by Cindy Bell
“You said that he and Joel were friends didn't you?” Samantha asked. She tossed some of the seeds down onto the grass. Various birds swooped down swiftly to snatch them up.
“They were friends I suppose. I don't know but something about it just makes me uneasy.” He watched the birds who were making quite a commotion with their flapping wings as they fought over the seed. Always the peacemaker, Samantha tossed more seed to them.
“What are you thinking?” Samantha laughed a little. “That he could have killed Joel? How exactly did he physically manage to climb through the window and hit Joel from behind?”
“Maybe he hired someone,” Eddy reached into the bag of seed and grabbed a handful to toss out onto the grass.
“That's possible,” Samantha acknowledged.
“It is possible, but unlikely,” Eddy said thoughtfully. “It looked like a crime of passion not a professional hit. Unless the murderer made it look like that deliberately.”
“But why would Abe want Joel dead? Maybe there's some bad blood between them?” Samantha held the bag steady as Eddy's rough, thick fingers dug through the seed.
“Maybe,” Eddy said thoughtfully. “I also think it’s possible that Joel and Abe were involved in something together and Abe is worried that he might be the next victim.”
“Like what?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t know, but I think we should look into Abe’s history, just to quieten my concerns.” Eddy spread the seed out across the grass before him. He snapped at one of the larger birds, “Quit being a bully.”
Samantha smiled secretively at his soft nature. It wasn't something he revealed too often, but when he did, she felt she was getting a glimpse of the real Eddy beyond the mask he wore.
“I trust your instincts, Eddy. If you think there is something there we should look into it,” Samantha agreed. “I had a run in with Tommy. I really think he has a stake in all of this. I wouldn't put it past him to have killed Joel in a fit of rage,” she said with disgust. “I didn't get much information from Ruby in the office, but she hinted that some of the residents have had problems with Tommy. If he has an anger problem he might have flown into a rage.”
“Maybe.” Eddy sighed. He watched the birds fly away. “Do you ever get a feeling about people, Samantha? As if you know something for certain, with no proof of it?”
“Of course. But I've learned I can't rely on that. A hunch is only a hunch until I have some evidence to back it up.” She smiled at him. “I learned that from you.”
Eddy smiled a little in return. “I guess we've both taught each other a few things.”
“I guess you're right. I'm going to check into Abe's background. Something just doesn't feel right about him.”
“Let me know if there is anything I can do. I have a few errands to run but I'll have my cell on me.” She closed the bag of birdseed and tucked it under her arm.
“Thanks for the talk.” Eddy turned and walked off along the water.
Samantha headed back into her villa. As she was stepping through her side door she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She almost felt as if she was being watched. She scanned the water, but didn't see anyone looking in her direction. With a frown she pulled the door closed firmly behind her.
Chapter Five
Walt settled down in front of his computer. Soft jazz surrounded him as he began to search through Joel's history. He was certain that he would find an explanation for his murder hidden somewhere in his financial history. He had yet to come across a person whose secrets couldn't be revealed by following the money trail they left behind.
As he delved into Joel's history he was surprised at how much information was available to him. Joel was quite a prolific businessman with many of his business ventures documented. He found nothing too out of the ordinary at first. Joel had graduated high in his class in high school and gone on to do well in college. He majored in business and did an apprenticeship with a large corporation right out of college. He was certainly on the path to success. However, Joel seemed to also have luxurious tastes. Not long after he started working and obviously making a reasonable income he was pictured in an article with a particularly expensive watch on his wrist stepping out of a particularly expensive car.
He purchased a home before he was twenty-five and married not long after. The first marriage had failed, but his business success continued. Despite settling a divorce Joel's credit was flawless. By the time he ended up in Sage Gardens he had bought and sold many homes for profit. He had also started several businesses. It was this aspect of Joel's history that Walt began to focus in on. There were many complaints against Joel from business partners and investors.
“That’s suspicious,” he muttered as he began to notice a pattern of Joel quietly closing or selling off businesses just before their value plummeted. He seemed to know exactly when to get out of a situation. Not only that, he had a flock of investors for each business. He rarely had to risk any of his own capital. His investors were the ones who lost their money.
“Joel, Joel, Joel.” Walt shook his head slowly back and forth. “You were a naughty boy.”
Walt frowned as he went over the public financial reports of Joel's most recent business once more. He had become so cocky in his ability to make money without investing money that he had begun working in larger amounts. The business he had recently shut down had several investors, each of whom had lost tens of thousands of dollars. That wasn't a small chunk of change to have ripped from your pocket. Joel was so charismatic that it appeared to Walt that his videos and seminars seemed to draw everyone in who saw them. Walt cringed as he realized that a couple of the investors were even residents of Sage Gardens. There was nothing to explain what Joel had done with the money, other than his attempt at fudging the numbers. Walt could see right through that. Joel hadn't deposited most of the investments into the business accounts. The money hadn't been lost to the cost of business as he claimed. Walt presumed that more than likely he had kept it for himself.
“He was running a scheme,” Walt said to himself. “That means there is going to be a very long list of people who might be out for revenge.” Walt began to look at the complaints of the people who had invested in Joel's business. There were quite a few heartbreaking stories. Some people had lost their savings, while others had lost their homes and businesses. There wasn't a success story out of any of them, aside from Joel himself.
Joel was clever enough to duck the authorities, but that luck would have run out eventually. Instead, Joel had paid the ultimate price. The question was, did he die because of the people he cheated or was the motive something else entirely? All Walt had to work with at the moment was a list of clients who had been wronged, as well as Joel's own incriminating financial history. He thought that would be enough to take to Eddy and Samantha. They might be able to figure out more with their own contacts.
***
After running her errands Samantha returned to her villa. Her mind had been on Anna while she was out. She purchased her a sympathy card and some flowers, but then she felt strange about giving them to her. Knowing how Joel died, could a card and flowers really do anything to ease the pain that Anna was experiencing? She didn't think so. It seemed more like an empty gesture to her.
As Samantha unlocked the door to her villa she felt the same uneasy sensation that she had earlier in the day. She set her purse down on the counter. She looked towards her kitchen window. She was certain that she hadn't left it open, and yet it was open. She shivered a little as the cool evening air wafted into the room.
It occurred to her that someone might be in the villa with her. It was possible that she had opened the window earlier and just forgotten about it. She had done silly things like that before. She knew that she was probably just being paranoid after learning about the murder, but she wasn't willing to risk it. She flipped the kitchen light on. She took a deep breath and did her best to be intimidating.
“If there is someone in h
ere, you better get out now!” Samantha growled. From the kitchen drawer she pulled out her largest knife. She wasn't about to be taken by surprise. Then she began to make her way through her villa. She checked the bathroom, and the closet. Then she walked into the bedroom. She looked in the closet. Then she jerked up the bed skirt and looked under the bed. When she was sure there was no one in the villa, she sighed with relief.
“You're just being silly, Samantha.” She shook her head at her own paranoia. She returned to the kitchen to put the knife away and close the window. She slid the knife back into the drawer. Then she reached up to close the window. When she did she caught sight of a pair of eyes staring back at her. She yelped at the sight and jumped backwards across the kitchen floor.
“Samantha! I'm sorry, are you okay?” Jo asked from outside the window.
“Jo!” Samantha gasped out her friend's name. “What are you doing lurking outside the window?”
“I knocked on the door just before and you weren't home, but I had noticed that your window was open so I was going to close it. It's not safe to have it open when you’re not home.”
Samantha tried to catch her breath. Her heart was still pounding with fear.
“I know it isn't. Come on in.” She reached out and pushed the window closed. Then she opened the side door for Jo. Jo stepped inside with a concerned frown.
“I'm sorry for scaring you.”
“It's not your fault. I scared myself.” Samantha pulled out one of the chairs at the table and sat down. Jo followed suit. “I swear I didn't leave that window open. I never leave my windows open when I leave the house.”
“Well, maybe with all of the sirens and excitement you were just distracted?” Jo suggested.
“Maybe,” Samantha said dubiously. “It just creeped me out, since Joel's window was left open.”
“Did you check the house?” Jo asked.
“Yes. That's what I was doing when you showed up. I just can't believe I freaked myself out so much. I guess the case got to me.” Samantha sighed. “Do you want anything to drink?”
“I'll take some water, thank you. Actually, that was why I came by. I wanted to see if you had any update on the situation.”
“Not really. Walt was looking into Joel's business and financial history, but I haven't heard from him yet. I can tell you though that Eddy is pretty upset by all of this.” Samantha poured Jo a glass of water and handed it to her.
“Eddy? Upset?” Jo looked surprised. “That doesn't seem like him.”
“It's not so much that he's upset, I think it's more that he doesn't know what to make of it. It seems to bother him when he can't figure things out.” Samantha laughed.
“I could agree with that.” Jo sipped her water. As Samantha finished putting her groceries away her phone began to ring.
“Could you see who that is, Jo?” Samantha called out from inside the freezer door.
“Sure.” Jo picked up Samantha's phone and checked the caller ID. “It's Eddy.”
“Answer it, please!” Samantha gasped as she dropped a box of frozen peas on her foot. Jo frowned. She didn't really want to answer the phone, but she didn't want to ignore Samantha's request either.
“Hello?” she said.
“Who is this?” Eddy asked. “This isn't Samantha.”
“No, it isn't.” Jo smiled. “It's Jo. Samantha is putting her groceries away.”
“Oh,” Eddy sounded as if he had no idea how to respond to the unexpected conversation with Jo.
“Did you want me to take a message?” Jo offered.
“Actually, I'd like Samantha and you, if you want, to meet me at Walt's. He's got some information he wants to share about the murder.”
“All right, we'll be there in a few.” Jo hung up the phone.
“What did he want?” Samantha asked.
“He wants us all to meet at Walt's,” Jo replied. She finished her water and then set her glass in the sink.
“Oh good, Walt must have found something.” Samantha stowed the last of her groceries. “Shall we head over?”
“Sure.” Jo nodded. “Just make sure all your windows are closed.”
As Samantha did one more walk through the villa she noticed something odd. On her dresser she kept an assortment of coins and stones she collected from around the lake, as well as other little things. Usually they were in a fairly messy pile. But now they were all swept to one side, as if someone had moved them. Her heart skipped a beat. Was this another sign that someone had been in her villa, or was she just getting forgetful?
“Samantha, you all right?” Jo called from the living room.
“I'll be right there,” Samantha called back. She thought about showing Jo what she had found, but she didn't feel confident enough in her own recollection to point a finger at someone breaking in. She shook her head and checked the lock on her bedroom window. It was locked up tight. She turned and walked out of the bedroom, but her stomach was in knots.
“Everything okay?” Jo asked.
Samantha walked past her to the door. “Yes, just overthinking everything.” She frowned.
“Soon enough we'll get to the bottom of this and then you won't have to overthink anything anymore.”
“I hope so.” Samantha took one last glance over her shoulder before closing the door.
***
When Samantha and Jo arrived at Walt's house, Eddy was standing at the end of the driveway.
“Samantha, are you feeling okay?” Eddy tilted his head to the side. “You're looking a little pale.”
“I'm fine,” Samantha mumbled. “Is Walt inside?”
“Yes, I figured I'd wait for you. I just got here a moment ago. Hello, Jo.” He nodded to Jo.
“Eddy.” She nodded in return. Samantha was pleased by how they could almost civilly greet each other.
“Let's see what Walt found out.” Samantha walked up to the door and knocked firmly.
Walt opened the door almost as soon as Samantha knocked.
“Oh good, you're here.” He waved the three of them inside. “I've found out some intriguing information about Joel.”
“What is it?” Eddy asked. Walt walked over to his computer desk. He sat down in the rolling chair and gestured for everyone to come closer.
“He might have been a successful businessman, but it wasn’t from being an honest one.” Walt gestured to the screen on his computer. “There was a lawsuit pending, brought against him by several of his investors. Apparently, Joel was great at generating funding for starting a business, but not so great at actually creating returns for his investors.”
“He wasn't as great a businessman as he seemed?” Samantha frowned as she peered at the legal jargon on the screen. “Was he having financial trouble?”
“Actually, no he wasn't. He was living just fine. But he was running some sort of scheme and his investors lost quite a bit of money. Enough to cause some of them to lose their own businesses, homes, everything.” He sighed. “It's heartbreaking to see that kind of financial loss. People work so hard to get what they have, and then it is just gone.”
Samantha was a little surprised when she noticed a hint of tears in Walt's eyes. She knew that he took his work seriously as an accountant, but she didn't quite comprehend his relationship with finances.
“So, he was a con artist?” Jo asked from behind Walt. “Sounds like he got what was coming to him.”
“Jo!” Walt looked at her reproachfully.
“What?” Jo asked sternly. “It's not like I did the deed myself, but he set himself up to be attacked. You can't get away with fleecing people of all their money forever. He had to have known that eventually he was going to face some consequences.”
“Maybe he thought about jail time, or even getting beat up. I doubt that he expected to be murdered in his living room.” Eddy clenched his teeth for a moment, and then he sighed. “It looks like there is a lot more to this than any of us realized. It's not going to be so simple with such a large suspect pool.”
“I'm sure I can narrow it down some,” Samantha offered. “Most people will have an alibi for the time of the murder, and those that don't might have other ways to prove that they weren't involved. Let's sit down and get a list together. You can do a criminal check on them, Eddy, and I'll go through their past.”
“I've already looked through the financials to figure out who were the hardest hit.” Walt selected the print option. “A couple on the list actually live in Sage Gardens. He must have drummed up some investors here. One in particular I believe you may find interesting.”
Eddy snatched the paper out of the printer. He skimmed over the list, then saw a name that made him freeze.
“Who is it?” Samantha asked.
“Tommy Radner,” Eddy read from the printed sheet of paper.
“Tommy Radner was one of the investors in Joel's bad business?” Samantha asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, but not for much. Really, the amount he invested didn't cause him much financial damage. However, since he is our main suspect, I thought it best to include him.” Walt frowned. “I'm not sure a few hundred dollars would be enough reason for him to murder Joel.”
“Maybe not, but it could be a culmination of things,” Jo pointed out.
“She's right.” Samantha nodded. “Tommy himself told us that he didn't like Joel much. Then he had problems with them as neighbors, and on top of it all Joel lost the money he invested. Even though it wasn't much, it might have been the tipping point for Tommy. Maybe he'd had enough, and his anger caused him to act out.”
“It's very possible,” Eddy agreed. “Someone with that kind of rage can easily fly off the handle and do things that they would regret.”
“When I spoke to Ruby in the office today, Tommy was demanding another villa,” Samantha recalled with narrowed eyes. “I bet he is trying to distance himself just in case he left any evidence of the crime behind.”
“That would be clever of him,” Eddy remarked. “If he gets moved to another villa then any evidence found in his villa, if he's investigated, will be considered at risk of being tampered with because he no longer has possession of the villa. Tommy seems to be pretty determined to cover up his tracks.”