By eight o’clock, Gloria had had enough. “Let’s wrap this up.”
“I agree.” Andrea yawned and covered her mouth. “Brian just texted to ask me when I was coming home.”
“I’m sorry Andrea. I keep forgetting you’re still newlyweds,” Gloria said.
“Semi-newlyweds,” Andrea said. “He’s fine. He just worries about me.”
“He knows I’ll keep you out of trouble,” Gloria said.
Andrea laughed. “Right. That’s exactly what he’s worried about…you all getting me into trouble.”
The four women walked toward the exit. “He knew what he was getting into when he married you.”
“Yes, he did.” Andrea put her arm around Gloria’s shoulder. “Don’t worry Mom. He’ll be fine.”
When they reached Ruth’s van, Gloria let the others in first and then climbed inside. She turned to Ruth. “Well? Did you get anything good?”
Ruth crawled across the floor to the driver’s seat and started the van. “We got a few shots of the men in question. Several cigarette smokers came out to light up. We also noticed several groups of guests milling about outside.”
“Ruth turned her audio on but there was too much white noise to hear what they were saying, although you could tell from the look on their faces they were having serious conversations,” Dot said.
“We saw a definite pattern.” Ruth shifted into drive and pulled out of the parking spot. “There seemed to be a ringleader. The same person came out every single time.”
“Any mention of names?” Gloria asked.
“No, but we have the footage,” Ruth said. “Show ‘em what we got.”
Dot leaned over the panel of screens on the sidewall and flipped a switch. A grainy image popped up on the screen. “It’ll take me a sec to zoom in.”
The image cleared and Rex Wetzel’s face appeared. “This guy came out almost every single time but with different people.” Dot shifted in her seat.
“Every ten minutes,” Ruth said. “We timed it.”
“That’s Rex Wetzel,” Liz said. “He must be the ringleader.”
Gloria told the others Liz was meeting Rex for lunch the following day. “You’ll need to be very careful Liz.”
“I will,” Liz said. “We’re meeting at some taco place called North of the Border in Green Springs.”
“I’ve been dying to try North of the Border,” Andrea said. “Maybe I can talk Brian and Alice into going so we can keep an eye on you.”
“Rex has seen your face,” Gloria pointed out.
“True.” Andrea looked crestfallen.
“I would go but he’s met Lucy and me, too.”
“I’ve got to work tomorrow,” Dot said.
They all turned to Ruth. “I love Mexican food. I can take an extended lunch. Maybe Alice will go with me.”
“Or Rose,” Dot said.
Ruth agreed to dine at the restaurant at the same time Liz planned to meet Rex.
Earlier, the group had met in front of Dot’s Restaurant where they’d parked their cars so they could ride together in Ruth’s van.
Gloria waited for the others to exit the van. She was the last one out. “Thanks for the backup, Ruth. I gotta tell you, when I first found out about all this spy stuff you installed on your van, I thought you had gone off the deep end but I’ll be the first to admit you and your van have become an essential part of our investigations.”
Ruth beamed. “Thanks Gloria. I love being part of the team.”
She gave a toot of the horn before backing onto the road and speeding off into the night.
Lucy wandered over. “She loves her van, but more than that, she loves a good adventure.” She turned to face Gloria. “Do you think she’ll ever find someone?”
“Maybe.” Gloria shrugged. “Too bad we can’t find someone who has similar interests in spy equipment.”
“I have some ideas,” Lucy said. “Let’s wait until we finish this case and we can talk about Ruth’s love life.”
“It’s a deal.” Gloria grinned. “I’m sorry you didn’t get any action tonight.”
“It’s okay.” Lucy shrugged. “The stakeout was a little low key for my tastes. There’s always tomorrow.”
Lucy hopped into her jeep while Liz and Gloria climbed into the car and drove back to the farm. During the ride, Gloria lectured Liz on safety, to not do anything foolish such as agree to ride in Rex’s car and to stay inside the restaurant.
“I’ve got it,” Liz finally said. “You don’t give me enough credit. I can handle myself.”
“I’m sorry Liz. It’s just that sometimes I feel like I’m the big sister,” Gloria said. “Despite your aggravating ways, I love you and would feel terrible if something happened tomorrow.”
“Aww. I love you too, Gloria.” Liz reached over and squeezed her sister’s hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
Little did either of them know the plan they had put in place would change drastically overnight.
Chapter 21
“Gloria? Are you awake?” Gloria groggily lifted her head off the pillow. Someone was pounding on her bedroom door and that someone was Liz.
Paul groaned, rolled over and pulled the covers over his head. “Doesn’t she know the roosters haven’t even started crowing yet?”
“Sorry dear.” Gloria flung the covers back, slid out of bed and shuffled to the door. She opened it far enough so Mally and she could squeeze out and then quietly closed the door behind them.
“I hope the house isn’t on fire.” Gloria said the first thing that popped into her head.
“No. Nothing that drastic,” Liz said in a loud whisper. “I couldn’t sleep so I made a cup of coffee and turned the kitchen television on.”
“And you were lonely so you thought you’d wake me up to keep you company.”
“Of course not. I was watching the local daybreak news. You’ll never guess who was found murdered in his driveway last night.”
“Who?”
“Rex Wetzel,” Liz said. “The police think he stumbled upon a robber when he got home after the party and the thief shot him.”
Gloria clutched the front of her robe. Her mind reeled as she followed Liz to the kitchen. “What exactly did Rex say to you when he invited you to lunch today?”
“I told you last night. Rex said he thought he could help hook me up with some great investments,” Liz said. “After the news ended, I logged onto the internet and found the news clip. Check it out.”
Liz pointed to her laptop, sitting on the kitchen table.
Gloria plopped down on the seat next to her. Liz clicked on a button and a video appeared. She clicked the play button and leaned back so Gloria could get a closer look.
A young female reporter stood in the driveway of a large, brick two-story home. Behind her were several police cars and an SUV with the doors open. There were several police officers milling about.
The reporter explained how a neighbor had called 911 around 11:30 p.m. the previous evening to report gunfire close by. When the police arrived to cruise the neighborhood, they found Rex Wetzel lying in his driveway. He’d been shot several times and one of them had been a shot to the head.
“The police told us they believe Mr. Wetzel may have surprised the robbers and that is when he was shot,” the reporter stated.
The camera panned the home as well as the street and then returned to the reporter.
“Wait,” Gloria said. “Rewind the tape.”
Liz tapped the keyboard and rewound the footage. “There. Stop the video.”
Liz stopped the video. “What am I not seeing?”
“There’s a for sale sign in the front yard.”
Liz leaned forward. “You’re right. I hadn’t noticed.”
Gloria slid out of the chair. There was some small clue she was missing. What if Rex’s killer hadn’t been an intruder? She remembered how Dot and Ruth said Rex kept coming out and talking to people in private.
Was Rex the mid
dleman in the Ponzi scheme? Or…what if he was initially involved with the others, decided to cut them out and find his own group of “investors?”
She glanced at the clock. It was only 6:30 on a Monday morning. Ruth would be arriving at the post office soon. “I want to check out Ruth’s footage from last night to see if I recognize any of the people Rex met with.”
Paul was up by the time Gloria emerged from the bathroom. “I thought I heard you rambling around out here.” He eyed her blue jeans and t-shirt. “What’s going on?”
Gloria briefly explained what had happened and told him she wanted to check out Ruth’s video footage of the people the dead man had privately met with at the party. “I’m not convinced his death was a robbery. It may have been a cover up. Someone was desperate to silence or stop Rex Wetzel.”
She promised her husband she wouldn’t do anything foolish and then headed to the post office.
Kenny was in the back sorting boxes when Gloria breezed in. “Hi Gloria.”
“Hello Kenny. Thanks for covering for Ruth the past couple of days.”
Kenny smiled, the dimple in his chin deepening. “No problem. You gals are always good for some entertaining stories.”
“Which is why I’m here,” Gloria said. “I need to chat with Ruth for a brief moment.”
“She’s over in the corner,” Kenny said. “You can come on back.”
Gloria hurried to the back and found Ruth in the corner, surrounded by stacks of mail.
“You’re out early this morning,” Ruth said.
“Rex Wetzel, the guy you caught on camera coming out of the country club over and over, was found dead in his driveway late last night after the party.”
Ruth dropped the stack of mail in her hand. “You’re kidding.”
“The police suspect he surprised a robber at his home but I think he was targeted. Someone wanted to silence him or stop him.” She lowered her voice. “I was hoping I could take a look at the footage from the party to see if I recognize any of the individuals Rex met with.”
“Sure,” Ruth said as she stepped over a bin brimming with unsorted mail. “Kenny, I’ll be right back.”
“Yes ma’am.” Kenny gave the women a small salute and they headed out the back door of the post office and to Ruth’s van.
“Like I said, he came out like clockwork, every ten minutes or so.” Ruth started the van and crawled across the seat to the back. She flipped dials on the front of the computer screen and tapped the keys on the keyboard. “I remember the first time I noticed him was at 1800.”
“Which is?”
“6:00 o’clock p.m. There.” Ruth pointed at the screen.
Gloria squinted her eyes and studied the still video. Sure enough, Rex Wetzel emerged from the clubhouse accompanied by a man and a woman. They stood off to the side, their heads close together. The conversation lasted about three minutes and then they headed back into the building.
“Same thing happened about ten minutes later.” Ruth fast-forwarded the clip and then pressed the stop button. “There he is again.”
Rex appeared. This time there was a trio of men. They made their way over to the same spot, heads close together and then returned to the party a short time later.
None of the individuals looked familiar. “He does this three times.” Ruth fast-forwarded again and again Rex emerged with a small group of people.
“I’ve got two more recorded.” The women watched the other two before Ruth turned the surveillance equipment off.
“None of those people look familiar?” Ruth asked.
“Not a one.” Gloria shook her head. “Remember that Nolan Bolton argued with Don not long before his death. This man, Rex, was the first one to mention a get-rich-quick scheme. His house is for sale. My gut tells me he was involved in the scheme, trying to warn others…or maybe he was trying to make his own deals and cut the other investors out.” She remembered Liz’s comment that Rex had told her he could help her with investments and that she should avoid Ed Shields.
“Or maybe this Rex fella ripped off one of his so-called investors and they took him out,” Ruth said.
Gloria climbed out of the van and waited until Ruth shut the engine off, exited the vehicle and locked it. “Don golfed with his buddies every Saturday at one o’clock and always with the same group of people.”
She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. “If you were at the top of a massive money-making scheme, raking in tons of cash, what is one of the first things you would do?”
“Buy more equipment for my van?” Ruth asked.
Gloria opened her eyes and grinned. “Okay, what would most normal people do?”
Ruth shrugged. “Buy a new car.”
“Perhaps, but also make sure you’ve eliminated your competition if you had any.” Gloria stomped her foot on the ground. “We don’t have a shred of concrete evidence and I know I’m missing something…something important.”
She thanked Ruth for showing her the videos and headed to her car. It was time to check in with Margaret.
As she drove to her friend’s house, she wondered if Margaret had heard about Rex Wetzel’s death.
Margaret’s SUV was in the drive. Gloria parked behind her vehicle and hurried to the breezeway door where she rang the bell. She could’ve sworn she heard a dog barking.
Margaret appeared moments later, holding a small dog.
“What in the world?” Gloria stared at the dog through the screen. “You have a dog.”
Margaret shifted the small pooch to her other arm and opened the door. “This is Minnie.” She grabbed Minnie’s paw and waved it. “Minnie, say hello to Gloria.”
Gloria reached out to pat Minnie’s head. The small dog started to growl and bared her teeth.
“It takes her a few minutes to warm up to you, but she’s a good guard dog. Her bark is definitely bigger than her bite.”
Gloria stepped into the breezeway. “I had no idea you liked dogs.”
“Me either.” Minnie and Margaret climbed the steps and made their way into the kitchen. “I just happened to be driving by At Your Service dog training yesterday. I spotted Alice’s car so I thought I would pop in to say hello.”
“She introduced me to Minnie. I guess someone dropped the dog off outside the kennel and Alice was trying to figure out what to do with her since she can’t be trained as a service dog.” Margaret set Minnie on the floor and the small dog promptly ran over to Gloria, circled her legs and began barking her head off.
“We were going to stop by your place on the way home but you weren’t there,” Margaret said. “How did it go last night?”
Gloria answered the question with one of her own. “Have you watched today’s local news?”
“No. Why?”
She told her friend about Rex Wetzel’s death and briefly explained her suspicions. “I think someone in Don’s close clique of golf buddies is the ringleader of the money scheme. Someone found out Rex was trying to warn others and possibly even convince some of their investors to invest with him instead so they decided to take him out.”
“Oh my gosh.” Margaret’s hand flew to her mouth. “I never cared for Rex. He was a loudmouth, very bossy and opinionated.”
“In addition to Don’s golf buddies, Club NED, I think one of the ringleaders may be one of the co-owners of the golf course,” Gloria said. “I can’t remember their names.”
“Phil Holt, some man in California. There was a third but I can’t remember.” Margaret popped out of her chair. “What am I thinking? Don has a file folder with the charter member information. It also lists the owners.” She disappeared down the hall, returning moments later waving a manila file folder. “I bet it’s in here.”
Margaret opened the folder and placed it on the table. The women stood next to each other and studied the papers.
“There.” Margaret pointed to the sheet on top. “The joint owners are Phil Holt, Dylan Nestor and Becky Stone.”
Margaret shifted her gaze and
stared out the kitchen window. “What if Rex Wetzel got caught up in the scheme and attempted to recoup some of his losses by ripping off other people?” she asked softly.
“Or perhaps Rex found out about their money-making scheme, became envious and decided to start his own scam.” Gloria rubbed her forehead. “These people…someone is ruining others’ lives and they need to be stopped. I still think it’s one of Don’s golfing partners. There has to be more than one person involved for these types of schemes to work.”
Margaret shut the folder and slid it across the table. “What can I do to help?”
“You’ve already helped immensely,” Gloria said. “If you have the time, I would like to pay a quick visit to one of Don’s friends. There’s also something I need to double check when I get home and then I would like to call Detective Givens. I have an idea.”
Chapter 22
Gloria sat in Detective Given’s office and reached for her cell phone. Her fingers trembled as she dialed the number she’d found on the financial information Ed Shields had given her. He didn’t answer so she left a brief message, telling him she had finished her review of his investment opportunities and was ready to meet with him.
Detective Givens nodded. “You set the trap. Now we’ll have to wait to see if he takes the bait.” While they waited to see if he would return Gloria’s call, she, along with Paul and Liz, who had accompanied her to the police station, discussed the details of the sting.
The plan was for Gloria to meet Ed Shields at the Snack Shack near the back of the golf course. She would accuse him of running a Ponzi scheme and bilking other club members out of millions of dollars and tell him she had proof.
Her final blow would be when she told him she knew who the other schemers were and then gave him the names, except she wouldn’t be bluffing. Gloria was almost 100% certain she knew who the other ringleaders were.
She figured it out after researching the list of suspicious investment companies. One in particular stuck out. It was the luxury resort in “Pelletree,” a place that didn’t exist.
Greed with Envy (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 15) Page 13
