Harley stood up. “Either you did a proper job of the will or you didn’t. There are no extenuating circumstances. Now please give us a copy of the will and we’ll be on our way. And I’ll recommend to Tommie that she hire her own lawyer in this situation.”
Tommie stood up with the cat in her arms. The top of her head was buzzing with anger, a very bad sign.
The lawyer stood too and pushed his glasses up his nose. He looked first at Harley, then the cat, then Tommie. “Ms. Sykes, I assure you I’m not trying to make life difficult for you. I’m not your lawyer. I’m the lawyer for Samuel and the estate. My job is to be sure that Samuel’s wishes are fulfilled. If he didn’t know he had a daughter…this might require the intervention of a judge. As Mr. Jones recommends, you might want to get your own representation in this matter.”
“If Ms. Rains pursues this claim, I will,” Tommie said. “But until then, I’m going forward with my plans. I am the legal heir until proven otherwise.”
“I can’t stop you, though I would suggest you use caution with any permanent changes to the structure.”
Harley stepped forward. “Samuel left the house to her. I don’t see how that can be disputed. It’s in black and white.” He picked up the copy of the will the lawyer had put on the desk. “It says it right here.”
“I agree—” Before the lawyer could complete the sentence, the door burst open.
“You can’t go in there.” The lawyer’s receptionist was doing all she could do to stop the leggy blonde from entering the room.
“Nina?” Gordon said. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to claim my rightful share of the Loftus estate. I’m Samuel’s wife.”
Chapter Eleven
This goes beyond the pale. We have an alleged daughter and an alleged wife claiming part of Samuel Loftus’s estate. And all within twenty-four hours of Tommie setting foot on the property. It’s like the vultures were just circling and waiting for Samuel to die.
And that caregiver! I was right when I met her in the diner and thought she was someone to be wary of. Now she claims she’s Samuel’s wife. Funny how she didn’t stake her claim at the will reading, even though she was there.
There is one solid clue here, though. One the humans haven’t detected. The scent Ms. Nina Ahearn, allegedly Loftus, wears is very heavy. I’ve smelled it before. In her room when no one was supposed to be there. Is this an effort to make Tommie think her home is haunted? And how is that scent being disseminated throughout the house? I wish I could convey this tidbit to Tommie or Harley, but as much as it humbles me to admit it, I don’t know how.
All three of the bipeds look as if they’ve been hit in the head with a baseball bat. Stunned. Oh, and the Lass is getting angry. I see the heat rise in her face. Uh-oh. I’m going to hunker down by the desk because I feel an explosion coming on.
* * *
Harley spoke before he thought. “Nina, you aren’t Samuel’s widow any more than I’m Mahatma Gandhi. That’s a ridiculous claim. You forget, I was with Samuel almost every evening, talking into the wee hours. He had no romantic relationship with you. He valued what you did for him, but there was nothing indicating love.”
“That shows what you know, Harley Jones. And it may be ridiculous to you, but Samuel and I were in love.” Nina waved a paper about like it was a handkerchief of victory. “And we’re married now. I’m Nina Loftus. Legally.”
“This can’t be happening.” Britt Gordon looked confused. He turned to Nina. “The bank said you cashed your check last week. That was your settlement from the estate. You were at the reading of the will. You know that was your share.”
“Oh, I took that paltry amount of cash and now I’ve come for the rest of it.”
“There is no rest of it,” Gordon said. “That’s what Samuel left you.”
“Too bad he didn’t tell you the truth. We’re married.” She held out her left hand where a golden band sparkled. “I’m his wife. I get an elective share of the estate, I do believe.”
“This is unbelievable,” Tommie said. “My uncle didn’t have a wife or a daughter that no one knew about. This is bull.”
Nina smirked at Tommie. “I’ll be by the house this evening. I’d like to move back into my old rooms.”
“That isn’t going to happen.” Harley moved beside Tommie. “Ms. Sykes is the rightful owner, according to Samuel’s will. This last-minute marriage won’t work.”
“I have the marriage application forms.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. “Signed and witnessed. I just have to file it with the proper people.”
Harley took the paper and handed it to Tommie. She studied it for a moment. “Who is this Reverend Krystal Child?”
Britt Gordon sat heavily in his chair. “Oh dear Lord, she’s an internet preacher from Knoxville, Tennessee. She’s on one of the television channels.”
“This isn’t worth the paper it’s on,” Tommie said, tossing it on the lawyer’s desk.
“Reverend Child is licensed to perform marriages, and that’s what she did. She came to the manor and performed the ceremony. And Samuel signed on the dotted line. Right there.”
“You’ll have to take me to court,” Tommie said. “That’s the only way you’ll get in the manor. Unless you know a secret entrance.”
Harley saw the shock pass over Nina’s face though she did her best to cover it up. The woman knew something. He filed that away until he had a chance to pursue it. The black cat, too, was watching her with suspicion.
“Harley, we should go,” Tommie said. She clutched the copy of the will and reached over to the desk and picked up the marriage documents too.
Harley lifted Trouble into his arm. As he walked by Nina, the cat hissed in her face. She gave a startled little cry and stepped back. Harley held his laughter, but he did enjoy the cat’s spunk. Whatever else Trouble might be, he was smart about humans. He knew who to like and who to dislike. When they were clear of the office, Trouble jumped to the floor.
* * *
Tommie mulled over the startling turn of events as she walked beside Harley, the black cat trailing behind them. At the parking lot, Trouble scampered over to a black SUV with Elmore County tags on it.
“Trouble, come on.” She had accepted the cat understood her. “We have a few more things to do.”
Instead of obeying, the cat hopped on the hood of the car and began scratching the front windshield with his paw.
“Grab the cat,” Harley said as he opened the driver’s door of the car. “He’s going to get in trouble.”
“Like his name,” Tommie responded as she went to gather him in her arms. Instead, he darted to the top of the SUV and began patting the driver’s window. “He really wants in this vehicle.”
“Not a good idea,” Harley said. “Not everyone is fond of cats.”
Trouble gave him a look and a low hiss.
“But they should be,” Harley added.
Tommie laughed at the big, muscular man intimidated by a fifteen-pound cat. “I’ll grab him.” She reached up for him and he jumped back to the hood. Peering into the SUV, she stopped in her tracks. “Harley, this is Nina Ahearn’s car. There’s some paperwork on the passenger seat.”
“Her brand new car,” Harley said as he joined her. “She was driving an old Escort the last time I saw her.”
“Money from Samuel’s estate.” Tommie couldn’t help the hint of bitterness in her voice. “It seems like everyone only cared about my uncle for his money or what he could do for them. It makes me sad to think his last years were spent surrounded by people waiting for him to die.”
“He had friends, Tommie. I was one of them. I don’t care for Britt Gordon, but I think the man viewed Samuel as a friend. And just to be clear, I never expected to benefit from Samuel except in the pleasure of his company.”
Tommie felt a wave of remorse sweep over her. “I wasn’t including you in my statement, Harley. I really wasn’t. I’m sorry if I sounded lik
e I was.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s grab the cat before Nina comes out and catches him up there on her new ride. She’ll file some kind of damage claim against him and you.”
Tommie chuckled, but Harley was right. “Trouble, come down here now.”
The cat only batted the window again.
“The car isn’t locked.” Tommie gave in to an impulse and pulled the door open. Instantly the cat jumped into the driver’s seat and Tommie was hit with a wall of heavy perfume. She thought Nina had likely taken a bath in it.
And then she realized that it was the very same scent she’d smelled in Nina’s old room. The perfume had wafted around the enclosure on the night she’d heard an intruder. “We have to get to the bottom of what’s going on at Loftus Manor,” she said. To that end, she picked up the sheaf of paperwork on the passenger seat. Trouble leaped out of the car to the ground as if his work was done.
She went through the papers quickly, glancing up to be sure Nina wasn’t coming out of the lawyer’s office. “It’s information about that internet preacher and also about inheritance laws of Alabama for a wife left out of a will. She’s done her research. She is due a share of the estate.”
“If she is legally married,” Harley reminded her. “Your uncle would have told me if he married.”
She dropped the papers on the seat and backed out of the car, closing the door. “Are you sure?” She wanted to believe him. More than anything.
“I’m positive,” Harley said. “Samuel was in a good mental condition. His health was holding steady. I don’t believe he married Nina and I don’t believe he killed himself.”
“This haunting business. So far it’s been more annoyance and intimidation, but there’s a lot at stake here. If something happened to me, who would inherit?”
Harley’s eyebrows drew close together. “I don’t know. The daughter might, but since she’s no relation to you, maybe not. If Samuel’s marriage to Nina is legal, Nina might also have a claim. If you died.”
“Then we have to make sure I stay alive,” Tommie said. “And we have to find out how someone is slipping around the manor. Once we resolve that, I think we can put the ghosts to bed.”
Chapter Twelve
Harley had finally managed to contain Trouble in the vehicle—the day was cool and there was plenty of ventilation—before he and Tommie stepped into the coroner’s office. It was a tiny closet in the courthouse with barely enough room for a desk, the young woman behind it, and five filing cabinets. The receptionist brightened at the sight of Harley, and he gave her a smile and a nod. He’d spoken to her in town on occasion and he knew her first name.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.
“I’d like an official copy of the autopsy report on Samuel Loftus,” Tommie said.
“Are you a relative?”
“Yes, his only living relative. I’m his niece.”
Harley hadn’t realized how much Odell Rains and Nina Ahearn had gotten under Tommie’s skin until those words popped out of her mouth. She was defending her claim to Loftus Manor to a total stranger. Forcing her into that corner was wrong. She was a good person, not a money grubber. “Nancy, this is Tommie Sykes, Samuel’s great-great-niece. She inherited Loftus Manor.” He gave Tommie an encouraging smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Nancy said, extending a hand for a shake. “I’m Nancy Smith. We thought a lot of Mr. Samuel here in Wetumpka. And it’s good to see Harley is showing you the lay of the land.”
“Yes, he’s been very kind.” Tommie stepped back from Nancy’s desk.
“I understand the coroner here called in the state medical examiner for a more…professional opinion,” Harley said helpfully, hoping to initiate a conversation.
“That’s true,” the receptionist said. “Mr. Loftus’s death was ruled a suicide, but the coroner wanted to be sure there was no indication of foul play. The state medical examiner did the autopsy and ruled the death a suicide. Mr. Moore, the coroner, was very thorough and particular so calling in the medical examiner is no reflection on him.”
“I’m so glad he did everything by the book,” Tommie said.
The woman picked up a file on top of her desk and leafed through before she snapped out three pages, stapled them together, and handed them to Tommie. “Glad this was right at my fingertips.”
“Yeah. Thanks for your help.” Tommie frowned. “Why was the file on your desk?”
“Another person was in here earlier. She said she was Samuel’s daughter and needed the report for insurance claims.” Nancy kept her expression perfectly blank, but she smiled at Harley. “I didn’t give her a copy.”
“Thanks. That was smart,” he said.
Nancy’s smile widened at his praise. “Sure thing. I just thought you’d like to know. Will you be staying on at Loftus Manor, Harley?”
“For the time being,” he said, “until Ms. Sykes here gets settled in and has all the loose ends tied up.”
Nancy looked at Tommie. “That woman that showed up here with her fancy clothes, I didn’t much care for the way she acted.” She watched Tommie. “But I’d say the sudden appearance of a daughter would be a mighty big loose end.”
Harley was surprised when Tommie started to laugh. Her laughter was rich and musical.
“You’re right, Nancy, and that’s a heckuva understatement. An unexpected daughter is a huge loose end. You can’t imagine.”
“Then perhaps you’d like to know that Ms. Rains was also in the bank this morning. I had to stop by to take care of a deposit for the sheriff. When I’m out and about in town I run errands for a lot of the courthouse offices.” She waved a hand. “Anyway, that woman was trying to get a list of your uncle’s accounts. The bank wouldn’t give them to her, and she was hotter than a firecracker.”
“She’s really pushing her luck,” Tommie said, her laughter fading. A hint of pink touched her cheeks.
“No one in town is going to help her,” Nancy said. “They know that Mr. Samuel left his estate to you. And they have a great deal of skepticism that Mr. Samuel had a child he didn’t claim. He wasn’t that kind of man.”
“Thanks, Nancy.” Harley gave her a warm smile. “You’ve been a real help.”
“Yes, thank you a lot,” Tommie said. “I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I think of Odell’s claim.”
“She was making noises too that Mr. Samuel might have been murdered.” Nancy bit her bottom lip. “The idea of that is so…repugnant. Mr. Loftus was a nice man. He was always nice to me, to everyone. And he knew Mr. Rider in the real estate office didn’t treat me very well. That’s why he helped me get this job here with the coroner.”
Tommie was intrigued. “You worked for the real estate developer, Mr. Rider.”
“For nearly ten years.” She shook her head. “He was so nice at first, but the bigger he got in the business, the harder he became to work for. It was to the point he thought I should work seven days a week because he wanted to work that much. But he was the one making all the money and I was getting minimum wage. He didn’t believe anyone should have a personal life.”
“I’ve heard a few rumors about Paul Rider,” Harley said. “Money seems to be his prime motivation in life.”
“I’m glad Uncle Samuel helped you,” Tommie said. “I know Uncle Samuel preferred to stay at the manor but it seems he touched a lot of people.”
“He was a wonderful man,” Nancy said. “He could have made a fortune developing the manor and the property around it, but he didn’t want that. He said he had enough money. More than he could spend. So few people recognize when they have enough, you know.”
“What exactly did Ms. Rains say about my uncle’s death?” Tommie asked.
“Did she have any specifics?” Harley was curious what trouble the alleged daughter was trying to stir up.
“Just that it was a very convenient death. For you, Ms. Sykes. She implied that you’d run up on hard times in California and the g
ift of the manor house rescued you.”
“Did she say how I’d learned about my uncle, the manor, or how I managed to manipulate him into a noose from fourteen hundred miles away?”
Nancy looked stricken. “I didn’t mean to imply…”
Tommie palmed her own forehead. “Sorry, Nancy. I didn’t mean to sound like I was jumping on you. It’s just such an unfair accusation and she’s obviously going all over town spreading lies. Thanks for telling us. I’m just frustrated with these alleged relatives popping out of the woodwork.”
“Is there another one?”
Harley caught Tommie’s eye and she could read his thought clearly. She nodded. It was best for them to tell Nancy because in another hour the gossip would be all over town anyway.
“Yes, there is another relative. Nina Ahearn is now claiming that she was married to Samuel.”
“What?” Nancy stood up so fast she bumped her chair backward into the wall. “That’s insane.”
Harley felt a pinch of gratification. At least Nancy saw how preposterous all these fake relatives were. It was a type of insanity. Nina and Odell were way over the top. “It’s okay. We’ll prove both claims are false.”
Nancy settled back into her chair. “That Nina. She was really good to Samuel, but everyone in town figured she had some kind of agenda. In the last few months, she made such a point of driving him around when he had to go somewhere and Harley was busy. Cooing and oohing over the little errands she ran for him. That kind of thing.” Nancy’s face brightened. “Maybe she was the one with an agenda to see him dead. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Is she that…cutthroat?” Tommie asked.
“I shouldn’t have said that because I don’t really know. But looking back on things in hindsight, it seems she was building her case. You know, showing up in public with Mr. Samuel. Making it look like they were together.”
“Thanks for the paperwork, and the information,” Harley said. He took Tommie’s elbow and edged her toward the door.
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