go after Marilyn and get revenge.”
“The problem is that Jeffries had no horse racing in the Travers Stakes, so he wouldn’t have been allowed backstage. So how could he have gotten access to Sam’s Promise?”
Alex slowly nodded. “Good point. Marilyn would never have let him onto her farm.”
“Nope, and besides, Caleb analyzed all the security footage Marilyn gave us, and nothing suspicious turned up. If Jeffries had been at Marilyn’s farm, he would’ve shown up on the cams.” He studied the picture he’d found online. Jeffries was a balding man in his late fifties with pale blue eyes, a big nose, and a unibrow. He looked familiar, but Ryan couldn’t place him.
“So he would’ve needed someone else to administer the EPO. Someone with backstage access.”
“Yeah.”
Alex tapped a pen against his chin. “Nobody does anything for free, but if the guy was bankrupt after Marilyn’s complaint, how would he have been able to pay someone?”
“Good question. Maybe he paid in another way?”
“Did he still own any horses? He could’ve used those as payment.”
“Racehorses have ownership papers and everything. That would’ve left a trail all too easy to follow.”
They looked at each other, both frowning. “How would Jeffries have been able to get his hands on money?” Ryan wondered.
“Wait.” Alex put the pen he’d been holding down with force. “Betting. If he knew Sam’s Promise was going down in that race, he could’ve placed a bet and won big-time.”
Damn, that was smart thinking. “You’re right. He could’ve used that money to pay off his accomplice. So, how do we get proof he placed a winning bet? You dug into the whole betting angle. Explain to me how that works. Is it all in person?”
“No, you can also bet online.”
“He wouldn’t have shown his face there that day,” Ryan mused. “He would’ve wanted to stay as far away as possible and set up a solid alibi. So he would’ve bet online. Can you do that anonymously?”
“Somewhat, but they won’t pay out large amounts without identity verification ‘cause the IRS wants their share, so if he won, he would’ve had to prove his identity anyway.”
“There’s no way we could get those records.”
“No, but the cops could.”
Dammit, the kid was right. The cops would be able to get a warrant, providing they could establish probable cause. Ryan disliked that option, but he’d swallow his pride if that was what it took to solve the case and get justice for Sam’s Promise. “Has Baxter sent over those betting records yet?”
Alex shook his head. “But he said they’d have to black out the names, so that may take a day or two.”
“True. The problem is that we don’t have enough evidence against Jeffries yet to mention him to the cops. All we have is speculation. We need more.”
“What would we need?”
“His accomplice. We need to give them the name of the person who drugged the horse. They’ll be able to verify that, since they have access to the security footage. Once they have that, they’ll be able to get a warrant for Jeffries and get everything they need.”
“Okay.” Alex had a determined expression that made Ryan want to kiss his pretty, pouty lips. “So we find his accomplice.”
Ryan quirked an eyebrow. “And how do we do that?”
“It has to be someone with backstage access, so we do some research into Jeffries’s background and see who he’s associated with in the past. Security guards, stable hands, veterinary assistants, everyone. And then we dig into their backgrounds one by one until we find a connection and a motive.”