Keep Quiet(73)
Detective Zwerling blinked. “How typical is it that a client doesn’t tell you how much money he has?”
“Very typical.”
“How so?”
“Clients like him, who aren’t referred to us by an accountant, estates lawyer, or a banker, aren’t well-versed in what we do. Like Detective Woo.” Jake gestured casually at the younger man. “Not everybody in that situation wants to disclose their assets. They’re concerned about confidentiality. They don’t understand, or really trust, that all of their financial information is confidential. We’re very careful about that here.”
Detective Zwerling made another note, then looked up at Jake, cocking his head. “Did Mr. Voloshin tell you where he worked as a freelancer?”
“No.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you his salary or anything about his finances?”
“No.”
“Again, you didn’t ask?”
“No. I don’t want to come off as prying, too early in the relationship. I never begin a relationship with a new client by asking them about their assets, because as I say, they regard it as prying. I give them my sales pitch and explain how we can tailor their portfolio to meet their investment goals.” Jake gestured at Detective Woo again. “As I told you, the truth is, it doesn’t matter how much money someone may have. I know I can grow it over time, no matter how much it is, and that’s the point I make at the outset.”
Detective Zwerling didn’t seem impressed. “Did he tell you where he kept his money? What his bank was?”
“No.”
“You didn’t ask him that either?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Same deal.”
Detective Zwerling lifted an unruly eyebrow. “Let me get this straight. When you talked to Mr. Voloshin, you had no idea if he even had the money to invest?”
“Yes that’s right.” Jake stole a glance at the credenza clock—10:54. He began to sweat under his starched shirt.
“How do you know he wasn’t wasting your time?”
“I don’t, but most people don’t come in if they don’t have the money or close to it. In any event, I think long-term. They may not have it now, but they could someday.”
“Did Voloshin seem wealthy, to you?”
“I never make an assumption about how much money anyone has by their appearance or their manner. My assistant Amy calls it paydar, and my paydar is terrible.” Jake smiled when Detective Woo did, though Detective Zwerling didn’t. “Mr. Voloshin wasn’t an ostentatious man, but I know from experience that someone like that could have a fortune socked away, or they could be a waiter.”
Detective Zwerling frowned again. “You mean a waiter, like in a restaurant?”
“No,” Jake answered, grasping for purchase on the terra firma of shop talk. “In my profession, a waiter is somebody who’s waiting for an inheritance. They live on the interest of trusts during most of their adult life and many of them live very frugally. They tend to look and act like Mr. Voloshin.”
Detective Woo clapped his hands together, smiling. “You mean they’re waiting for their parents to die? Oh, that’s cold.”
Jake flushed. The clock read 10:56. “I didn’t make up the term. We all use it. I guess it is harsh.”
“Waiters!” Detective Woo laughed.
“Enough, Richie.” Detective Zwerling pursed his lips. “To get back on track, Jake, did Voloshin tell you that he expected to be coming into money?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Did he ask you about setting up an offshore account for him?”
“No, he didn’t. In point of fact, we’re not a bank, so we don’t set up any bank accounts, offshore or otherwise. We’re an investment company and we invest our clients’ money in stocks, bonds, and the like.”
Detective Zwerling hesitated. “We did find evidence that would suggest Voloshin had set up an offshore account, himself. We’re trying to understand where the money to fund it would be coming from. Do you have any information about where Voloshin was getting the money?”
“No.”
“None at all?”
“None.”
“Where do your clients usually get money from?”
“What about inheritance?” Jake shrugged, casually.
“Don’t think so. He has a mother and we notified her as NOK, or next-of-kin. But she’s upstate in a nursing facility, with insurance footing the bills. Did he mention anything to you about a girlfriend?”
“No.”
Detective Zwerling frowned. “He didn’t mention a girlfriend?”
“No.” Jake wondered if Voloshin had a girlfriend, because the detective’s tone sounded surprised.
“There was no talk of providing for anyone?”
“No, no beneficiary or anything like that.”
“Didn’t you think that was strange, since he had told you he had a son, and an ex-wife?”
“No, because as I say, he didn’t give me much information at all. He played it close to the vest, and I pitched him.”
Detective Zwerling pursed his lips as he took notes. “So he didn’t say anything to you about a woman.”