Miranda James - Murder Past Due

“I’ll help you look.” Julia started off in one direction and I in the other to make a circuit of the room. Andrea Ferris chattered at Kanesha.

I found Willie behind a clump of people, hectoring a history professor about his students and their lack of library skills. I had heard this song many times before.

When I interrupted Willie, the history professor shot me a grateful look and disappeared quickly.

“What do you want?” Willie was gracious as ever.

“Godfrey Priest’s lawyer is here, and he wants to speak with you.”

Willie looked taken aback at first, but then a smile spread on his homely face. “Maybe there will be justice at last.” He started forward.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, although I was certain I knew the answer.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Willie said. “Where is this lawyer?”

“Over here,” I said. Burton had rejoined the three women, and Rick Tackett was with him.

“This is William Clark,” I said when we reached them.

Willie stuck out his hand. “I sure am pleased to meet you.”

“And I you.” Burton shook the hand. “You are all acquainted already with Mr. Tackett, of course. Why don’t we proceed now to Mr. Harris’s house?”

“Just follow me,” I said. I offered my arm to Julia, and she clasped it with a trembling hand. I shot her a sideways glance and was surprised to see her pale. Was she excited or nervous? I couldn’t tell. Perhaps it had something to do with Rick Tackett. I had seen him watching her intently when Willie and I joined the group.

I led the group on a slightly circuitous route to my house, but even with the detour we arrived in less than ten minutes. I unlocked the front door and ushered everyone into the living room.

Miles Burton set his document case on the coffee table as the others found seats. I offered refreshments, but everyone declined.

“I’ll go check on Justin,” I said. “I’m sure he’s upstairs with Diesel.”

He’d better be , I thought as I climbed the stairs. I couldn’t imagine where else he could be right now.

Sure enough, he and Diesel were in his room. Justin was lying on his back in his bed, still wearing his suit. Diesel was stretched out beside him, purring as the boy rubbed his head.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Okay.”

He didn’t look okay. He looked miserable, and no wonder. I wished he could have been spared all this. The months—and perhaps years—ahead were going to be hard for him. To have his biological father snatched away from him so cruelly just after they’d met for the first time—it was truly tragic.

“Godfrey’s lawyer is here, along with your mother and a few other people,” I said. “The lawyer needs to speak to all of us about Godfrey’s will.”

“I don’t care about his will,” Justin said. “Can’t everyone just leave me alone?” He turned his face into the pillow, away from me.

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Son, I’m sorry you have to go through all this. But you need to come downstairs and hear the lawyer out. Godfrey obviously remembered you in his will, and for his sake, you need to listen.”

Justin lay there, unresponsive for a moment. I waited, and then he sat up. He had been crying.

“Go wash your face,” I said gently. “Then we’ll go downstairs.”

Justin nodded and got out of bed. Diesel stretched and came over to me on the bed. I scratched behind his ears. I suspected he was going to be spending a lot of time with Justin in the near future. I hoped Diesel could provide the comfort the boy would need.

Justin came back, and we set off down the stairs, Diesel running ahead of us.

All heads turned when the three of us entered the living room. Miles Burton came forward, hand extended. He introduced himself and shook Justin’s hand. I could see the sympathy he felt for the boy.

Burton led Justin to a seat on the sofa next to Julia and near his own chair. Diesel climbed into Justin’s lap. Andrea Ferris, who occupied the other spot on the sofa, stared at Diesel in fascination. Rick Tackett and Willie Clark had pulled chairs close in a semicircle.

Kanesha stood a few feet away, arms crossed. I found another chair and offered it to her, but she shook her head. I took it instead, sitting a little behind Rick Tackett. I had a clear view of Julia and Justin and the lawyer from this vantage point.

Miles Burton held a thick document in his hands. “I regret deeply the occasion that has brought all of us together. Godfrey Priest was my client for many years, and I wish he could have been with all of us for many more.” He glanced down at the papers he held. “But it is now my duty to share with his beneficiaries the terms of his will. Godfrey changed his will recently because of the knowledge that he had a son.

“He was thrilled with the knowledge, and I also deeply regret that he had such a short time with this young man. I know how excited Godfrey was to meet him for the first time.” He smiled at Justin, who ducked his head. Diesel rubbed his head against the boy’s cheek.

“I will spare you all the unnecessary details of a testament such as this. You must realize that, in the case of such a large estate, there are many details that have to be considered. Those, however, are of little concern to you at the moment.

“There are a number of relatively small bequests to which I will return in a few minutes. The important point is that Godfrey stipulated that these small requests should be paid first, and the remainder of the estate would be divided as follows:

“‘To my biological son, known as Justin Henry Wardlaw, I leave two-thirds of my estate;

“‘To my half brother, Richard Horace Tackett Jr., I leave the remaining third of my estate.’”

Burton paused, as if to gauge the impact of his words. In front of me, I could see Rick Tackett’s shoulders relax and his head go down. I thought I could hear him muttering a prayer of thanks.

Julia’s eyes glittered with triumph, and her smile was wide. Justin stared at the lawyer, as if he found it difficult to understand what the man had said.

“What are we talking about, in real terms?” Julia surprised me by the obvious note of greed in her voice.

Miles Burton eyed her with what I presumed to be slight distaste. “A conservative estimate of your son’s share, Mrs. Wardlaw, would be something in the range of seventy million dollars.”

Justin’s mouth dropped open, and even Julia appeared thunderstruck. She had obviously never realized how rich Godfrey was.

Burton turned to Rick Tackett. “And that means Mr. Tackett’s share would approach thirty-five million.”

“I can’t believe it,” Rick said. “After all these years of ignoring me, why now?” He kept shaking his head.

“Godfrey made no explanation,” Burton said.

“It was his way of saying he was sorry, probably,” Andrea Ferris said. “He was like that. He always thought money could excuse anything.”

“What about me?” Willie Clark startled everyone. “What did he say about me?”

Burton frowned as he consulted Godfrey’s will.

“To my high school friend, William Ebenezer Clark, I leave the sum of one million dollars and my grateful thanks for his friendship over the years.”

I waited for the eruption, and it came almost immediately.

“That’s all? That’s all he had to say?” Willie was screaming. He leaped out of his chair and tried to snatch the will from Burton.

Kanesha stepped forward and put herself between Willie and the lawyer. “Sit down, Mr. Clark. Now.”

Willie backed away, but he was still furious. His face was so red, he looked like he was going to have a stroke any moment now.

“That cheating bastard, I can’t believe he did this to me. Even dead he’s screwing me.”