Chapter 7
The mansion that served as the residence for Javier Estrada,
the recently named interim president for Pedroza Enterprises, sat atop a big
hill. The structure was not necessarily impressive because of its size, but
rather, because of its modern multilevel architectural design and its
breathtaking panoramic view of the coast. Commissioned by the Estradas four
years ago, it was designed according to their exact specifications. A huge
kitchen, master bedroom with a spacious Jacuzzi tub, a closet larger than the
regular rooms of most mere mortals, and an art studio so that Javier’s wife
could practice her love of art. For the man of the house, a complete gym
equipped with the latest machines and a pool large enough to swim laps, his
favorite sport.
That afternoon, Javier Estrada was
finishing his routine laps when a woman stopped at the edge of the pool to
inform him of the arrival of a visitor. Javier was aware of the possibility
that Lorenzo Almeida might stop by during the day, like he had told him over
the phone, but he did not think he actually would. He had hoped that, after
interviewing Irma and Jessica, Lorenzo would find it unnecessary to visit him.
But there he was.
Javier asked the woman to let
Lorenzo in and indicated that he would receive his guest right there at the
pool. The woman went back into the house and Javier pulled himself up on one of
the pool’s rails. He walked over to a small table, dripping water as he went,
where he picked up a white towel that was laying across one of the chairs and
started to dry himself off.
Javier had an enviable physique, thanks
to the many hours he spent in the gym and to swimming on a regular basis. He
looked like the perfect model of professional success—straight out of some
social magazine. He was 44 years old, but his gray hair suggested that he was
older.
Outside at the entrance, Lorenzo
waited patiently while the electric gate slowly rolled up, allowing him
entrance to the property. Once his path forward was no longer blocked, he drove
his car around the water fountain with marine motifs that adorned the
building’s façade. He parked in front of the porch at the main entrance. Beautiful
and well-tended gardens granted a final touch of class to the space. Lorenzo
stepped out of his car and walked to the front door where he was greeted by a
woman.
“Welcome, Mr. Almeida, you can come
in. Mr. Estrada is waiting for you out back by the pool. Follow me,” the
dark-skinned woman in professional attire greeted and instructed him. She had
obviously been interrupted from some other work activity to attend to Lorenzo.
“Thank you, miss,” responded
Lorenzo, following her through the door.
Upon entering the mansion, Lorenzo
marveled at how the inside felt spacious without being cavernous or insipid.
The decor, furniture, and other adornments were wisely placed and reflected an
exquisite taste. The immense room’s back wall was pure crystal and afforded an
imposing view of the sea from its privileged position.
When they stepped outside, a strong
but pleasant breeze was blowing. A small path, flanked by neatly cut grass, led
them directly to the pool. Javier was waiting for him, seated at a crystal-topped
table with a white umbrella.
“Almeida, welcome!” greeted Javier
from the table. “Sit down here with me, please,” he said, signaling to an open
chair. Lorenzo sat down, and the woman turned around and headed back to where
they had come from.
“Thank you. Beautiful place you
have here. Tremendous view, really,” exclaimed Lorenzo, practically without
taking a breath. The dominating panorama had a visceral effect on him, but even
so, he preferred the view from his own house because he felt it provided him a
more intimate connection with the sea. In any case, he tried to take in as much
of the view, and the effect it had on him, as possible.
“Well, thank you. I love the view. It’s
the best part of the property,” said Javier with pride. “Would you like something
to drink?” he said, referring to some bottles of beer and liquor that he had
put away inside a mini-fridge next to the table.
“Thank you, but I don’t drink,”
Lorenzo informed him with a timid smile.
“What do you mean? They’re cold,”
Javier insisted. “Then, a soda or a juice. She’ll bring it right over,” he
said, referring to the woman who had welcomed Lorenzo.
“No, don’t bother the maid. I’m
okay,” said Lorenzo, making himself comfortable in the chair.
“She’s not the maid. She’s my
wife,” clarified Javier with a smile.
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that…”
To Lorenzo’s embarrassment, Javier
explained, “You would expect otherwise. I know. But she likes to look after the
house. She’s enamored with it and she enjoys it. I let her. What can I do?” His
wife would not allow anyone to carry out her routine house chores. She spent
the majority of her time in her art studio, creating the decor for every corner
of every room. After some time had gone by, she would redecorate. It was simply
her passion. Javier spoke with pride about that quirk because he knew that it
was something unique within the social circle to which they belonged. Some
people admired it, others looked at it with disgust. That did not matter to
him. He enjoyed seeing people’s reactions and seeing Lorenzo’s face turn beet
red from embarrassment. It was also part of his strategy to manipulate the
visit.
“Tell me, Lorenzo…what do you do?
What’s your
special talent?
” asked Javier, feigning interest. Lorenzo
did not know how to answer at first. After an uncomfortable silence, he tried
to respond.
“I’m actually unemployed. But I
operate heavy machinery.”
“Oh, good to know, in case we ever
do anything with the properties we have here. The people who worked here did
wonders. This terrain was filled with rocks and the land wasn’t as level as it
looks now. It took quite some time. I think you should buy your own machine and
work independently,” commented Javier calmly. Lorenzo was losing patience with
Javier’s small talk.
“I’ve thought about it, but it’s a
big investment and things aren’t good right about now. You know.”
“Yes, the economy is unstable,”
agreed Javier.
“I’m not referring to the economy,
but rather the situation with my wife Doris,” clarified Lorenzo, directing the
conversation toward what mattered to him.
Javier took a sip of beer in
preparation for talking about the inevitable topic.
“Okay, I haven’t asked why you’re
here because I already know. You want to know what happened the night of the
crime. Or, at least, from my point of view, because you should already know the
general facts.”
“I’m more interested in the how and
the why.”
“You can’t possibly believe that
Doris didn’t do it?” asked Javier in a way that Lorenzo did not like at all,
but he preferred to keep his mouth shut for now. Just then, Javier’s wife
showed up with a tray of soft drinks and another tray of light snacks: cubed
cheese, sliced ham, and crackers.
“Thank you, love, but he doesn’t
want anything.”
“I think I changed my mind. I’ll
take a soft drink. You can leave it there. Thank you,” said Lorenzo, stretching
out his arm to grab one of the glasses. He brought it to his mouth and drank it
all in a single gulp. Javier’s wife shot a glance at her husband before
returning to the house. Lorenzo caught it but could not quite make out its
meaning.
“Look, I sympathize with your
situation, really,” assured Javier. “But, honestly, it’s a waste of your time
and energy. I say that with the best of intentions. I know it’s the last thing
you want to hear, but sometimes that’s what the truth is: ugly. And in this
case I assure you that that’s how it is because I was there and I saw the whole
thing,” declared Javier with conviction and resolve but in a condescending tone
that bugged Lorenzo.
“I know, but I want to understand
some of the details that don’t make sense to me. For example, why was Doris
there in the first place?” asked Lorenzo.
“Easy, because she was invited.
Without an invitation she wouldn’t have been able to come in, and we could all
see that she had one,” answered Javier, smiling in satisfaction at batting away
Lorenzo’s first concern so easily.
“Why? For what reason was she
invited? She no longer had Pedroza’s trust. He fired her! And why did she
accept the invitation?”
“It could have been a last attempt
at getting her job back. If Pedroza invited her, then there was hope,” pointed
out Javier while adjusting the towel around his neck.
“Where does that leave us? On the
one hand, everyone tells me that Pedroza had a bad temper but on the other
hand, that he invited his subordinates to his house to drink wine, taste
cheese, and
yada yada
. To me that doesn’t add up,” declared Lorenzo,
shaking his head, vexed.
“That’s how Pedroza was. What do you
want me to say? In official matters, he was so wrapped up in his job and so
demanding that he made you feel like nothing. Like garbage! Sometimes he had
fits of rage that would terrify you. You could see his employees hiding in
their cubicles to avoid even being seen by him, even if the current problem had
nothing to do with them. Then, outside of the office, it was a different story,
one of love. Your best buddy. I’m telling you honestly, it wasn’t easy to
reconcile his two sides. Maybe that was what Doris expected when she arrived
there. If he invited her, there must have been something. Maybe in his house,
in a different environment, she could fix things,” argued Javier easily.
“Another dead-end,” complained
Lorenzo, putting a cheese cube in his mouth.
“The truth is that none of us who
were there, aside from Doris, could have done it. We didn’t have opportunity or
motive,” Javier said, crossing his arms with confidence.
“But now you’ll be president,”
suggested Lorenzo, fixing his gaze on Javier. He knew he was entering dangerous
territory, but he figured he had nothing to lose.
“Does it look to you like I need to
be president?” said Javier, opening his arms wide to his magnificent property.
“I guarantee you that I can no longer escape to swim as often as I would like.
Being president gives me more responsibilities and fills up my schedule. Besides,
why bite the hand that feeds you?”
“Why let someone else feed you when
you could do it yourself?” suggested Lorenzo, pushing his point.
“You’re grasping for straws, and
you know it. Why are you doing this? Don’t you know that it’ll only hurt you?
Tell me, you have to have a reason,” said Javier, trying to show personal
interest.
Lorenzo knew full well why he was
doing it. But he did not want to share something so intimate and personal with
someone he saw as an annoying task to be crossed off his ‘to do’ list as soon
as possible.
“It’s what I have to do. It’s my
duty. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
“I’d like to think so. But I’d only
know for sure if I were in that situation. Allow me to congratulate you on
fulfilling your duty,” expressed Javier, patting him on the shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“Look,” said Javier, lowering his
voice, “I know someone who was on Pedroza’s bad side both inside and outside
the office. I don’t know if that will help you with anything.”
“Who?” asked Lorenzo eagerly.
“A week ago,” said Javier
cryptically while leaning toward Lorenzo, “Pedroza had a bitter quarrel with his
attorney over the phone. Pretty ugly. His door was closed, but you could hear
Pedroza screaming very clearly, over and over again: ‘You’re finished, I’m
going to destroy you!’ And if Pedroza was known for anything, it was that he
always, always followed through on his threats. Well, at least until now.”
“And who was his attorney? What’s
his name?” probed Lorenzo.
“Oh, no, no, no,” said Javier,
smiling and leaning back in his seat. “I think I’ve already told you too much.
It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to cross that line. You’re the one playing
detective. Figure it out.”
Lorenzo smiled at Javier’s
comparison. He also heard the mocking tone that accompanied the supposed inside
information. Was he trying to help him? Maybe he wanted to mislead him even
further. Or, worse yet, he was just throwing him a bone so he would not bother
him anymore. Lorenzo knew it was time to go.
“I guess I should say thanks,” said
Lorenzo, standing up.
“I have a lot of respect for
Doris,” said Javier, opening his arms and displaying his million dollar smile,
which Lorenzo felt was the most sincere smile of the entire meeting, even
though he knew that of all the witnesses, he was the least close to Doris.
Maybe the smile was because the visit was over.
Lorenzo said goodbye with a
handshake. Javier’s wife appeared to show him to the door. She had not smiled
once during the entire visit, which shocked Lorenzo. If she was so proud of her
mansion and she loved taking care of visitors, she certainly had not
demonstrated it this afternoon. Lorenzo expected her to at least give him a
smile when it was time for him to head out. While crossing the living room,
Lorenzo looked back at the pool through the crystal window one last time. He
was able to see Javier talking on the phone while vehemently gesturing with his
arm. It made him suspicious that Javier was already on the phone with someone
so quickly.
Who could he be talking to and why?
Lorenzo wondered before
Mrs. Estrada opened the door for him. Lorenzo kindly said goodbye, but she did
not offer a smile even then.
As soon as Lorenzo got into his
car, he picked up his cell phone to make a call, but he had to put it right back
down and put the car in drive because the gate started to open.
Okay,
they’re kicking me out
, he thought.