by Cindy Bell
“I thought the decorations were great.”
“I agree. But May said they were distasteful and creepy. It’s Halloween! Anyway, that started the whole thing. I’m sorry she’s gone, and I’m sorry that we didn’t get along while she was here. But no, I don’t harbor any bad feelings for May. The poor woman certainly didn’t deserve what she got.”
“No, she didn’t.” Samantha sighed and balled her hands into fists. “Whoever did it is going to be caught.”
“Maybe. But if the police don’t move quick, it’s not likely to be solved, is it?” She raised an eyebrow. “At least that’s what all of the television shows I watch seem to say.”
“I’m sure it will be solved.” Samantha locked eyes with her. “May deserves justice.”
“Yes, of course she does. Bye now.” She turned and walked away. Samantha stared after her. No matter how many times she talked to Valerie she was always left feeling a little confused. One moment she liked the woman, the next she didn’t, then she liked her again. She was a hard person to pin down. As she climbed into the car and drove to the store she thought about what Valerie had said. Was it true? As the days ticked by would it be harder to find out the truth about May’s death?
Chapter 9
Walt settled behind his computer. He tried not to be distracted with thoughts of Jo. The more he got to know her, the more he wanted to make her life easier. She’d had a rough start, and life seemed to still be treating her harsher than most.
Walt logged into a financial search engine and began wiggling his way through Daniel’s finances. He compared the information he found with some of the financial records that Eddy had given him. Right away Walt noticed a thread. Daniel had existed on credit and borrowed money for as far back as Walt could access. From what Samantha had found out it was probably since he got involved in the pyramid scheme. His credit rating steadily declined while his debt grew. He noticed that there were a few debt collection companies listed on Daniel’s credit report. He traced that information down to discover the source of the debts. He found that Daniel borrowed from some less than reputable people, and they would have been determined to get their money back. At the time of May’s death Daniel had a negative balance in his account, and almost all of his credit cards were maxed out.
“No wonder he was so determined to sell the property. He wouldn’t last much longer on such a small retirement fund,” he muttered to himself.
Then Walt looked at Daniel’s most recent financial statements to see if there were any strange purchases. He didn’t find anything unusual. Then he turned his attention to May. As he dug through her financial history he saw a much more responsible pattern of behavior. However, at one point during her brief marriage she depleted her funds to nearly nothing. As he moved forward in her life he found times when a certain amount of money left her account and showed up in her brother’s account. It appeared she had been lending money to Daniel for some time. At least until the last year, when she moved into Sage Gardens. The rent for her villa stretched her budget more than before and there was no extra money to lend to Daniel.
“So, his cash cow was cut off, and she stood in the way of him making a good chunk of change from the property.”
He shook his head and carried both May’s and Daniel’s financial records and a highlighter out onto the porch of his villa. In the late afternoon light he went through every single purchase. Most he could easily identify as routine purchases. He highlighted those that he had questions about, as well as cash withdrawals that were not part of a normal monthly pattern. By the time he was done Daniel’s paper had plenty of yellow marks, while May’s only had one. It was a cash withdrawal for one thousand dollars. It was an unusually large amount for her to take out. Walt tapped the highlighter against the paper and stared at the withdrawal for a long moment. It was only a few days before May’s death. It crossed his mind that Samantha might be able to help him with this particular problem. He picked up his phone and dialed Samantha’s number.
“Hello?”
“Samantha, can you get into the cameras at a bank?”
“I have a contact that might be able to, depending on what system they use.”
“Could you see if they can crack into an ATM camera?”
“Do you think you found something?”
“I’m not sure yet. May made an unusual withdrawal from the ATM, and I’d just like to see if she was perhaps visibly upset. I’m trying to pinpoint what the money could have been for.”
“Give me the bank and branch. Do you have the time and date?”
He supplied her the information.
“I’ll call you back,” Samantha said.
Walt waited patiently. Samantha had ways of getting information that surprised him, but he also didn’t want to know how she got it.
After a few minutes she called him back.
“Walt, I have the information.” She sighed. “But it can’t be right.”
“What? Is it the wrong branch maybe?”
“No, it’s the right branch. But, it’s not May.”
“Who is it?”
“Hold on, I’m going to send you the still shot. Let’s see if you think it’s the same person I think it is.”
Walt pulled the phone away from his ear as it beeped. He looked at the picture she sent in a text. Though the quality wasn’t perfect there was no doubt in his mind.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought, too. He must have had her ATM card.”
“I wonder if May even knew that he took the money out.”
“No way to know for sure. But remember she did ask Jo to look into some things, including money going missing. Maybe the stolen money triggered her fear?”
“Maybe she never knew it was Daniel.”
“She was obviously suspicious, but maybe she died without ever knowing how deeply her brother betrayed her.” Samantha clucked her tongue.
“Unless he’s the one that took her life. Then she knew.”
“True.”
“I’m going to keep following the money to see if there is anything else there.”
“I’ve been trying to track down some of Daniel’s friends and associates, but I haven’t been able to find many. It seems that he has led quite a lonely life.”
“Maybe his whole life really was affected from being involved in the pyramid scheme. That’s enough to make him capable of murder I think.”
“I agree. I’ll let Eddy know what you found. If you discover anything else, just let me know.”
“Will do. Thanks Samantha.” He hung up the phone and tried to track down exactly where that money went. It didn’t appear that he had deposited it into his account. In fact, he didn’t see any indication of where the money might have gone. Maybe he still had the cash on him. The thought made Walt disgusted, but he doubted that was the case. A man like Daniel didn’t ever have too much money in his hands.
Walt decided to work his way through some of Daniel’s debtors to see if any of his debts had recently been paid off. He didn’t notice any. Then he looked at the list of transactions that Jo had photographed. On the day that he withdrew the money he made a notation that a payment was made to Brent Nice and from what he could see it had cut the amount by about a quarter. Maybe it was part of a debt he paid off. Walt wanted to see if Eddy knew anything about Brent Nice. He dialed Eddy’s number.
“Hello Walt, what did you find?”
“Nothing good. It looks to me like Daniel recently stole or borrowed one thousand dollars from his sister’s bank account and I think he paid it to a Brent Nice.”
“Oh, Nice huh? He’s a loan shark so it was probably a debt. That’s not a good person to owe money to.”
“Do you know a lot about him?”
“A little. He’s anything but nice. He has a reputation for being rough, to the point of intimidating those that missed payments with threats of going to their job, or their home to settle things. I know he’s roughed up a few of his custom
ers. At one point someone tried to press charges against him, but he backed out before the ink was even dry.”
“Thanks Eddy.”
“You might want to ask Jo for more information.”
“Jo? Why?”
“She dealt in stolen goods, Brent Nice was known to be a pretty lucrative fence. She might have crossed paths with him, and might know more about him than me.”
“Okay. I will. Thanks Eddy.”
“You’re welcome. See what she has to say. And don’t tell her that I suggested you call her. She already thinks I treat her like a criminal.”
“You could be a bit softer.”
“No, actually I couldn’t. My rough patches are the only things holding me together.”
“Oh, I see.” Walt laughed. “Bye Eddy.”
“Goodbye Walt.”
As Walt hung up he thought about what he had learned so far about Brent. Maybe he threatened Daniel to the point that he stole from his sister. Could Brent have threatened him enough to make Daniel kill his sister? Walt considered the idea and dialed Jo’s number. She answered right away.
“Hi Walt. How are you?”
He smiled a little. She was the only one of his friends that he had called that day that asked how he was, instead of what he had found.
“I’m doing okay. I’m afraid I’ve run into a bit of a dead end. I wondered if you might be able to help me with it.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Brent Nice?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“I just thought, that maybe…”
“Eddy told you to call me, didn’t he?”
“I don’t think he meant anything by it, he just thought you might know more about Brent than he did.”
“Of course he did. Unfortunately, he’s right. Brent’s been around a long time and I’ve dealt with him on and off. I guess you could say we were even friends at one point.”
“Really? You were friends with him?”
“Not exactly. I created a connection with him as a way to protect myself from his goons. He was not the type of person you ever wanted to cross, so I made sure he had no reason not to like me.”
“That seems like an intelligent move.”
“I thought so at the time.”
“It looks like Daniel owed him some money.”
“Oh, that’s not good.” Jo sighed. “If he missed a payment, then he might have faced some serious consequences.”
“Enough reason to kill his sister and inherit the land?”
“It’s possible. Brent is not someone that anyone wants to cross.”
“Okay, I’ll make a note of it. Are you doing okay?”
“Yes, I’m just having a little trouble grasping this. Everything points to the brother, but I feel like we might be focusing too hard on just one suspect,” Jo said.
“He looks good for it.”
“Yes he does, but looks can be deceiving. I’d like to learn a bit more about Reynold.”
“Samantha seemed pretty convinced that he had nothing to do with it,” Walt said.
“Maybe she’s too close to him? He was there right at the time of the murder. Maybe he knew about the brother’s financial troubles and decided that everyone would blame him?”
“I hadn’t really thought about that. You could be right.”
“I guess next time we meet up we can discuss it. As of now, I’m off the clock. I have a Pilates class. Want to come?”
“No thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sweat, people, germs, no I don’t think so.”
“Okay.” She laughed. “Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
After Walt hung up the phone he decided to do some digging into Reynold. Maybe there was more there to find than he realized.
Chapter 10
The entire time that Samantha ate her sandwich she tried to think of anything other than Valerie and the creepy feeling that their last encounter left her with. It was as if Valerie was devoid of emotion. May, a person she’d seen nearly every day for at least a year was found murdered, and Valerie barely batted an eye. That was so strange to her, and yet, she couldn’t pinpoint why.
It wasn’t until she finished the last bite of her sandwich, without having even taken the time to enjoy it, that it dawned on her. Valerie was a very dramatic person. Everything she did was surrounded by dramatic effect. The outfits she chose, the way she spoke to others, even the way she walked, all drew attention. But when it came to May’s death she was surprisingly calm, as if it was just a bit of bad weather. It was a total shift in her personality. That was why it left her so unsettled. So what was with the turn around? Maybe she was dialing it back out of guilt. Maybe she regretted fighting with May and wanted to keep the attention off herself for once. But Samantha doubted that.
Samantha carried her plate to the sink to wash it. With each swipe of the cloth her mind grew clearer about Valerie. She had been acting very odd. As she listed in her mind all of Valerie’s strange behavior she paced back and forth through the living room. On one hand she wanted to believe that Valerie had nothing to do with May’s death. On the other, something didn’t add up. The medical examiner had indicated that the attacker might be small or female. Valerie was petite, so it could have been her.
Samantha couldn’t picture the woman with a fire poker in her grasp with the intent to murder. But was that because she preferred not to think of it as a possibility? She was tempted to call Eddy and discuss her suspicions with him, but she wasn’t sure that he would share them. He might find the very notion to be ridiculous. In the end she decided to head to bed and think about it again in the morning. However, before she could make it to her bed her cell phone rang. She noticed it was Eddy and answered.
“What are you up to?” Samantha asked.
“It looks like we have our killer.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Daniel. Just as we suspected. He stole money from his sister, one thousand dollars right before she died, and he was in debt with a violent loan shark. He had motive, opportunity, and I’m sure he did it.”
“You’re so sure that he did, but have the police reached the same conclusion? Are the police going to arrest him?”
“Not just yet. The detective on the case is moving very slow. I’m not sure why. I’ve heard rumors that he’s the cautious type, but this crime seems pretty cut and dry to me.”
“Maybe he knows something we don’t?” Samantha suggested.
“I suppose it’s possible. We still don’t know where Daniel was at the time of the murder. Maybe he has an alibi.”
“If he does then we might have to rethink our suspicions.”
“I’ll see what I can find out. What are you doing?”
“Going to bed.”
“What? This early?”
“I’m tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there a reason why?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve been having some strange dreams I guess, and then all of this with May, I think I’m just a little worn out.”
“You’re not getting sick are you? Maybe you should pay Owen a visit.”
“No, I don’t think I need to do that. Once all of this settles I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Well, then let’s hope that we can get it settled fast. I’ll see what I can do to speed things along.”
“Good luck, Eddy.”
“Goodnight, Sam.”
Samantha stretched out in her bed and looked up at the ceiling. She hoped that Eddy was right and they would find an answer soon. As she fell asleep her mind drifted back to the moments that she had shared with May. She had enjoyed spending time with her and they had had a budding friendship. As always Samantha needed to find out the truth. She fell asleep thinking about how she would discover that truth.
Eddy wearily wiped a hand across his face. All evening and late into the night he’d been working the theory that Daniel was to blame for his sister’s deat
h. After confirming with one of his police contacts that Daniel had no alibi for the morning of the murder, he was even more convinced. However, as he staged and acted out the crime scene for himself, he realized there were a few things that just didn’t make sense. How did Daniel know that May would be in the community center? If she told him she planned to meet Reynold, why would he risk being caught by choosing to kill her there? The questions plagued him so intensely that he had to go outside and roam.
In the silence of the middle of the night, the beauty of Sage Gardens was hard to miss. Towering trees, lush well-tended grass, a sparkling blue lake, and bountiful gardens all reminded him that he lived in an amazing place. Except, for May it hadn’t turned out that way. Without intending to, he ended up outside Samantha’s villa. He recalled that she said she wasn’t sleeping well. He hesitated to wake her up. But he really wanted to get her opinion on the matter. If there was anyone he trusted to talk him through a hunch, it was Samantha. He knocked once on the door. When he received no response, he crept around the side of the villa. Her bedroom curtain was open, though he’d reminded her hundreds of times to close it. She had argued that there was nothing for anyone to see as she closed it while getting changed or got changed in the bathroom. She liked to be woken by the sunlight that poured in through it.
“Samantha.” He spoke loud enough to be heard through the thick glass. Samantha lay still in her bed. “Samantha.” He tapped on her window again. He saw her shift in her bed. Then she lifted her head. She looked around the room for a moment, then finally towards the window. When she saw him, she let out a yelp and shied back. “Sh!” Eddy rolled his eyes. “Come to the front door.”
Samantha nodded and climbed out of bed. Eddy shuffled around through the grass to the front door. With a quick glance in both directions for anyone watching he huddled by the front door. She opened it and clutched her robe around her.
“Eddy, it’s midnight. What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?” He met her eyes.
“Sure.” She stepped back to allow him inside. With one hand she rubbed her eyes and with the other she pushed the door shut. “What are you doing here?”