Lee Endicott had walked into the living room from the outside carrying a pistol pointed at us in his hand. He kept aiming it at one of us and then the other. My hairs were right. Something was going on, and that something was Lee Endicott.
"Have a seat," he said, directing us to sit in the two white chairs that we sat on when we first visited Alese.
"Lee, well, this is quite a surprise," I said. "Good to see you."
I was shocked. What on earth was Lee doing here? And why was he pointing a gun at me? He didn't have any idea that I knew that he was running a con. Alese certainly didn't know. I didn't even know that these two people knew each other.
I guess the old adage is true—you do learn something new every day.
"Shut up," he said.
"Now is that any way to talk to a prospective investor?" I said. "I mean we were this close to—"
"I said shut up," he said, waving his gun around.
I didn't know where this was heading. If he had the nerve to shoot me. To shoot Imogen. My mind raced as I tried to calculate what to do next.
"Alese, luv. What is this?" Imogen asked.
"I'm sorry, Imogen," she said. "Really I am."
"Look, if you just put the gun down we can all just have a good laugh at this, have a drink, I can write that check…"
I was desperate. The man was holding Imogen and me at gunpoint. It was only a matter of time before he fired two shots. One through my head and the other through Ginny's skull. My eyes frantically searched the room for anything that I could use to disarm Lee. There was nothing, except the poker that sat over by the fireplace. But Lee and Alese were standing between that poker and me. Of course, Ginny could distract them, but how could I convey that message to Imogen?
"You, I'm not going to ask again. I said shut up," Lee said, angered that I had ignored his repeated requests.
"One more quickie, if you don't mind me asking. Why are you pointing a gun at us?"
If he was going to shoot me I deserved to know why he wanted to kill me. I also wanted to distract him. Get him talking. Stall for time. That was our only play.
Lee laughed and became more relaxed. With that question he reverted back to the same old used car salesman who I always thought he was.
"Oh, Max. You do make me laugh."
"Well, that counts for something, right?" I said.
He ignored me and continued to laugh. Alese just sat next to him as he stood.
"Let's see. Why am I pointing a gun at you? Well, the answer is simple, Max. I'm going to kill you."
"But why?"
"Oh yes, the why. Again, simple, Max. You see, I spoke to Bill last night, and when he failed to wipe you and the Mrs. off the face of the earth, well, the job fell to me. And like manna from heaven, here you are."
"You spoke to Bill?"
I was confused. And I was sure, judging by the look that Imogen had on her face, she was confused as well. I knew that they had known each other. We had figured out that much. But I hadn't realized that they were on speaking terms. Casual speaking terms. Perhaps more like evil boss and dimwitted minion.
"Correct me if I'm wrong. As of last night, Bill is in the custody of the Manors police department charged with the murder of Carl Westbrook. Am I correct so far, Max?"
"I wouldn't know," I said.
I had to play it cool. Not let on that we were working with the police. That we had been working with them all of the time that we had known each other. That I was never going to invest in his scheme. That I merely wanted to keep an eye on him. That we had discovered that he was a fraud. That he would be the next to go to prison. Right along with his pal Bill.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me. I know you're a private investigator, and you're all buddy-buddy with that detective. Bill saw you with him when Carl was murdered. Or don't you remember?"
He knew a lot. He had known that I was a private investigator all along. But he continued to court my business. Get close to me. I wasn't going to anger him any further. I was going to play along and see what else he knew. The only thing that I was hoping to avoid was the ending. The part where he fired the gun into me.
"I remember," I said.
Lee laughed, "Good, now we're getting somewhere."
"But Bill killed Carl. What does that have to do with you?" I asked.
We were desperate. The only thing that I could do was to keep him talking. Hope that he wanted to gloat. He was a showman. And the one thing that I knew about a showman was they liked to hear themselves talk. I just hoped he would talk long enough so that I could devise a plan.
"Well, here's the rub, Max. I killed Carl, and Bill, well, he sort of helped. But he failed last night. And now my job is to finish where he left off."
I was shocked. Lee Endicott, the man who had stolen millions from countless unsuspecting investors had also committed murder. I looked over at Imogen, and all of the coloring had left her face. She looked as pale as a ghoul.
Lee was beaming. Proud of his accomplishment.
"But, umm, if you don't mind me asking…" I said, pausing.
Lee nodded his assent at me via his pistol, waving it side to side as if to say go on.
"Why would you have killed Carl?"
Lee laughed. I wasn't quite sure what was so funny. He had murdered my friend.
"Oh, Max. I thought you had it all figured out by now. But I was wrong. You do know that Carl worked for me, don't you?"
"Yes, we knew that much," I said.
"At least you bumbling idiots got that far," Lee said. "Well, you see Carl knew a little too much about Endicott Financial and started delving a little too deep into things that didn't concern him."
I interjected what I knew to try to throw Lee off his game and to stall him even further.
"Things like you running a Ponzi scheme," I said.
Lee looked at me, angered. His eyes had narrowed. His forehead creased, and his veneers clamped down hard against each other as he clenched his teeth.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"You heard me. Carl knew that Endicott Financial is just one big scam. He knew what was going on and was asking too many questions. So, instead of risking being exposed for the con artist that you are, you killed him."
I had called him out. Let the used car salesman know that we were onto him. How he worked. How he operated. The whole scam. We had exposed him as the fraud that he was.
Lee sat there. Alese sat there as well. Then Lee started clapping, slowly. The gun still pointed at us as he brought his two hands together in sarcastic applause.
"Bravo. Bravo, Max. You're not such an idiot after all."
"Thank you," I said.
Lee seemed a little excited that I had figured out the Ponzi scheme angle. His face relaxed, but the gun still remained pointed squarely at both Imogen and me.
"Yes, yes. Very good. You are correct, Mr. Slade. I am indeed running a Ponzi scheme. And a very good one at that. I've got millions stashed away. Pretty soon, Alese—" He paused and looked at her. "—and I are going to disappear."
What? Alese and Lee? A couple? Was she who I thought she was? I looked over to Imogen, and her jaw was on the floor. She must have been thinking the same thing as well.
"Are you two, um, a couple?" I asked.
Lee laughed.
"Are you DirtyGirl?" I asked, looking at Alese.
Lee stopped laughing.
"How did you know that?" he asked, now locking the pistol directly on me.
I ran with that comment. It had hit a nerve. He looked confused and angry at the same time. It had gotten him thinking. And thinking was good. It was much better than pulling the trigger.
"Know what? That's she's DirtyGirl?" I asked.
Lee was shocked.
"That name. How did you know that name?" he said.
I laughed. "Oh that? Simple, I hacked your email. Oh, and since we're being so honest with each other, I hacked Carl's too. That's how I figured out your whole scam. You might want to think about using stronger passwords in the future."
He looked at me with contempt and hatred while he raised the pistol higher, aiming it directly at my head.
"Too bad you won't live to see that day."