Sibley's Secret

by Frank Perry

like Jason is my son.”

  Fiske responded, “Okay, we can prepare a motion making you all joint owners, or we can start a trust with all of you as custodians once the property rights are settled.”

  Sibley led from the family side, “Whatever is simplest, we just want to be able to sell everything off and split up the proceeds after paying the bills.”

  Fiske nodded slightly, aware that he would also get paid. He went on to describe the ownership options that they could request from the court, and they ultimately decided a joint ownership agreement was the simplest and easiest to manage as long as everyone was in agreement. Jason smiled, “I think my mom figures we’re all agreeable.” He looked at his new sister and smiled.

  Fiske continued, “Okay then, we need to discuss some specific property, is that correct?”

  Kiki spoke first, “There are some very old Army boxes. We think they’re shipping crates from the First World War. We want the court to approve our title to them so we can sell them, too.”

  Fiske asked, while completing his notes, “How many shipping crates?”

  “We think it’s around two hundred.”

  Fiske dropped his pen. “Two hundred? Are you sure?”

  Kiki said matter-of-factly, “It could be up to two fifty. We can’t tell for sure without un-stacking it all. They’re pretty tight in the equipment shed. We don’t want to move them to count them right now; they’re old and shouldn’t be outside.”

  He queried, “You say they’re from the early nineteen hundreds?” They all nodded. “Where did they come from?”

  No one answered immediately, so Jim volunteered, “No one really knows. They just found them in the big shed when Kiki’s father died. I looked at ‘em; they’re Army green and most of the paint and stencils are worn off.”

  The lawyer said, “They could be stolen; they could be Army property.”

  Kiki injected, “Look Whit, we think they were probably surplus stuff from the war; we just don’t have any records.”

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Kiki, I can guarantee you that the judge is gonna want some kind of proof that it was surplus.”

  She’d been around enough courtrooms, “Well, there isn’t any, so the judge is going to have to rule on it.”

  “He or she might not want to without something.”

  She was getting testy, “Well, what do you suggest? You’re supposed to be our lawyer here.”

  Fiske was basically lazy and he didn’t like being boxed in by clients. He was old and usually drunk after four o’clock. “Look, I’ll make a suggestion to the judge and see if he or she will go along.”

  Kiki wanted to get to the bottom line quicker with the lawyer getting paid by the hour. “Okay, what suggestion?”

  Fiske reacted immediately, “How about we write letters to the Army, asking them to say if they owned it or not?”

  Before anyone spoke, Jim added, “I think the most likely place it came from is the Reserve unit here in Jackson, the National Guard Armory. They got rid of tons of stuff after both wars. I think you should write to the Army and the Guard Commander here, or the headquarters in Lansing, in the Governor’s office.

  The family members nodded and looked at Fiske.

  “All right, I’ll write the letters and ask for a response within a week to help us through a court date. We don’t really have one yet, but these probate things need to move fast or the court will assign some administrator who would just muck this up dealing with creditors and tax collectors.”

  Sibley said, standing, “Good, let’s get on with it.”

  Preparation

  “We should get a better idea of how many boxes are in the shed.” Jim was talking to all three outside the attorney’s office. “How ‘bout I change and come help?” Based on information he’d gotten from Evan, there must be something valuable, and maybe it would be more obvious if the boxes were separated. They all agreed to meet for lunch at the farmhouse as soon as he could get there. He wasn’t sure what to look for, but hoped the boxes would give some clue.

  After lunch was over the men went to the shed ahead of the women who cleaned up. Jim and Jason stood at the door for a moment, taking in the magnitude of the task before them. The process was a huge job. Carter had probably stacked them neatly, taking several days to get it done. Jim finally stated the obvious, “Well, if we don’t get started, these won’t move themselves.” Jason simply nodded in agreement. For the next hour, Jason drove the tractor, placing the fruit crates along the tractor path in the orchard while Jim helped guide the forks under the crates and direct the order of removal. In all, more than fifty crates lined the path when they were all out of the shed.

  They took a break after the fruit crates were removed. A green building-block wall remained across the whole building expanse, up to the ceiling. Kiki and Sibley had joined them. Sibley said, “Whew! Where are we going to put them when they come down?”

  Jason said, “We could start by putting some in the barn until it’s full. It’s not completely weather-tight, but at least it’s not outside.” No one had a better idea.

  It took the rest of the daylight to remove the first row of boxes to the barn with enough room around each one to examine all sides. When the last box was in place, they all knew, without asking, that today’s work was done. Jason asked, “Do you think we should open one or two?”

  The others said no. The boxes all looked the same outside and there wasn’t much to be learned by opening just a couple. They could all be different. Jim didn’t notice anything distinctive about any of them. They agreed to meet again at eight o’clock in the morning, and Kiki went home with Jim. “Do you think they’re worth much?”

  He backed, turning around and started down the driveway, “Hard to tell. I think it depends on the condition of what’s inside.”

  She was serious, “I wonder if there’s much personal in them. I mean, if they’re full of uniforms stripped off dead Germans, they could have pictures, or letters, or other private things. Sibley said some of the ones Carter sold had medals on them.”

  He understood her feelings, “Yeah, I guess there could be lots still in there. You know we’re going to find more uniforms. The Central Powers, including Germany and its allies lost millions of men, just like our side, the Entente. Some of the battles lost over fifty thousand men. If the American scavengers had wanted, they could fill all these crates with bloody uniforms. Who knows, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s still some biologic matter in some of it. He didn’t want to say “body parts.” I bet most of them had stuff in the pockets.”

  She shivered, “It may be eerie to look inside, almost like opening a grave.”

  He started to speak, but she continued, “Those dead Germans and Turks were mostly young men, like ours. They would have, at least, had mothers back home or girlfriends or wives. I imagine all of them took pictures and letters with them into battle. They could still be in those crates.”

  They didn’t talk about it again that night.

  For the next several days, they moved boxes around in the shed without opening any. After five days, the entire floor space of the shed and the barn were covered with boxes. The tractor and fruit crates, and all the farm equipment, were outside.

  When the last box was placed and they rested a bit, Jim was about to suggest that they open some when Kiki’s phone rang.

  “Ms. Joyce?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ms. Joyce this is Whit Fiske. I received a letter today from the Army. It says, there are no records of any missing containers from after WWI. They cannot definitively state that this is surplus, it just simply doesn’t exist on any records.”

  “Well, what does it mean, Whit?”

  “Well, ma’am. I can make a motion to the court on your behalf declaring it as property owned by your family, seeking the courts agreement that you can dispose of it as you please.”

  “That’s great, Whit! Let’s do
it.”

  “I recommend not yet, Kiki.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well, thinking about it, I think there’s one more step you gotta take to avoid other problems like an appeal of the judge.”

  She was deflated, “What now, Whit?”

  “I think you should advertise in the major newspapers around southern Michigan that you possess some large shipping crates with Army markings and see if anyone can come up with a claim for them.”

  She moaned as the others looked at her, “Whit, is that really necessary?”

  “Yes, I think it is, Kiki. The reason is that people who will auction this, or buy at the auction could want to know that there are no possible title issues after it’s sold. It’s just the final thing people would like to know, especially if you think they’re worth some money.”

  “Alright, Whit, please run some ads for us and screen out any bogus claims, I want this finished and cleared by the court this week.” She was starting to be concerned about her job in Tranquility.

  She explained the good news and the further delay. That night, she decided to return home. Everyone understood, and Jim agreed to help Sibley and Jason prepare to get rid of the boxes.

  Tranquility

  It felt odd returning to her office early in the morning after being away for a week, almost like it wasn’t hers anymore. Sherry had promised to keep her informed if anything happened, but she never heard from her. In some ways, Kiki continued to feel like the new person on the staff, like she still needed to prove