The Pentagon Paradox

Chapter Eight

ADELINE

I ring the doorbell, and a young lady opens the door. "How can I help you?" Her brown hair is slicked back in a tight bun. She must be a maid.

"I am here to interview Mrs. Windsor." She seems to recognize me. "You're the lady that called?"

"Miss West, yes." She lets me inside. The house is a place you would expect to see in movies. Vintage millionaire movies.

A hardwood floor that makes the creamy white walls pop and golden sconces here and there. There is a big staircase with marble steps and portraits everywhere. Sage green couches and a glass coffee table are in the living room.

I had just stopped admiring the chandelier when an old lady in blue called for me. "Have a seat, dear." This must be Amy. With a smile, I sit across from her on a green armchair.

"How have you been?" I took out my phone and opened the document, where I listed a few questions to ask her.

"Better. I am finally ready to talk." I give her my condolences and start with the interview. The young lady from earlier comes with a tray and tea cups.

"Tea?" I shake my head, and she places a cup for Amy before walking away.

"So, tell me about him a bit." I hit the record button on my phone and placed it on the coffee table.

"Joe is a kind man. We have been married for 35 years." She plays with her wedding as she speaks.

"He loves his job greatly. When he was called a traitor and taken for trial, his entire world broke." I smile sympathetically at her.

"It must have been so hard for you." She sighs as she remembers. I need to maneuver my way out of the sympathy phase and onto the information collection phase.

"It was. He was so worried about me. He used to hide stacks of money in the house so that I would have something to rely on if he was taken."

Stacks of money? Doesn't he have a bank account?

"Wasn't Mr. Windsor given 12 million dollars after his trials?" She nods.

"Yes, but his account is frozen until further notice." A bank account freeze means you can't take or transfer money out of the account. Bank accounts are typically frozen for suspected illegal activity, a creditor seeking payment, or a government request.

Windsor was labeled innocent in front of the public; they can't freeze his account for that. It should have opened the minute he was promised his position back.

The government must have requested it after his death. "Do you know why?" I ask. She shakes her head. I bet she barely leaves the house, let alone understand how banks work.

"Did your husband know about this?" Windsor must know how these procedures are done. "He must have. He understood them better than me."

Why could he keep stacks of money in the house if his account was active back then? Did he know he was going to die? Or was his account always frozen?

"Did Mr. Windsor have any enemies?" This is the classic question that most people answer with a no, but for someone like Windsor, he must have mentioned it at least once.

"All men have enemies. My husband is no different." Most times, I like old people who speak in riddles, but right now I am holding back my sarcastic comments.

"Do you know any of them?" She better have names for me. "He never involved me in his work. Joe has lots of friends that come and visit him in his study. He never mentioned any of them to me, and I never met them formally."