FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) (18 page)

“”There’s nothing confidential as far as I’m
concerned. Feel free to copy whatever you need.”

“Obviously we’ll limit our investigation to
only the pertinent things.”

“You haven’t asked me about Gwen,” he
said.

“No. Have you had any more thoughts about
that?”

“Yes, and so has she. I brought up the
subject of the pre-nup in the event of marriage. It didn’t go down
well. She said I’d insulted her by insinuating that she might be
interested in my money. I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other
again.”

“So you didn’t need my advice at all. You had
it all worked out for yourself.”

“But I was grateful for your input. I’ve
given the matter a lot of thought because of this and our
discussion was useful. I realize that I must keep my options open
for the future, if and when the right opportunity arises.”

“When she was helping out before Gloria’s
death did she do any cooking?” I said.

“No, she only helped with the household
chores and shopping. Why do you ask?”

“Just idle curiosity. I wondered when the
idea of marriage occurred to her – before or after Gloria’s death.
After all, you know what they say: the way to a man’s heart is
through his stomach.”

Greg laughed. Then he thought for a while.
“How could it have occurred to her before? None of us expected
Gloria to die. It was a rather sudden deterioration at the
end.”

We sat in the midday sun under the shade of
the dark green umbrella until the bottle was finished and turned
upside down.

“I really shouldn’t make a habit of this,” I
said.

Greg looked at me conspiratorially. “Good
heavens, why ever not?” he said.

The nursing agency was on the outskirts of
Boylston and required a short diversion before driving over to
Cambridge. Greg had typed me a letter both requesting the details I
had asked for and authorizing me to collect them. Unfortunately it
wasn’t something they could do right away, they would have to delve
into their records. It was still early in the afternoon and they
said I could come back in an hour or so to collect them. I asked
whether at least the two principal nurses who attended Mrs. Philips
were still on the agency’s books as I would need to interview them.
I didn’t say what I wanted to interview them about, and I didn’t
tell them I was involved in an investigation, but I let drop that
Mr. Philips had been very satisfied with the nurses’ performance so
they probably thought I was a potential new client.

I walked around the small town acting like a
tourist and visited the even smaller library building which looked
as if it dated back to Victorian times. I went inside. It looked
like a children’s classroom, with school desks but not many
books.

As I left the library I turned into the main
street and happened by chance to find myself outside the building
in which Bill Saunders had his office. I dropped in on the off
chance that he might be there, and was told that he was. I was told
he was with a client, so I waited patiently, as usual trying
unsuccessfully to find something of interest in the array of
magazines in the reception. Where did offices get these magazines
from? I guessed they were the ones nobody wanted to buy. After a
half hour or so the man himself appeared and greeted me.

“Hello, Kane. Is this a social or business
visit?”

“It’s both really I suppose. I was with Greg
earlier and now I’m waiting for some papers from the nursing
agency. I was killing time and spotted your office and it reminded
me that there’s a couple of matters you may be able to help me
with.”

“I will if I can; come on up.”

I followed him up a steep, rather narrow,
flight of wooden stairs and into an attorney’s office which looked
exactly like what it was.

“It’s only chance that I was here as a matter
of fact,” Saunders said, “I’m usually in our main office in Boston
but I spend the occasional afternoon here for the convenience of
some of our clients. Sit down, please. Now, how can I help
you?”

“Since we met for lunch at the club you
helpfully provided the contact details of the witnesses to Gloria’s
will. There doesn’t seem anything sinister about it, but it just
struck me as unusual. Since Gloria appointed you as her attorney
and made you one of the executors of her will wouldn’t it be more
usual for her to bring the document for you or your staff to
witness her signature?”

“That would have been a more usual course,
yes, but as you know Gloria was not really herself at that time.
There’s nothing legally inappropriate in the way it was handled
though.”

“I’ve hit a brick wall at the moment
investigating Susan Granger’s claim on behalf of Mr. Philips. I was
wondering whether you might be able to help with that.”

“Of course I will if I can. I’m happy to do
anything I can to help Greg. His life over this past year or two
has been a nightmare.”

“Well specifically I want to trace Susan’s
adoption records. You say that none of her private papers are
lodged with you, but you might have better resources than I have to
follow that up. I have the birth certificate showing the place and
date of birth.”

“I was only appointed as her attorney for the
specific purpose of acting as an executor of her estate. It was a
fee-paying arrangement. But I can see if I can find out who her
previous attorney was.”

“I thought perhaps you could contact Susan
directly. I have her address and telephone number. She wasn’t at
all helpful when I went to see her but you may have more success if
she thinks it’s necessary as opposed to just desirable in order to
deal with the probate. She claims not to know which adoption agency
was involved, because she wasn’t told she was adopted for many
years and then shortly afterwards her parents were killed. I must
say I find her story rather dubious but I can’t disprove what she
has told me; not yet anyway.”

“All right I’ll talk to Greg about it and see
what I can do.”

“There’s also the issue of whether Gloria was
mentally competent at the time she made her will. I intend to
follow that up with her doctor. I understand he saw her frequently
to monitor the progress of her condition. In the meantime I would
be grateful if you could do a search to see if there is a former
will made by Gloria.”

“Again, I’ll do my best.”

I noticed that he was jotting these matters
down as I spoke, so I hoped he would do what he said.

“When we had lunch together you said you were
aware of Gloria’s daughter; that the father had been killed or went
missing in Vietnam. Was it Gloria who told you that?”

“No, it was something I learned from Greg
after Gloria’s death; because of Miss Granger’s inclusion in the
will.”

“I wonder if you can give me a ball park
figure for the approximate value of Gloria’s estate.”

“I can do better than that.” He swiveled
round in his chair and reached for a box file on the window ledge
behind him. “I’ve made two synopses: one assumes that Miss
Granger’s claim is legitimate, and the other sets out the position
if not. There are approximate net figures for which each family
member would receive. It’s only an approximation because there will
be various fees and disbursements, but enough to give you a pretty
good overview. These are copies so you can hang on to them if you
like.”

I looked at the two sheets of paper for a
minute or two.

“You’ll see that the valuation of the entire
estate includes an estimate of the value of the family home. I
don’t know if you are aware that the house belonged to Gloria?”

“Yes, Greg told me.

“You will see that Federal Inheritance Tax is
a hefty lump. Susan Granger has been left half of the net estate.
The rest is split equally between Greg and his two sons, so they
would receive one sixth each. If Greg wishes to remain in situ in
the family home he would need to purchase the house from the
estate. Greg’s share of Gloria’s estate would be insufficient for
that, and I am not in a position to comment on Greg’s personal
finances, but he may be sufficiently well off to be able to cope.
He certainly doesn’t want to move, I know. The way the will is
worded it makes it clear that Miss Granger has no say in how the
real property is dealt with. Her bequest is in pecuniary terms. No
specific asset has been bequeathed to her. I must say I’m rather
surprised that there’s no provision to permit Greg to have the
house during his lifetime, but I can only give effect to the will
as it stands.”

I thanked Saunders for his time. It was
nearly four o’clock so I thought I would try my luck at the agency
again. The file was waiting for me. I was told that if I needed to
interview any of their staff I would have to make arrangements
through the agency, they weren’t permitted to give me their private
addresses; so I had to let the cat out of the bag and let the
receptionist know that I needed to speak with them in the course of
a private investigation concerning the circumstances of Mrs.
Philips’ death. It was purely routine I explained; there was no
suggestion of any impropriety or lack of diligence on their part.
Since I presumed that the agency’s only concern was to ensure that
the ladies didn’t go moonlighting and deprive the agency of its
commission I wasn’t surprised when the receptionist acquiesced
without demurring. However, one of the nurses was no longer on the
agency’s books and they had no idea if she was still in the
area.

Miss Prince, the receptionist, peered at me
over the top of her half frame readers and briefly took the pencil
she’d been chewing out of her mouth.

“There were two shifts – eight to four and
four to midnight. The nurse who usually took over the shifts when
the regular nurses had their days off is no longer with us I’m
afraid. Her name is Mrs. Halsey. I can make some enquiries for you
but there’s nothing I can do today.”

She stared at me vacantly and popped the
pencil back in her mouth. I left before she started chomping it
again.

I drove home to sift through the documents
provided for me so that I could decide which of the nurses I needed
to contact. As I approached the car my cell phone rang. It was Paul
Philips. He apologized for the delay in getting back for to me, and
wondered if he could make an appointment to see me in my office
tomorrow. I offered to drive over to his place at his convenience
but he said that he was no longer at that address. It was rented
accommodation and he’d moved out temporarily. He was between places
at the moment and staying with a girlfriend, so my office would be
more convenient. Lucy would be surprised. I’d never used the
meeting room before.

I phoned Jill and arranged to call in and see
her at Complete Forensics before heading home.

Jill came down to the reception area to greet
me. She apologized for not being able to see me before. I said that
was fine, and it had given me time to absorb the implications of
what she’d told me over the phone.

“The lack of DNA is disappointing. I was just
congratulating myself on getting a cross-match sample,” I said.

Jill suggested that we go up to her lab where
she could discuss things in more detail and she led me through the
familiar antiseptic corridors, not unlike a hospital. She ushered
me into her private office adjoining one of the laboratories and I
settled into a chair by the desk which was only slightly more
comfortable than it looked. It was the kind of chair that
encouraged visitors not to overstay their welcome.

We discussed the saliva sample that I’d
obtained from Susan. Jill said that she would look after it in case
any other possible means of a comparison materialized. She was
still preparing Susan’s DNA profile.

“Perhaps you can tell me something about the
subject now and a little more about the nature of your
investigation. As you know, we don’t need to know about the subject
before commencing the test, but now the hair tests are complete it
would help to know more to see if there are any other avenues that
ought to be explored.”

“The subject is one Gloria Philips. She died
last spring, the last day of spring I believe, although I’m not
sure what that date would be.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know either; somewhere
around the middle of June I think. Anyway, that’s close enough for
my purposes.”

“Mrs. Philips was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
disease about two years before that. As I understand her
deterioration after the first year was rather rapid and by the time
of her death, aged sixty five, she had been in the final stages of
the condition for some time.”

“There’s a considerable variation in the way
that dreadful condition progresses, and no-one is sure what causes
it,” Jill said.

“She had an accident just before the first
symptoms were apparent; a broken leg that required surgery. Might
that have any bearing on her subsequent dementia?”

“Well I’m not a physician, as you know, so
I’m really not in a position to comment on that. It doesn’t seem
very likely that there would be a connection between the two
though.”

“Anyway, eventually she became virtually
bed-ridden. But prior to that, after the onset of her condition but
before it become pronounced she was reunited with a young lady,
Susan, who claimed, and still claims, to be her natural daughter
whom Gloria had given up for adoption about forty odd years before.
After Gloria’s death it transpired that she had left a large part
of her estate to Susan. I have been retained by her widower, Greg,
who also happens to be one of the estate’s executors, to
investigate whether Susan really is who she claims to be. Gloria’s
remains were cremated, and Mr. and Mrs. Philips had no children of
their own. There are no known blood relatives of Gloria either.
However, Mr. Philips was able to provide me with the sample of
Gloria’s hair which I brought to you, and I was hoping to compare
it with the sample of Susan’s DNA, so it’s disappointing that
there’s apparently nothing to compare it with.”