Page 24

My second visit to Royal Palms was far more welcoming than the first, and I arrived to find Clark ready and waiting, standing by the front door as if anticipating my arrival. As I approached, he held the door open for me. “Miss Germaine, it’s good to see you.”

Good to see me?

I doubted he meant it, but I appreciated his change in tone, and I had to admit, I enjoyed Clark 2.0 way more than the 1.0 version.

“Has Alexander been in contact with you?” I asked.

“I suppose ... in his way.”

“What’s his way?”

“He often communicates with me through Max.”

“We met this morning. He’s an interesting guy.”

Clark looked around as if concerned about who was in our immediate vicinity. For the moment, the two of us were alone.

Leaning toward me, he said, “I was thinking we might take a walk. There’s a park across the street. What do you say we have our conversation there?”

“Why not talk in your office? Is there any reason why we can’t?”

He lowered his voice and said, “The architect did an excellent job designing the club, although they skimped on the budget when it came to soundproofing. Let’s just say the walls aren’t as thick as I would like. And since I haven’t been made fully aware of the reason for your visit, I wouldn’t want to take the chance that someone might overhear our conversation.”

Given it was a sunny day, and almost sixty degrees outside, a chat in the park didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“What do you know of our meeting?” I asked.

“Not much. I’ve been told Alexander sent you to discuss something with me. Whatever it is, Max made it sound like it’s a big deal.”

I nodded, and we started walking toward the park, engaging in small talk along the way.

“How long have you been managing the tennis club?” I asked.

“Oh, let’s see ... it’s been about twelve years now.”

“Do you like your job?”

“I love it.”

“Do you have a tennis background?”

“Sure do. When I was in my early twenties, there was a time when I thought I had a shot at going pro.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“I was in a car accident, hit by a drunk driver. Several bones were broken, including one of my arms. The healing process took a lot longer than expected. After several months, I was cleared to play again, and I couldn’t wait. There was just one problem. Even though I thought my injuries were behind me, I struggled to get back into the game, and I never played the same way again.”

“It must have been hard to give up on your dream.”

“Harder than you can imagine. Prior to the accident, tennis was my entire life. I lived and breathed it, often at the expense of everything and everyone else. I was devastated.”

“Looking at you now, you seem to have found a way to get past it.”

“My biggest tragedy turned into my biggest blessing when I met my wife, Heidi. I was in a dark place when we first met, and she pulled me out of it.”

“Are the two of you still married?”

“We are. What about you? Are you married?”

“Not yet. I’m engaged.”

“When’s the wedding?”

“August, in New York.”

As the small talk simmered down, I shifted gears.

“During my first visit, you didn’t treat me the way you are now,” I said. “Part of me thinks Alexander’s influence is the reason for the sudden change of heart. I also think there’s more to it. Mind sharing?”

He cleared his throat. “I’d like to apologize for my brusqueness in tone when we first met. I wasn’t having a good day. Ever since Noelle died, there’s been a lot of gossip going around the club, employees speculating about what happened to her and why. It’s been ... well, in a word, exhausting.”

“Your employees are no different than everyone else in this town. People find great discomfort in the unknown, and oftentimes, they create their own narrative, even though none of us knows what happened to Noelle, or why, yet.”

He nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a stick of gum. “Want some?”

“No, thanks. I didn’t know they still made Bubble Magic.”

“I didn’t either until a toy store opened in the outlet center in San Luis Obispo. They carry all kinds of things from past generations.”

He unwrapped the stick of gum and popped it in his mouth. “It came to my attention that some of my staff have been speaking to our members about Noelle’s death. Right before you arrived, I called a meeting. I made it clear I didn’t want anyone spreading false information about Noelle’s murder, not with their fellow staff and not with our members. It’s like you said, no one knows what happened, and there’s no point in making assumptions.”

His reasoning made sense.

We arrived at the park, taking a seat at one of the picnic tables. He wasted no time getting right to the point of our meeting.

“How do you know Alexander?” he asked.

“I didn’t know him, not until today.”

“I’m shocked he granted you an audience. He turns most people away, including me. I’ve never been allowed to step foot inside his house.”

“I wasn’t sure he’d agree to meet with me. At first. Max turned me away, but I didn’t leave. It took a lot of convincing before he told Alexander I was there.”

“Why do you think Alexander agreed to see you?”

“His late wife was friends with Noelle.”

“Ahh, yes, I remember. His wife was a sweet woman. It was a shame she died.”

“How did she die? I didn’t dare ask.”

“It was a bit unusual. She overdosed on her prescription medication.”

“Why is that unusual?” I asked.

“She always seemed so well put together, not like someone who would make a mistake with their medication. But what do I know?”

Maybe it was a bit strange.

I put the thought to the side for now.

“When I spoke to Alexander, he didn’t seem to know you’d hired Annie,” I said.

Clark’s face went pale. “You didn’t mention her to him, did you?”

“I did not, but I’m thinking you should. If he finds out you kept it from him, you’ll be a lot worse off than if you just level with the guy.”

“I’ve kept it from him for far too long. I’m not sure how to fix it now.”

He was right.

Given she’d worked there for months, he’d put himself in a predicament.

I thought on it a moment and came up with an idea.

“Maybe you don’t have to mention how long Annie has worked at the club. Why not slide her into Owen’s position without mentioning how long she’s worked there?”

He furrowed his brow, confused. “Why would Annie take over Owen’s position? I’ll admit, he’s somewhat of a dimwit. If it wasn’t for Alexander, I would never have moved him to accounting. He was great in client relations. Everyone loved him. There’s no way Alexander would allow me to change Owen’s position.”

“Oh, there’s where you’re wrong.”

“What do you know that I don’t?”

The time had come to share the reason for my visit.

“Owen has been stealing money, writing checks to himself and cashing them,” I said.

Clark looked at me, his expression like I’d just made a joke. When he realized I wasn’t joking at all, he ran a hand along his jaw, his body language indicating he had no knowledge of Owen’s misdeeds.

“How can you be certain?” he asked.

I initiated my white lie button once again, saying, “Noelle suspected Owen was embezzling money from the club. And before you ask, I don’t know how she first came to suspect him. All I know is, she made copies of some of the company’s files in his office. Here, let me show you.”

I handed him a copy of the copy of the files Annie had given me, then I crossed my arms, resting them on the table as he went through them.

Once he finished, he said, “How could this happen without me knowing about it? And if Noelle suspected him, why didn’t she come to me?”

I could think of a solid reason why he hadn’t noticed.

In his quest to keep Alexander happy, Clark left Owen unchecked.

“Did Alexander tell you what I’m supposed to do with this information?” he asked.

“He wants you to keep it to yourself, for now. He said something about staying quiet if you want to keep your job.”

“Got it.”

“As I was leaving his house, he said he would deal with Owen.”

“What am I supposed to do with him until then?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you know how hard it’s going to be to act like I don’t know this information?”

“Maybe do your best to avoid interacting with Owen—as much as you can, at least—until Alexander gets in touch with him.”

“How long do you think Alexander will wait before talking to Owen?”

“I can’t say, though after meeting the man, I’m sure he’ll want to deal with all this right away.”

“What if more money goes missing in the meantime?”

Having delivered Alexander’s message, I had a lot of stops to make.

I stood, offering Clark a parting word of advice.

“What’s important right now is that you don’t let on that you know what’s happening,” I said. “I have no doubt Alexander will deal with it in his own way and in his own time, and I suggest you let him do just that.”