The Game

2. Strange Cast of Characters

    Jess moved back to the couch and sat down. He tossed the second letter down onto the table next to the other piece of paper. The twenty men all glanced around at each other. There was an easy feeling filling the air. The butler came back, bowing to the group. His eyes took in every man in the room one at a time.

    “Allow me to make a suggestion.” He said. “It might be beneficial to introduce yourselves to each other. Talk about your relationship with the late Randy Udall. Then, I suggest you hurry in finding the clues. Good luck.”

    With that, the mysterious butler disappeared further into the house. After a moment, a man stood up. This man had dark brown skin, short graying brown hair, and hazel eyes. He buttoned his suit jacket, clearing his throat. All the eyes in the room fell on him.

    “My name is Christopher Spanswick. I’m sixty-four, and I was a doctor for many years. Until recently, I was Randy’s personal physician. I retired two years ago.”

    Christopher sat down. Quiet filled the room again. A young man across the room stepped forward. He had lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. His eyes scanned the room before speaking.

    “I’m Kyle George, and I was Randy’s personal banker.” The man took a step back.

    “How old are you?” Chris asked from his seat.

    “Twenty-six,” Kyle answered.

    The older man scoffed. “And you’re saying that Randy hired you to be his personal banker?”

    Kyle nodded. “That’s right. I’m the best in my bank. Randy trusted me to manage his finances for the last two years. If I’m here, then I suppose I did my job well.”

    Chris scoffed again, turning away, but he had no response. A man on one of the couches stood up. He was pale with red hair and green eyes. He smiled in Jess’s direction, but the boy couldn’t return his smile. The man cleared his throat.

    “My name is Douglas Udall, but you can call me Doug.” The man said. “I am Randy Udall’s youngest child and the Chief Information Officer for WIC Corporation. I am thirty-six.”

    Doug’s eyes fell onto his nephew once more. Jess looked up with matching green eyes, but that was all they had in common. Doug sighed and sat back down on the couch. Everybody waited for the next person to stand and introduce themselves. Finally, somebody did. It was an older man with brown skin, black hair, and hazel eyes.

    “Hello. I am Gabriel Thompson.” The man said. “I am a private investigator. I was working closes with Randy Udall researching his daughter’s death.”

    The air in the room chilled at the mention of Udall’s daughter. Her name was Abigail. She and her husband, Mitchell, had been brutally murdered two years ago while their son was away at college. Their son was Jess, who was sitting in this very house. Gabriel felt Jess’s eyes on him as he sat back down in his chair.

    “So, you investigated the murder?” Rowland asked, eyeing the investigator suspiciously.

    Gabriel nodded. “That’s right.”

    “So, you’ve got a leg up on all of us,” Christopher commented, glaring at the man.

    Gabriel frowned. “Not necessarily. I did help the old man investigate their deaths. But that doesn’t mean I solved the mystery. I have no idea who killed them still. Mr. Udall did some investigating on his own. If we’re all here, then he must’ve figured it out.”

    The group grew silent again. Another sense of uneasiness filled the air. If a PI couldn’t solve the murder, how could all of the men in this room? Would they even be able to? There were so many unspoken questions hanging in the air. None of what was happening made sense to anybody in the room.

    Finally, another man stood up and cleared his throat. He had red hair and green eyes and looked almost exactly like Doug. All eyes fell on him immediately and he didn’t make eye contact with anybody. This man just straightened his tie and looked over the crowd.

    “My name is Val Udall. I’m the fourth child in my family if you count my dearly deceased sister.” The man said. “I am thirty-nine and the Chief Administrative Officer of the WIC Corporation.”

    Val sat back down. His brothers always regarded him as the trouble maker of the family. He and Abigail were always up to something. Nobody in the family ever trusted him except for his nephew. Jess was watching him now, though. Something was off with the man, and everybody in the room was trying to figure it out. What was it about Val Udall’s speech that made everybody uneasy?

    The next man who stood up to introduce himself was old. His hair was completely white, his eyes- whatever color they had been- were now blue, and his skin was shriveled. To the onlookers, it was apparent time had not been kind to this man. Everybody wondered what he was even doing here.

    “My name is George Williams.” The old man croaked, making everyone shutter. “I was a reporter back in my day. Randy and I were good friends. I even tried to pull a few strings for him when his daughter died to get more information. But, what he found, I have no clue.”

    The old man slowly sank back into his chair with his cane. Everybody watched in silence as he struggled to sit again. When he was finally down, chatter erupted amongst the men. Some even laughed. Finally, a man leaned forward to talk to George.

    “So, what is death itself doing here?” The man asked. “How can you inherit anything? You could die tomorrow.”

    Everybody in the room laughed except for George. He was staring intently at the younger man, leaning forward on his cane. The group settled down when they realized the old man didn’t find it funny.

    “You could die tonight.” George retorted. “Any one of us could kick the bucket at any moment. Just look at Randy. He was in perfect health, and then he suddenly had a heart attack! It could happen to anyone.”

    The silence that fell over the room was awkward. But he was right. Everyone in the room knew that the old man spoke the truth. Randy had been in perfect health before his heart attack. He fought for his life for three days in the hospital before ultimately passing away. Everybody looked down at their hands for a moment to grieve silently over the man.

    “He wouldn’t even let me see him,” Val whispered. Everybody turned and stared at him. “The only person he wanted to see was Jess. I thought for sure that he was handing the entire inheritance over to him.” Val looked up at his nephew. “What did he say to you? Why did he want to see you so much?”

    Jess shook his head. “He missed me, is all. I was in Spain, so he hadn’t gotten to see me. All he talked about was the company. Nothing else happened.”