EASY GREEN

by Bill WENHAM

  On occasion, Dellie had referred to it as ‘a bloody great big mausoleum’ and that’s exactly what it was now - coldly impersonal and completely devoid of love. I never even gave her a chance to explain either, Factor thought miserably.

  On the following Monday morning, after a long hot shower and a shave to remove a week’s growth of beard, he dressed carefully, called a cab and went to his office.

  Thankfully there was neither media present outside his house when he left nor at the office when he arrived.

  He paid off the cabbie and walked straight into a waiting elevator that whisked him up to the Easy Green Corporate Offices. He opened the door and walked into the middle of total chaos.

  During his absence, at least one of his staff had been sent to his home every day to bang on his door along with the media. The trouble was neither his staff nor the media knew for sure whether he was inside the house. He could be sunning himself in the Caribbean for all they knew.

  As soon as Factor entered the office, Ted Shelton, the Corporation’s office manager, immediately spotted him and ushered him quickly into Factor’s own private office.

  “My God, Dean,” Shelton said as he closed the door behind them. “Where the hell have you been? Everybody and his brother have been demanding to see you all week. The franchisees have even called an emergency meeting for tomorrow morning as well.”

  Factor frowned at him and said, “Slow down, Ted. What the hell has anything going on here got to do with the franchisees?”

  Shelton looked at him in astonishment.

  “You mean you haven’t even heard?” he gasped.

  “Heard what?” Factor demanded.

  “About Jim Willoughby,” Shelton said.

  Exasperated, Factor snapped, “What about Willoughby?”

  “Oh, God, Dean,” Shelton said weakly, sinking into one of the office chairs. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “Spit it out, for God’s sake, Ted,” Factor snarled angrily. “What the hell has been happening around here?”

  “Jim has cleaned out all of the corporate accounts, Dean. He and Cheryl have absconded with the lot. They’ve just disappeared and no one knows where they are. There was a rather peculiar message on his phone, telling him to go straight to Lexington but the police say there’s no trace of him there. There was no record of any money transfers there either. It’s been in all the papers.”

  Another small item also appeared in the paper. It referred to an unidentified man, probably a businessman, who had been found strangled in a New York City alley.

  Factor dismissed Shelton and sat at his desk with his head in his hands. It was bad enough to have a hangover to end all hangovers, following a week of nonstop boozing – and now this.

  When was all this going to end, he wondered? Why would Willoughby do this? Surely he was wealthy enough already? It couldn’t be about Dellie. Dellie was dead, but did Willoughby kill her, he wondered, and again, why would he?

  Factor’s head was spinning with a myriad of unanswerable questions and he realized, although he was now the only remaining partner, there was nothing he could do here in the office today. But there was a lot to be done before the franchisee’s meeting on the following morning, though.

  He called Shelton back into his office.

  “First of all, Ted, I want you to calm down, get a grip on yourself and relax, okay. Everything is going to be alright. I want you to personally call each of the franchisees and tell them I will address them at tomorrow morning’s meeting at 10 a.m.”

  “What else do you want me to tell them?” Ted asked. “They are bound to have questions.”

  “Tell them just what I told you, Ted, and tell them all to be there,” Factor said and dismissed him again.

  He stood up, and without another word to anyone, he left his office. Before he left the building he popped into the office of Harry Brownlow, the corporation’s chief accountant. When he departed a few minutes later, Factor was smiling. He took an elevator down to the ground level and caught a cab outside to the police station. When he arrived, he asked if Lieutenant Streeter was available.

  The duty receptionist eyed him curiously. Dean Factor was no stranger to this station these days but he’d never come in under his own steam before.

  Why would he come here voluntarily, the man wondered as he buzzed through to Streeter’s office.

  “A Mr. Factor is here to see you, lieutenant,” he said and after listening to her reply, said, “She’ll be right out, sir.”

  A few moments later Streeter came out to see him.

  “Mr. Factor,” she said genially. “And what brings you here today?”

  Factor gave her a weary smile.

  “A cab, Lieutenant,” he said.

  Streeter laughed.

  “I see we’ve been polishing up our sense of humor while we’ve been playing hooky, have we, Mr. Factor?”

  Factor shook his head.

  “Not really, Lieutenant. There’s really not much for me to smile about any more. Everything I touch these days turns into an absolute bloody disaster.”

  Streeter raised her eyebrows.

  “And you’d like to talk to me about the latest one, is that it?” she said.

  “If you have time, I’d very much appreciate it,” he said.

  “Come on through, Mr. Factor. I think I can spare you a few minutes,” she said for the benefit of the listening reception guy and then she mouthed, “An hour, actually.”

  Factor followed her through to her office and took a seat in front of her desk. Streeter sat down behind her desk and said, “I can guess why you’re here, Dean. It’s about Willoughby, isn’t it?”

  Factor gave a quick nod.

  “He’s disappeared and has taken all the corporate funds with him. Millions, Liz.”

  Streeter gave him a sympathetic look.

  “And now you’re broke. Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Oh, no, not at all. It’s the corporate operating funds he’s absconded with, not mine. My own money is safe enough. He didn’t have access to that, or I to his.”

  “Actually, Dean, I am already aware of the corporate theft and we’ve been looking into it.”

  She looked at him sadly and shook her head.

  “You know, for a real nice guy, you’re one hell of a trouble magnet though, aren’t you? There’s a disaster just waiting to dump all over you around every street corner, isn’t there?”

  Factor just shrugged and Streeter made a decision – a serious personal one.

  “Listen, Dean, please tell me if I’m out of line here, but….”

  She paused, embarrassed. “I’d like to try to help you if I can.”

  She paused again.

  “And not just as a policewoman either. I think you’re in need of a friend, a confidant if you like, to share all this with right now, don’t you? I know you’ve just lost Dellie but I believe you accepted that as a fact, one way or another, months ago, right?”

  “I did, yes, and you’re right,” he said.

  Streeter continued. “If I’m on the wrong track here completely, Dean, just say so and I’ll not embarrass myself any further. I’ll not even mention it again.”

  Factor smiled at her.

  “Don’t be embarrassed, Liz. You’re right. I badly need someone to stand by me right now. I need someone I can talk to and one who won’t judge me unfairly because if all this continues, I’m going to be a basket case before very long.”

  Streeter reached across her desk and took his hand. Even though she was half expecting it, the emotional jolt she got still shook her.

  He’s not a criminal, he’s not! And I’m right to be doing this, she thought fiercely.

  Aloud, she said, “It’s very nearly lunch time, Dean. Why don’t we find a quiet spot to eat and perhaps carry on this conversation?”

  “Are you sure about this, Liz?” he asked.

  “I’m sure,” she replied. “Because I’ve got a funny feeling there’s
still a hell of a lot of trouble heading your way and I’d like to be there with you when it arrives if I can.”

  “I’d like that too, Liz, and thank you,” he said.

  They both stood up and as they reached the door, each of them seemed to unintentionally brush the hand of the other. As they left the building together, Streeter thought, “Oh, my God, I do believe we’ve just become an item! And cop or not, I’m still very much a woman – and he’s one hell of a man!

  Factor was also physically shaken by his casual and innocent contact with Streeter and he found himself trembling almost uncontrollably. That’s just nerves and combined with everything else that’s happened today, it’s really not surprising, he thought.

  Oh, grow up, that’s not what it is and you bloody well know it. She’s a beautiful, considerate and compassionate woman. But she’s also a cop and you, Dean, are an emotional wreck right now. What the hell do you expect? Anything at all could set you off, so just cool it, okay?

  Over lunch at Jake’s Old City Grill, he told Streeter, in spite of Willoughby’s actions, Brownlow, the accountant, had advised him that, in the overall scheme of things, the Corporation had only suffered a minor earthquake.

  Brownlow hadn’t gone into the detail of what he meant by ‘the overall scheme of things’ and Factor hadn’t asked. He was just relieved that apparently things weren’t as bad as he’d originally thought.

  The income from the operational franchises was constant, Brownlow had said, and the revenue would even increase as more of the franchises currently under construction in other states also became operational.

  Apart from the personal upheaval involving the loss of his beautiful wife, being under suspicion for two murders and the turmoil in the office, he was both physically and financially unharmed.

  Consequently, after lunch, Factor paid a visit to his bank manager and made some rather surprising arrangements. So surprising in fact, the bank’s senior vice president, who had never heard of anyone doing such a thing before urged him to reconsider. Factor declined, saying he owed it to those who trusted him

  At 10 a.m. the following morning, Dean Factor addressed a boardroom full to overflowing with the Easy Green franchisees and their lawyers. Paul Thatcher was among them.

  He strode to the head of the table and held up his hands for quiet. Instantly the babble of voices stopped as though it was water turned off at a faucet.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Factor began; aware every eye in the room was riveted on him. “This will be brief, exceedingly brief, in fact, and perhaps the shortest business meeting on record. This is merely an advisory session only, with no minutes, no voting and no questions, please. I would just like to issue a personal statement to you all.”

  A pin could have been heard dropping as everyone in the room, franchisees and lawyers alike, held their breath and wondered what the hell Factor was about to tell them. Had the whole corporation gone belly up? They waited silently for the bomb to drop.

  “Yesterday,” he continued, “I made a personal decision. The Easy Green Garden World Corporation is, and will continue to be, my life, ladies and gentlemen. It was built on trust. Your trust in me and my trust in you, and I refuse to allow it to fail for either of us. The money is gone but hopefully the police will be able to recover it for us.

  In the meantime, I have guaranteed the Corporation’s continuance with my own personal funds, which as I’m sure you’ve all guessed by now, are considerable these days, as yours will be. They will remain in place as a guarantee until the new franchises come on line to help replace whatever has gone missing.

  So relax, my good friends, enjoy your coffee and have a very good day.”

  There was a stunned silence as Factor, already standing, turned and abruptly left the boardroom. By the time they realized what had just happened and had burst into applause, the man they were applauding was already back behind the closed doors of his own office.

  Factor was completely unaware that nearly all of the franchisees present weren’t in the least bit concerned with the theft of the corporate funds. They were at the meeting purely for appearances sake – on Torrance’s instructions.

  Factor sat down behind his desk and buzzed for Ted Shelton to come in to see him.

  “Sit down, Ted. I’ve got something to tell you.”

  The look on Shelton’s face was a mixture of dread, panic and curiosity. He’d been expecting and fearing this moment all morning. He knew, at his age, he’d never get another job like this one. He and wife, certain his job was secure for life, had bought a much larger house this past summer, with an even larger mortgage. Thank God their two new cars were only leased. Factor interrupted his thoughts by asking, “What’s up, Ted, you’re as pale as a ghost?”

  Shelton said, “I’m sure you can guess what’s causing that, Mr. Factor. You’ve called me in to fire me, right?”

  “Fire you, Ted,” Factor laughed. “Why in the world would I want to do that?”

  Shelton looked puzzled.

  “Well, now the corporation has gone belly up, we’re closing down, right?”

  “God Lord, Ted, we’re not going belly up and you’re not being fired. What made you think the company had gone bust?’

  “I thought it was obvious, with Mr. Willoughby absconding with all the money,” Ted said.

  “Well, it wasn’t exactly just a drop in the bucket, but it wasn’t a flood of biblical proportions either. It might be a tough go for a few months but we’ll survive, Ted. If you feel this way, then I’m sure all the rest of the staff does as well.

  Please call them together in your own meeting and tell them all not to worry. Harry Brownlow has advised me nothing was as bad as it first seemed and the franchisees have all gone away happy, I would imagine.”

  “Well, I did hear them all applauding and I couldn’t understand why, frankly.”

  “Okay, that’s good, Ted, and by the way, I’m going to be away for a few days and I’ll need you to hire a new secretary for me to replace our poor unfortunate Cheryl.”

  “Don’t you want to hire her yourself?”

  Factor shook his head.

  “No, Ted, you know the pay scale and the qualifications that are required and I trust your judgment on these things. That’s why you’re the manager.”

  Ted left Factor’s office very relieved and grinning from ear to ear.

  When the Easy Green Garden World advertised for a corporate secretary, the candidates were only accepted from within the Corporation itself. Ted decided that only four of the applicants were suitably qualified. Nellie Cardilli was one of them even though she’d only worked for Easy Green in accounting.

  When it came to the actual interview, two of the other three didn’t show up for their appointments. They didn’t return to their jobs and didn’t return home either. In fact, none of them were ever seen or heard of again.

  Nellie Cardilli got the corporate secretary’s job by default. Her husband, Vinnie, had made damned sure of that!

  Nellie was a stern and businesslike woman in her early fifties. She had been working for Harry Brownlow in Accounting, but she’d been a corporate secretary when she’d met her husband, a man who she had thought to be a well to do farmer.

  They married and her down to earth, no nonsense manner, suited her just as well in a farmhouse as it did in an office. But Vinnie Cardilli hadn’t been a well to do farmer at all and had soon let the farm go to rack and ruin. There was plenty of land but Vinnie was never able to farm it successfully.

  Eventually he ended up leasing it to graze other people’s cows on and even that failed miserably. Finally he thought his luck had changed when Jim Willoughby offered to buy it.

  Vinnie Cardilli would have no idea just how much his luck had changed. He really had no idea it could possibly get any worse!

  Then he realized, instead of being angry about it, someone, somewhere had done him a huge favor by getting rid of Factor’s secretary as well as Willoughby.

  He also r
ealized, way back, when he’d murdered Patti Thatcher, that to have an inside source of information at Easy Green would be invaluable to him. He convinced his wife to apply for the accounting job, which she got on her own merits.

  When Cheryl Morton’s job became available, he realized Nellie, at her age, would need considerable help to land it. Two of the other candidates just happened to disappear, which left Nellie and just one other woman for Ted to select from. It was his policy to hire from within the company if possible and to only go outside if it was unavoidable.

  Cardilli convinced his wife that if they were ever to get back up out of the pit he’d unwittingly dug for them, she had to help him accomplish the next step. Nellie knew her husband was neither ethical nor honest, but she had no option other than to help him either. She knew he was a killer and he was contemplating many more murders as well.

  The other candidate for the secretary’s job also worked on the same floor as Nellie and they both used the same employee’s lunchroom. Although she had initially balked at doing it when her husband had suggested it, it was still a simple matter for her to slip the substance Vinnie had provided into the other woman’s coffee.

  By mid afternoon, the woman became violently ill and was rushed to the Covenant Medical Center, Cooper in town. Initially, it was thought that she had been poisoned but when the women’s condition started to improve slightly, that diagnosis was revised.

  It was further established that everyone else in the lunchroom had used the same coffee urn and the consensus was she’d gotten sick from eating something she’d brought to the office herself.

  The woman recovered, but was unable to return to work for two more weeks. By this time Ted Shelton had already appointed Nellie Cardilli to be Factor’s new secretary.

  When he met her, he liked her immediately and confirmed her appointment.

  Her husband was extremely pleased when she called from the office to tell him her good news. Cardilli had told her at the time she had first been hired into the accounting department, that the Easy Green Corporation had cheated him badly regarding the purchase of their farm.