“This young man was killed up on Regál Pass Wednesday night. The crash wasn’t discovered until last night,” the undersheriff said, still holding the photo. “I apologize for this, Mrs. Roybal. But I need to know if you recognize him.”
The old woman took the picture without hesitation and straightened in her chair, holding the photo in both hands down in her lap. Her face took on the same severe expression that she had reserved for student papers that weren’t up to snuff.
“Do you recognize this man?” Estelle asked.
“Who is this?” Serafina replied. “His name, I mean.”
“His name is Christopher Marsh. We think that he lived in Las Cruces.”
“A car accident, you said.”
“Yes. His truck hit a deer.”
“Oh my.” She lifted her eyebrows philosophically. “You know, he impressed me as such a nice, thoughtful young man.”
“You recognize him, then?”
“He was a deliveryman,” she replied, using the single Spanish word repartidor. “I don’t remember the name of the company.”
“Do you remember the vehicle he was driving?”
“No. I don’t pay attention to things like that.”
“But you had packages delivered here?”
“I won a drawing by some magazine company. Not so much, but every little bit is a help, no? Such a surprise.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Not so much of a surprise as when I won not once, but twice.”
“Would you tell me about it?”
“There is nothing to tell, Estellita. It was just one of those sweepstakes that come along. Usually I throw them away, but this was a personal letter, and I read it.” She glanced at Estelle. “I didn’t have to do a thing, you see. Nothing to fill out. Maybe I’m just foolish, but it turned out all right.”
“How much did you win?”
“The first time it was about three thousand dollars,” Serafina said. “Of course, I had to pay some fees. That was a nuisance, but this young man made it easy for me.”
“How did he do that?”
“He said that his company usually requires a cashier’s check from the bank. But it’s hard for me to get into town now. He said that his company would accept a personal check, since the amount wasn’t so large.”
Estelle did a rapid mental calculation, using the 17 percent figure for fees and exchange rate penalties that Joe Baca had mentioned. “You had to pay approximately five hundred dollars?”
“Yes. But they accepted my check.”
“And in return?”
“He delivered the official check right then. The check for what they said I had won.”
“For more than three thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“Serafina, you said the first time. This happened again, then?”
“This young man,” and she held up the photo, “said that it wasn’t uncommon for someone to win more than once. He had his own theory that maybe it was some kind of computer error.” She shrugged. “Maybe so. Anyway, the next time I won twenty-eight hundred dollars. Not so much.”
“What did you send in the second time?”
“Nothing. I sent in nothing. Not the first time, either. He came right to the door.” She frowned. “I would never send anything off. I know those scams are so common.”
“And you paid that time, too? Four or five hundred in fees?”
“Yes. But overall, you see, I came out ahead. Did you talk with Joe? I saw your car over there.”
“Yes. He had similar good fortune, it seems.”
“I should say so. Only he won much, much more. And on top of the big lottery as well. My heavens, the stars were looking out for us.”
“But this man came to your door.” Estelle held up Marsh’s photo.
“Yes. The two times about which I’ve told you.”
“Was anyone with him?”
“I couldn’t tell. I don’t see so well anymore, you know. I don’t think so.”
“Do you happen to have the letters that they sent to you? The magazine company?”
“I save everything,” Serafina said with resignation. “An affliction of an old lady. Even if I know it doesn’t matter, I save it. The challenge is in the finding.” She held up a hand and rose unsteadily from her chair. “Let me see. You’re sure you don’t want something to drink?”
“No thank you, Serafina.”
Estelle watched Serafina make her way toward the bedroom. From where she sat, the undersheriff could see a small yellow nightstand, the corner of the bed, and another door that would lead to the bathroom. After several moments, Serafina reemerged with several papers.
“I’m so pleased that you stopped by,” she said. “You know, last year you gave us quite a scare, young lady.”
“I scared myself,” Estelle said. “That’s the letter?”
“I have the first one,” Serafina said. “I remember that when it came in the mail, I thought it was a chanchullo,” and Estelle was surprised to hear her use the colloquial word that had come to mean “scam” or “trickery.”
“Too good to be true?”
“Exactly. Here. You read it and tell me what you think. While you do that, I’ll see if I can find the second one.”
The letter, on heavy, high-quality paper, featured an impressive full-color letterhead from Canadian Publications Limited, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The letterhead included the street address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail information. It was tri-folded in an equally high-quality envelope, with the same return address printed on the upper left corner. The Canadian stamp was a generic coil issue with perforations on two sides. Estelle held the envelope over toward the lamp to catch more light. The postmark was Canadian, dated December 10 of the previous year.
She held the paper carefully by just the corners and read the text. It was lively, polite, and brief:
Dear Mrs. Serafina Roybaclass="underline"
We are pleased to announce that your name has been selected as a second level prize winner in the Canadian Publications Limited Reader Awards Sweepstakes. Although you have not been selected for the Grand Prize, your winnings total $3,250.00. This sweepstakes reflects our commitment to generating reader interest in the periodicals distributed by CPL, but requires no purchase on your part.
The check for the winning amount will be delivered to your home in Regál, New Mexico. Canadian Publications Limited has contracted exclusively with Global Productivity Systems, Inc., for delivery of prize winnings, with proceeds drawn on First State National Savings Bank of Las Cruces.
As you are no doubt aware, transferring prize winnings from one country to another incurs certain tax charges, along with monetary exchange rate adjustments. At the current time, those charges amount to 16.981 % of gross winnings, and by law cannot simply be deducted from the winning amount.
GPS, Inc., a bonded and certified parcel delivery firm that serves your area, has agreed to serve as the monetary transfer agent for your winning check. The driver who calls on you with the prize check will accept a standard cashier’s check for the monetary exchange adjustment, a total of $551.88. We regret the inconvenience that personal checks cannot be accepted. As well, GPS, Inc., will not accept cash payments.
A GPS courier will contact you at your home on or about Dec. 14, 2007, to effect the transfer of funds. If this is not possible, feel free to contact our Funds Disbursement Office in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the number at the top of this letter.
Again, our best wishes, and congratulations!
Sincerely,
E. Everett Walker, Jr.