Chapter 18 #2
“Let me answer this in parts,” Nick began.
“In theory, yes, we don’t know what was here and what wasn’t.
After all, Robin was here and changed some things, it seems. As for any court documents revealing the treasures hidden in this house, the probate inventory does not do that.
There should be full insurance paperwork and pictures of all the valuable items but that’s not always the case.
It is not a list so defined that thieves are ticking off items on their Let’s steal this list. Nobody would know what was or wasn’t here, not without a personal review of every square foot of this mansion.
I mean, even you are still finding stuff,” he pointed out. “Thank God we came when we did though.”
She nodded. “I was just thinking that. Yet we found a dead man in the greenhouse within the first hour of our arrival here. So I’m wondering if maybe Mathew’s probate lawyer knew about something, like bags of cash, for instance.”
Mack asked Nick, “Would the estate lawyer have known about any of these particularities with Mathew’s hoarding and hiding tendencies? His so-called collections?”
“It’s hard to know what somebody would have known, versus what they wouldn’t, especially in light of Mathew’s tendency toward secrets,” Nick pointed out, looking back and forth between Doreen and his brother.
“Would Mathew really trust his own attorneys with this info? I sincerely doubt it. My vote is on a disgruntled employee. After all, a disgruntled employee was the one who killed Mathew, right? Plus, I know you’ve got this thing about lawyers, Doreen. ”
She smiled and nodded. “And about police detectives named Daniel. So I’m not saying that Mathew’s probate attorney and this property management company are any more corrupt than any others.
I’m just wondering who would have known about the hidden stashes in this house, because most of the players I had anything to do with are dead.
And, if the local property management company hired this caretaker, then told him not to show up because he wasn’t needed, what are the chances that was set up so the same property management company could be here, looking around for treasure? ”
Nick shook his head at her. “I just went to see Mathew’s probate attorney to drill down on the banks that Mathew used, and that attorney told me that he hadn’t been in the house.
Ever. Now it does make more sense for the local property management company to send a trusted employee to view the property, but the estate attorney couldn’t confirm that. ”
“I know this will sound even weirder,” she began, wincing as she looked over at him.
Nick crossed his arms and glared at her.
“Is the lawyer that you saw in person the other day the same lawyer that you’ve been talking to all the time on the phone?”
He just stared at her. “I don’t get it.”
“She’s asking if it could be a different person, someone impersonating the local lawyer,” Mack explained.
“I still don’t get it.” Nick looked from one to the other. “Are you saying the lawyer I just met with isn’t a lawyer?”
“He might be. He might not be. However, it’s also possible that whoever you were dealing with from the beginning on the phone isn’t the same person you’re dealing with now in person.”
“As far as I know, it’s exactly the same person I’ve been dealing with right from the beginning,” Nick said in exasperation. “No offense, but the two of you have conspiracy theory written all over you.”
“Maybe,” she conceded. “However, most cons work because the targets are so honest that they cannot fathom someone acting in a dishonest way. Right? Even in theory?” She waited for Nick to begrudgingly nod.
“We also have two dead people and a house full of money. Those are facts. They cannot be changed. So anybody who is thinking that Mathew may have owed them—or even that the world may have owed them—could very well see Mathew’s house as a way to get out of the criminal life they’ve been leading and start fresh. ”
“You certainly can’t go around accusing people,” Nick noted.
“And I’m not. I’m just asking you because we have to consider that anybody and everybody connected to this mess who had access to the house is a potential murder suspect or just a plain thief.”
“Even Mathew’s local probate lawyer?” Nick asked, a note of humor in his voice.
She sighed. “I’m not accusing you. I’m not even accusing Mathew’s probate attorney, but I wonder if they mentioned anything to anybody.
I wonder if somebody contacted one of the two about showing this house.
I wonder if somebody contacted the estate lawyer about the disposal of the assets, wondering if they were in the will or something. ”
“Ah,” Nick said, settling down some, “now that’s a different story.
What if somebody did ask and then decided that, because they weren’t in the will, they might just come help themselves to something here?
What if someone of questionable wealth and a really bad credit score wanted a walk-through of this house, on the pretext of buying it?
Okay. That is something I can ask Mathew’s probate attorney and even the property management company,” Nick confirmed.
“Obviously, I won’t ask if either came here and helped themselves. ”
She grinned at him. “I would, but … that’s just me.”
He stared at her, then turned to Mack. “Please tell me that she wouldn’t have done that.”
Mack groaned. “You have no idea what this woman does. If she thinks she can get somebody to talk, if she can get some answers, she would not hold back one bit.”
She chuckled. “I can’t hold back because we have all kinds of things going on at this house.
Plus, the bottom line is, two dead people were found here.
We only just recently found proof that Butch killed Pete, but we have no murderer found for Butch, and I don’t know how we’re supposed to sell the house with that on the property record. ”
“Believe it or not, it won’t be bad,” Nick replied.
“There’s a certain amount of notoriety in owning a house like this, and it won’t be cheap regardless.
It’s a massive property, and the pool of people who could both afford it and would want it will be fairly specific.
Very wealthy eccentric people sometimes seek something unique, with a history, and this would certainly qualify. ”
She nodded.
“And if anybody thought there was still treasure to be found here, the future buyers would be all over that as well,” Nick shared, with a headshake.
“Including the realtors who want to check it out too. Those same realtors want to sell big-ticket properties. So telling people about murders and two dead bodies and hidden treasure may seal the deal. Regardless, the property will remain insured, while the realtors are all secured, bonded, restricted in terms of what people can take out of the house, but you know …”
“Once it’s empty,” Mack interjected, “we’ll do another check.”
Doreen shared, “Scott did say it would likely be empty soon, at least 80 to 90 percent of it.”
“Hopefully he can make it a little higher than that,” Mack said. “We still have a lot of stuff to deal with.”
Doreen clarified, “I agree, but leaving some of the furniture is a good thing. Houses do sell faster if they have furniture in them, so people can envision how the rooms can be used. It would cost a fortune to hire someone to stage this place.”
Mack added, “I don’t think the lack of furniture will be a factor here. I would think these big old homes take a long time to sell anyway, going back to what Nick said about a limited number of people with the money and the fortitude to live where two men were murdered.”
She nodded. “With the notoriety attached to it …”
“It could go either way,” Nick noted. “It could sell faster because of the murders—or not.”
“Right,” she murmured. “All of it is just frustrating. … I don’t know what’s going on.”
“No, but you raised an interesting point,” Nick admitted, looking a bit unnerved.
“I’ll talk to the local probate lawyer. I didn’t notice any change in his voice or anything to make me think he could be a different person than the one I spoke to on the phone for so long, but I’ll admit I don’t have the same naturally suspicious mind-set that you guys do.
So, it’s not something I would have looked for. ”
Doreen nodded. “I wouldn’t have looked for it either, and I’m not saying I would have recognized if it was somebody different.
So, if you could find out if he had anybody questioning him about the will, the provisions made, or anything related to all that, it would help a lot.
Then ask the property management company or even Mathew’s probate attorney if either of them knows of any realtors asking about the property possibly going up for sale. ”
Nick pulled out his phone, looked over at Mack, and asked, “Are you sure you want to get involved in all this?”
Mack laughed. “You’re forgetting something.”
Nick eyed him questioningly.
Mack simply said, “I’m already involved. I’m totally in love with Doreen. Nothing will change that for me. Not even this.”