Chapter 20
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With Detective Clark rushing off with his new information to double-check, Doreen leaned against the front door and stared down at Mugs, who was stretched out on the hallway tile. She looked back at Mack and Nick. “Will we ever be done with police investigations?”
Nick shook his head. “These detectives must think we are a ridiculous bunch. However, it’s not us. It’s Mathew and his kind. The amount of money Mathew put into his home is just insane.”
Mack agreed. “Think of all the good he could have done for so many. Feeding the poor, healing sick children, clean water plants, regenerative farming co-ops in poor areas.”
She snorted. “It’s what happens when you have so much money that you don’t even think about anything else anymore,” she explained.
“I mean, it’s not even money in a way. It just becomes unbelievable figures on some bank account statement.
Alternatively, what’s that old saying? Something about Enough money is never enough? I just don’t get it.”
“Agreed,” Mack conceded, as he smiled at her. “So now we need some boxes and maybe some packing materials for the stuff we want to take home, and Mugs probably needs a walk outside.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” she noted. “We all could use some fresh air. A small park is up around the corner.”
“Why don’t we take them all out of this atmosphere, which appears to be fairly depressing to them?” He looked over at his brother. “Do you want to come?”
“No, I’ll just stay here,” Nick replied. “I’ve still got paperwork to do, and I’m dealing with the probate lawyer still.”
“I wonder who the woman was?” Doreen asked thoughtfully. “Detective Clark said neighbors had spotted a woman here before we even arrived. Maybe she left that threatening note taped to the front door and thinks she’s due some of Mathew’s estate.”
Mack shook his head. “I still think Butch left the first note, taped it to the front door, then ran off to hide in the garage apartment, until we found him the next day still in the garage apartment. However, you could be partially right, Doreen. That package delivered here, with its two notes inside, could very well have been sent by the woman asking if she were in Mathew’s will. ”
Just then Nan phoned on a video call. Doreen answered it, while she was still in the entrance hallway.
Nan eyed her with lively curiosity. “How are things there?”
“You’ll love this,” she began, telling of the change in detectives assigned to investigate these two murders. “Did I tell you how Mugs peed on Daniel’s pant leg?”
Nan went off in peals of delighted laughter. “Mugs has always been a great judge of character,” she stated, chuckling madly.
“Yes, he is. I’ll never be popular with Daniel no matter what.” Then she added, “By the way, can you find out if, when Maisie talked to the inmates, were any women mentioned who may have known Pete or Butch or Sam?”
“I don’t think she asked,” Nan replied. So, Doreen told her about the woman who had contacted the probate attorney about the will. “Ooh, in that case, I am very interested to see the inmates’ past employment records.”
Doreen turned to Mack and asked, “Can we get those?”
Nick interrupted, “I’ll get them. Daniel supposedly put in a request for them earlier, and I asked him to send a copy of them to me. I’ll follow up with Detective Clark.”
“I don’t imagine Daniel was really up to sending you anything, even if you are a lawyer,” she noted, a bit skeptical.
“Maybe not, and he certainly won’t be cooperative now.” He cast a meaningful look in Mack’s direction.
Nan’s laughter roared through the phone. “Oh my, and, once again, you’ve managed to have fun down there.”
“I would love to be home right now,” Doreen admitted, shivering as if to shake off a bad feeling. “This place is giving me a headache.”
“Yeah, you used to get a lot of headaches when you were there, as I recall,” Nan reminded her. “I’m pretty sure it was the stress of keeping that bright light of yours locked up inside.”
“Maybe,” she muttered. “We’ll head out for a bit and take the animals for a romp in the park around the corner,” she shared.
“That reminds me, I should pick up more dog food for Mugs, who seems to feel as if he’s been suffering lately.
With any luck we can still be home in another day or two.
I have no idea how many truckloads of items have been taken out of this house, but a lot more than I expected. ”
“You might need another week to do Robin’s house,” Nan suggested.
Doreen groaned. “I don’t want to think about that one yet. I haven’t even finished this one house of Mathew’s. Plus, he has more in town, plus a couple overseas.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Nan replied. “You’ll still have to deal with it all.”
“For Mathew’s other homes here in Vancouver, Scott is in charge of getting rid of everything inside the homes and the houses themselves.
I’m done being away from home. As for Robin’s estate, I don’t know that her house is ready or even out of probate.
If I’m her executor, I guess I would have to deal with it personally.
However, it’s not my house yet, not in my name. ”
“Right,” Nan muttered. “So, that will be another fun holiday down the road. I’m sure Mack will love that.”
“Mack will not love that,” Mack stated, speaking loudly so that Nan could hear him.
“On the other hand, dear,” Nan replied dramatically, “maybe Robin wasn’t a crazy collector, as Mathew apparently was.”
Doreen muttered, “He certainly liked his stuff.”
“That he did.”
Mack leaned into the phone and asked Nan, “Did you realize just how much stuff he had in this house and how many millions he had sunk into this property?”
Nan asked, “You mean, in terms of furnishings, paintings, book collections, and jewelry?”
“All of it,” he confirmed in exasperation. “Scott’s having a heyday.”
Nan burst out laughing. “I am really glad to hear that. At least Mathew invested in things that held their value, and, from the sounds of things, he was smart about it. So, I’m even more delighted that my granddaughter will be the beneficiary of it.”
“She could do with a lot less,” Mack muttered.
After a moment of silence, Nan, using a delicate tone, pointed out, “It won’t change her, you know?”
“I know,” he acknowledged. “It’s just a lot for me to take in.”
“No, it’s not,” she declared, “because she won’t keep any of it. She’ll let it all go, probably even all the jewelry, knowing her. She’ll sell it all off, then turn it into cash for some charity. That much I know about my granddaughter.”
He chuckled. “That’s exactly what she’s planning on doing.”
“Exactly, so quit worrying and let her do her. It will make her happy, which she deserves. At the end of the day, there’ll be plenty of money for the both of you to live on for the rest of your lives, without lifting a finger.
But it’s also not lost on me that neither one of you will care and that you’ll both continue working your butts off. ”
“You are so right,” he declared, his smile warming, even as Doreen hugged him.
“Because at the heart of all of it,” Nan added, “you two are both who you are. Be proud of that, and don’t let any of this get in the way.” Then she called out, “Doreen, are you still there?”
“I’m here, Nan,” she replied.
“Maisie is coming on over,” she explained, “and we’ll call the penitentiary again to see if we can roust out some female associates connected to this trio of criminals.”
“I should have thought of that earlier,” Doreen muttered.
“No, we all should have thought of that because wherever the males congregate,” Nan suggested, “generally the females are right there too.”
Doreen chuckled. “Let me know what you find.”