"Mr. Waters, is there anything that you want to tell me about Matilda?" Will asked as he sat in front of Henry Waters's desk. "The information we recently received was from one of her coworkers. Was Matilda having trouble at work?"
"Not that I know of," Henry said. "She was tired of course. She was a mom, a wife, and had a job that she felt that she had to succeed at."
"What do you mean by that?" Will asked.
"Matilda had dreams, big dreams," Henry said, smiling at the thought of his granddaughter. "She had her eye on being a coach, but she felt like she had to prove to everyone that she earned that job. If she couldn't cut it helping train referees, she didn't think anyone would think she deserved to get an assistant coaching job."
Will knew was Henry was saying was accurate. Matilda had been in the world of basketball her entire life. Since her grandfather was one of the greatest coaches in the leagues history, Matilda must have felt she needed to prove she didn't just get her job because of Henry.
"What about Matthew?" Will asked. "Were they having any problems?"
"No, nothing like that," Henry said, violently shaking his head. "He was good to her. He would never do anything to hurt her."
"Did she have any ex boyfriends that may have had a problem with her?" Will asked.
"Matthew had been her first boyfriend," Henry told him. "Matthew had a few ex girlfriends, but as far as I know he didn't have much contact with any of them."
"No one had a problem with Matilda?" Will asked. "I know your granddaughter was a good girl, but she wasn't perfect. There's no one you can think of that had something against her?"
"She had just fired her nanny before she died," Henry said. "She said it was because Matthew's mom had just moved to Philadelphia and wanted to help watch Catalina."
"But they had never fought?" Will asked.
"Not that Matilda or Matthew had told me," Henry sighed. "But I'm starting to find out there is a lot about my granddaughter that I didn't know about."
"What do you mean?" Will asked.
"Her fight with Luther for one," He said. "Matthew only told me about that a last year. I'm sure Matthew told the other detectives about it."
"But you don't think the problem was serious?" Will asked. He didn't even need to ask about what the fight may have been about, he remembered vividly the day that Luther had quoted Matilda on national television.
"I hadn't even noticed they had been fighting, so no Detective," Henry said.
"You and your granddaughter were close Mr. Waters, why wouldn't have Matilda told you about the fight?" Will asked.
"I was having some heart problems around then," Henry sighed. "Matilda probably didn't want me to worry. She could fight her own battles; she didn't need me stepping in."
Will recalled the time Henry was talking about; it had only been a few months before Matilda had died. In his entire career until that point, Henry had missed only two games. However, for a week Henry had been absent from practices and games. His trusted assistant coach, Pete Hank, had coached the games, but Henry's absence was enough of an abnormality to worry fans.
"Now that I think of it, Matilda had been acting strangely then," Henry said.
"How so?" Will asked.
"She seemed… different when she came to visit me," Henrys said. "But only when Mike was there. She seemed uncomfortable around him."
"Mike Bern?" Will asked. "What trouble would she have with the team's owner?"
"I didn't think about it much, I was too tired," Henry sighed. "I thought it just had to do something with Rick, Mike's son. Rick had always had a crush on Matilda and he seemed a little depressed when Matilda had gotten married."
"Matilda had been married over two years when she died," Will said. "Rick wasn't over it yet?"
"Oh, I think he was. He had just had his trouble with girlfriends, that's all." Henry said. "I think was disappointed Matilda was moving on with her life and he wasn't. The two had practically grown up together but Matilda was doing more with her life."
"But the two had never fought?" Will asked.
"Detective, Rick is one of the kindest men you will ever meet. He wanted the best for Matilda; he was a lost kid, that's all." Henry said.
"Do you think he would be open to talking to us?" Will asked. Will was sure Rick had been interviewed when Matilda had died but talking to him couldn't hurt.
"Of course detective, he's actually in his father's office down the hall; I'll go see if he can talk," Henry said, briskly walking out the room until he hesitated once he reached the door. He turned around to face Will as he stood in the doorway.
"I'm an old man detective. I don't like to admit it, but I am. I'm a tired old man who can't leave this game because, if I do leave this team, I don't know what I will do with the pain I have in my heart. Please, find out what happened to Matilda, so this old man can just spend the last of his days with his great-granddaughter."
And with that, Henry walked out of the room, leaving Will to digest what he had said. Will knew it was hard enough for families to move on once cases were solved; dealing with the grief when all the questions lingered was more pain than Will could imagine. After a few minutes, Henry walked into the room with a tall, thirty something man with blonde hair. Will stood up to shake his hand as Henry began to walk out.
"I'll give you two time to talk," Henry said as he left. "Rick, you can take my seat."
"Henry said you wanted to talk to me about Matilda," Rick said as he sat down in Henry's seat. "I'm afraid I don't think I know much that could help you."
"You two had known each other your entire lives," Will said. "She hadn't said anything to you that made you think she was in some sort of trouble; that someone had a problem with her?"
"Matilda and I had been a little… distant for a few years," Rick said sheepishly.
"Yes, Henry had told me about your feelings toward her," Will said. "Had that caused a problem between you two?"
"That wasn't why we were having problem detective," Rick told him, clearly surprised at Will's suggestion. "Matilda was upset about my father."
"Your father?" Will asked. "Why was she upset about him?"
"She overreacted, that's all," Rick said. "She had gotten so paranoid, especially when Henry got sick."
"What the hell Rick?" Matilda screamed as she stormed into Rick's office at the arena. "What the hell is your father trying to pull?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rick said as he looked up from his paper work. Matilda looked disheveled as she ran her hands through her hair.
"You know what I'm talking about Rick," Matilda said as she paced around the room. "You're father is trying to get rid of my grandfather. After all he has done for this franchise, this is how he repays him?"
"Matilda, calm down," Rick said as he got up from his desk. He took Matilda's shaking body and led her into a seat. He sat next to her as he gave her time to catch her breath. "Tell me what happened."
"The other night, after the game, I heard your dad talking to Pete," she said. "He kept telling Pete how he'll do great things for this team once my grandfather is gone."
"Matilda, I'm sure he just meant-"Rick began but Matilda cut him off.
"No Rick, he didn't say once he retired or even once he left. Gone Rick, gone," Matilda repeated as she continued to practically shake. "My grandfather made this franchise an empire and your father is just waiting for the day he dies."
"Come on Matilda, you know my father is better than that," Rick said, taking Matilda's hand. "My father knows this team needs your grandfather. We'll need a new coach one day, but not until your grandfather is ready to retire."
"That won't be for a long time," Matilda said. "Your father better know that."
"Believe me Matilda, my father is in no rush for your grandfather to leave," Rick replied. "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Matilda sighed. "Just don't tell your father about this, okay?"
"Of course Matilda," Rick assured her.
"Did Matilda ever bring up your father trying to replace Henry again?" Will asked.
"He wasn't trying to replace Henry, but no Detective; she never brought it up again." Rick said.
"And she never confronted your father?" Will asked.
"No, not that I know of," Rick replied. "But if you ever have anymore questions for me, don't hesitate to call and ask me."
Will wasn't sure if Matilda had been on the right track but Will couldn't help but think that a woman like Matilda would have confronted Mike. Her family was clearly everything to her, and he doubted someone possibly betraying her grandfather was going to sit well with her.