“This place is super, isn’t it?” Carla said, excitedly.
“It surely is,” Merlene answered.
I almost answered too until I caught myself.
“Lucille, I so wish that you could see this place,” Carla said. And she went on and on about what I had already seen.
“Thanks, Carla. Based on what you described, I can certainly imagine it,” I assured her.
There were at least six tennis courts and three of them were occupied. I recognized Michal Wondorff right away drinking water at a side stand where a large cooler was at. He was in his early sixties, but had the physique of a thirty-year-old athlete. I’d heard he was a vegetarian and had always been very active throughout his life. His discipline to his health had surely rewarded him in his old age.
“That’s him over there on the court!” Carla loudly whispered. “OMG! What do I say again when the time comes?”
I could sense she was starting to get cold feet. Maybe the sight of the powerful man was the culprit.
“You know what to say, Carla,” Merlene replied. “We went over this a hundred times already.”
“Carla…just relax.” I gently squeezed her hand. “Don’t be afraid; you can do this. Remember, you’re just fishing for information the way you do best. You’re a professional at this. Otherwise, you would’ve never been able to tell me all those shocking stories about our neighbors. Use your talent, okay?”
She quickly nodded. “Okay, Lucille. Okay.”
Merlene pretended to guide me over to the nearby bleachers while Carla jovially approached Mister Billionaire on the tennis court. She tried to jog a little to give the impression that she was in tiptop shape.
Guess it didn’t fool him one bit, since the moment she’d approached him calling his name, he looked at her with amazement.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Hi. I’m Carla Walkes. I’m your midday opponent!” She smiled, stretching her hand.
With a baffling expression on his face, he shook her hand.
“Hi. Nice to meet you, Carla. So…you play tennis?” He rested the empty water bottle on the side table, seemingly unsure of what to do with himself.
“I certainly do! Used to play it in my yard when I was a kid—specifically on our front porch.”
“Have you played it since—as an adult?”
“Oh…here and there, but I’m really good at it.” She smiled widely.
“I’m sure you are.” He picked up his tennis racket and invited her to grab hers from the bench. “So, what makes you want to challenge me to a game?”
She promptly retrieved her racket. “A good friend of mine used to love the game of tennis and she told me how much you loved it too. She said you were always open to challenges and since I like a challenge myself, I said what the heck—let me show Mister Wondorff that I can beat his socks off!”
He laughed. “You really think you can?”
“I know I can.” She adopted a more serious expression.
Carla was playing him like a fiddle and I was grinning inside as I observed how much of a natural she was at pretending—and all for a good cause.
“Let the games begin!” he sang.
It was clear that he’d gotten over his initial shock when it came to Carla and seemed instead to warm up to her personality.
“She’s doing good,” I told Merlene.
“Think so?” she replied, stoically.
“Sure, she is!”
The first game got underway and Carla was running all over the court trying to hit Wondorff’s ball. Not long after the game started, she was already huffing and puffing, nearly out of breath.
“I just know inside he’s laughing at her,” Merlene remarked. “The girl’s in no shape to be running up and down and it’s worse that she’s playing against this guy.”
“Don’t lose focus, Merlene. We’re not here to see her win a game. We knew from the onset she didn’t have the slightest chance.”
“Bumbling idiot!” she muttered.
“Now…now, Merlene. I keep telling you you’ve got to bury the hatchet. The girl’s trying to be nice to you, so the least you can do is try back.”
“Whatever.” She shook her head.
Carla actually made it to the end of the first match which was rather short in duration, considering she’d missed just about every ball Wondorff tossed her way. I must admit, she was getting a supreme workout though. If Brittany could’ve seen her right then, I’m sure she would’ve been proud.
“Are you sure you’re up for a second round?” Wondorff asked her at the refreshments table where Carla had gulped down two bottles of water back to back.
“Sure, I am. I’ve just gotta rest for a few minutes.” She hurried over to the nearest bench and he followed.
The tiny microphone Carla had attached to the underside of her collar was still intact, despite all the twisting and turning she’d been doing on the court. With our ear plugs on, we could hear their conversation clearly.
Wondorff was sipping on a bottle of water as he sat next to her, waiting for her to catch her breath.
“No rush,” he said. “My next match isn’t until two o’clock.”
Carla looked at him in sheer amazement, using the medium-sized white towel to dry the sweat from her face and neck. “How many matches do you play in a given day?” she asked.
“Oh…maybe six or seven.”
“What? That’s a lot! Don’t you have anything better to do with your life?”
He laughed heartily. “Carla, you are something else. Seriously…I just love the game of tennis. Always have. When I was a young man fresh out of college, I was determined to work really hard and do whatever I needed to do in order to be secure financially, so that I could work when I wanted to and play when I wanted to. Turns out, I like to play a lot and now I’m at the point where I can do so as much as I like.”
“Sounds good.” She nodded. “Remember that friend I told you about who told me all about your love for tennis?”
“Yep. I was gonna ask you who it was.” He took another sip of his water.
For a man who was so financially secure, he had the most pleasant smile and a seemingly humble demeanor. I didn’t get that impression at first though, especially when Carla had initially approached him.
“Her name was Glenda Risdal.”
Wondorff almost choked on that water. “Glenda?” He grimaced.
“I assume you knew her,” Carla said.
He twisted the cover on the bottle and held it in front of him. “Sure.” He sighed.
I was watching his every reaction like a hawk.
“I’d met her some years ago when I was working some crazy hours.”
“I see. Do you know she’s been murdered?” Carla asked.
For some reason, the guy seemed quite uncomfortable all of the sudden, evident by the way he was shifting on that bench.
“I heard. A terrible tragedy,” he replied.
“I agree. Glenda had so much life ahead of her. She absolutely loved life; you know?”
He didn’t respond.
“She’d told me quite a bit about you.”
“She did, huh? I’d imagine she didn’t have much good to say.”
Carla tossed the towel over her left shoulder. “No, she didn’t.”
He looked at her just then as if he’d had an epiphany. “Why are you really here, Carla—if that’s your real name?”
“Mister Wondorff…. Oh, Mister Wondorff—if that’s your real name—I came here to play an innocent game of tennis with you and with the hopes that you’d come clean about your involvement in Glenda’s death.”
She surely cut to the chase.
“My God! How dare you come here under the guise of challenging me to a game of tennis, to then turn around and accuse me of murder? You’ve really got some nerve, lady!” He sprung up off the bench.
“Yeah, I’ve got some nerve and so do you!” She stood up and faced him. “Glenda told me all abo
ut your affiliation with the mob and how you were involved in human trafficking. You went to any and all lengths to make those millions, didn’t you?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! I made my money the honest way.”
“And I weigh one hundred and twenty pounds,” Carla returned, sharply.
Wondorff glanced around, obviously realizing if he didn’t get the situation under control, he’d attract unwanted ears. By all accounts, he was a very private man.
“Let’s just sit down and chat like two grown adults. Shall we?” he said, rather calmly.
Carla sat down again and so did he.
“I’ll come clean with you.” He paused for a moment. “Many years ago, as I was trying to get established in the financial sector, I was approached by some unsavory characters to go in partnership with them in order to increase revenue in a short space of time. Obviously, the venture would’ve been mutually beneficial. I was much younger then and naive, to say the least. I made some bad choices which ultimately led to me being able to open my own bank and make some other lucrative investments. In the meanwhile, people suffered and I’ve since regretted all that and I’ve done my best to make up for it the best way I could.” He leaned forward. “Glenda had paid me a visit one day and told me she knew all about what I was doing and that she was going to give the police the evidence they needed to arrest me and throw away the key. She did say the said evidence was under lock and key and if she was ever killed, it would automatically be turned over to the cops. From the basis of our conversation, I knew she meant business and did the only thing I knew how to do.”
“And that was?” Carla was waiting.
“I struck a deal with her.”
“A deal? What kind of a deal?”
“Well, I’ve been depositing thirty thousand dollars to her offshore account every month for the past seven years. You do the math.”
Carla’s jaw dropped. “You’re lying to me. Glenda wouldn’t make a deal with the devil.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. How well do you know, Glenda?” he asked. “I have the proof which I will show you now.”
He went and retrieved his cell phone from the stand, then sat down again. Carla looked on as he showed her the said proof on his phone.
“This here is a statement for the past twelve months. You see the name on the Swiss account?”
Carla nodded. “Yeah. Glenda Risdal.”
“Look at the deposits and the dates,” he added.
“Thirty thousand. Thirty thousand. Thirty thousand,” she uttered in astonishment.
“So, now you see. I’ve kept up my end of the bargain and all along, she’d kept up hers. I had no reason to kill her.”
“But you did, Mister Wondorff,” Carla retorted. “Anyone would get tired of being milked for that kind of money just for them to keep their mouth shut. As far as I’m concerned, that’s even a greater motive for you to kill her.”
“You’re wrong. You’re forgetting the part about the evidence being sent to the cops if she was found murdered. I would not have had her killed not knowing where the evidence was. Believe me, thirty thousand a month is small change for me. It didn’t hurt my pocket in the slightest. I figured if that’s what it took to buy me more time to enjoy my freedom, I’d gladly pay it. I knew that Glenda could’ve double-crossed me any day, taken the money and after a while turned me in, but I just focused on the here and now. I’ve made my millions, have enjoyed my life for the most part and whenever the cancer in my body that I’ve been battling for the past six years decides it’s gonna finally kill me, I’ll be ready to go. I’ve made my peace with God. Now that Glenda’s dead, I expect law enforcement to pay me a visit any day since I have no idea if the evidence she threatened me with is in their possession. One thing I do know is that I didn’t have anything to do with her death. My conscience is clear as far as that’s concerned.”
“I see.” Carla stood up.
I sensed it was a lot for her to digest as it was for me.
“Well, I guess we can take a raincheck on the second game,” she said.
Wondorff stood as well. “I guess so.”
“Listen, I know by coming here and addressing you with this, I’ve put myself in danger.” Carla said bluntly, “But I’ll have you know that the evidence you’re worried about that Glenda had under lock and key—it’s been transferred over to me. So, don’t get any ideas.”
“I wonder if you listened to anything I said, Carla. If you did, you’d know you don’t have that to worry about,” he replied.
“I hear ya.” She nodded. “Anyway, if what you said is true about being sick and all, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
She gestured for me and Merlene to meet her at the entrance of the corridor and we all walked back to the Suburban together.
“You got all that?” she asked, after we’d all settled inside the vehicle.
“Every word,” I replied.
“Unbelievable.” Merlene sighed. “You actually saw those deposits he talked about?”
“Yep. They were all there just like he said.” She shrugged. “Glenda had bribed the guy, making a cool three hundred and sixty thousand per year. If she’d saved all the money over the past seven years, it means she was a millionaire and we didn’t even know!”
“I must confess, I’m really surprised by all of this. I need time to digest it,” I said.
“Guess that’s another question mark we’d have to add to another name on the shortlist,” Merlene remarked.
Carla pulled out of the parking space and away from the grounds of the country club. We said very little during the drive as the truth about our friend, Glenda, was seemingly coming to light more and more.
7
_________________
Two days later…
That Saturday morning, Anthony had cooked the most delicious blueberry pancakes I’d ever tasted. Luckily for Theodore, he was able to eat a couple before having to head out for work. He and his construction crew had a major job they were trying to complete before the end of the month, so the overtime pay was bound to be pretty good. I gave a little piece of one of my pancakes to Nilla, but she simply smelt it, then took off. I knew she wasn’t hungry since she was the first in our house to eat breakfast, but occasionally, I like to offer her a taste of what I’m eating once I know it’s safe for her.
Anthony had joined me at the dining room table and was skimming through the newspaper while eating his pancakes.
“Are you working today?” I asked him as I moved on to my hot chocolate. Anthony made the most delicious hot chocolate. As matter of fact, he made the most delicious everything. I had once suggested while he was still working at the computer company that he open his own restaurant since he was such a good cook, but he wasn’t very interested in the idea, although he claimed he loved to cook.
“Managing a restaurant’s a huge responsibility,” I recall him saying. “I really don’t need the stress.”
It’s not like he wasn’t getting enough stress already where he was at. Interior decorating was obviously where his passion was and once he was happy, I was too.
“Nope. No work today, Lucille.” He turned a page of the newspaper. “I’ve given myself today off. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
“So, what are your plans for today?” I asked.
“I’m gonna go to the mall and purchase a few outfits I’ve been eyeing for a while. Then later this evening, I’m going to the movies with Darla.”
“Who’s that?”
“Darla Wells—Randolph Wells’ daughter.”
“Oh! That’s great, Anthony! When will I get to meet this fine, young lady?”
“It’s way too early for that, Lucille! I barely know the woman. I have to see where this thing goes first—if it goes anywhere at all.”
“I understand.”
“You and Theodore are like family to me, so when I bring somewhere here, she’s got
ta be special and I have to know within my heart of hearts that we have a future together,” he explained.
I reached for his hand. “You’re a smart boy, Anthony.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “So…how’s your investigation into Glenda’s death going? Are you and the ladies making any headway?”
I’d told him and Theodore that Carla had joined the fold, which they found quite surprising knowing the tension that existed between her and Merlene.
“We’ve shortened our shortlist, but it seems like the more digging we do, the more Glenda becomes an enigma to me—to all of us. I thought I knew her so well, but it’s obvious I didn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Have you ever thought you knew someone so well that you could swear that there are certain things they would never do?”
“Yeah. Of course.” He nodded.
“Well, I’ll just say…in the past few days, I’ve learned more about Glenda than I thought there was to know.”
Really? What did you uncover?” he asked.
I put it in a nutshell for him.
“Crazy stuff!” He shook his head, slowly. “Seems to me like you’re finding out more about her life than who might’ve actually wanted her dead.”
“Exactly how I’m feeling,” I responded dismally.
He patted my hand. “Don’t worry, Lucille. I’m sure you will get to the bottom of things. Right now, this is only surface stuff that you have to sift through in order to get to the real deal.”
“You’re right. Thank you, Anthony.” I stood to my feet. “Now, I have to quickly get ready. Carla will be here at any minute.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the Amish community on the outskirts. Carla and I will pick up Merlene on the way.”
The Amish community?” He was baffled. “Why are y’all going there?”
“To pay one Aaron Yoder a visit,” I said. “Apparently, he was the culprit in a Ponzi scheme and ripped off dozens of people out of thousands of dollars.”
“You’re sure, Lucille? Aren’t Amish people pretty religious?”
Lucille Pfiffer Mystery Series (Books 4 - 6) Page 20