Chapter 21 #2
“And why is that?”
“Because I didn’t get a restaurant or any early distribution of family money from my parents at all.
At the time, even at twenty, I was doing very well with my own contracting business, so nobody thought I needed extra handouts.
And I had spent enough time working at the restaurant in my teens to know that I was not cut out for that line of work and found my own passion instead.
So my parents took over the restaurant supposedly intended for me.
They just delayed their retirement until they found a suitable manager to run it. ”
“Which isn’t the same thing, in my opinion, since that’s almost like being penalized for being successful.”
“That was part of the argument I used at the time. Just because I had some money didn’t mean I couldn’t use more.
And just because I’ve been somewhat successful, that doesn’t mean I’m not still a Burgon.
The restaurants were to stay with a Burgon.
Who knew that I wouldn’t want one when I retired to oversee?
So I’m not off the hook totally on that point because I still carry some resentment.
However, my parents totally didn’t see it that way. ”
“Interesting.”
“Not really,” he snapped, his tone sharp. “I didn’t have a bone to pick with any of them. I have enough money.”
“But you also stated you didn’t have a ton of money.”
“No, of course not,” he said bitterly. “And given the state of the economy right now, we came here to help out, you know, and to see if we could do anything to build a life here. But don’t worry, I’m not quite destitute yet.”
“And Danny and his restaurant?” Doreen asked.
Zev chuckled. “Danny at least tried, which appeased our parents. His lazy wife even supposedly helped out. I doubt she was much help, and I bet it was mostly for show. Danny ended up selling his restaurant before a whole year had passed.”
“You could have done that, then just sold the restaurant,” Doreen pointed out.
“Nope. Not for me. Not even for one minute.”
“What do you think about her husband?”
“Whose husband? If you’re talking about Alice, I would say her husband is a lay-about who doesn’t do anything,” he snapped. “We don’t get along, as I have told you already.”
“Right,” she noted. “So, how much money are we talking about, this early inheritance distribution?”
“I don’t know precisely,” he replied. “I think my parents bought all four restaurants for about one hundred thousand apiece.”
“And you didn’t get anything, whether restaurant or money?”
“No, I didn’t get anything.”
“I’m getting a headache just thinking about your family dynamics.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve all been getting a headache from the family for a long time,” he muttered.
“Do you think your sister in Alberta, Katie, was murdered for her inheritance?”
Zev sighed. “If she was, the only Burgon who stood to gain was Jillian. Well, and me.”
“What about Katie’s restaurant? Who got that one?”
“Jillian. She sold it, and that money went to pay the bills because apparently Katie wasn’t doing as well as we all thought. So, a little bit of money was left from the sale, after paying off debts, but that went into the pot for Jillian.”
“Okay, good,” Doreen said. “How long was she with her fiancé?”
“They’d been together for a very long time, but I don’t know how many years it was.”
“So maybe since her mother was murdered?”
“Not exactly right then but not far off. Barry was a family friend at the time.”
Doreen pondered that.
Zev added, “If you think Barry had anything to do with Katie’s death, you’re barking up the wrong tree. He was too young, just a teenager.”
“I’m just trying to find anybody who had anything to do with anything.”
“We’ve all racked our brains, and we haven’t come up with anything in ten years. So I don’t know what you think you can do,” he muttered. “I should never have talked to you, but I was really worried about Jillian.”
“And you should still be worried about Jillian,” she shared. “Do you know if she and Barry had any issues?”
“You mean, as in breakup issues?” he asked. “No, I don’t think so. As far as I’m concerned, there was none of that.”
“Fine,” she replied, noting Mack now held up his own phone and jiggled it. “Thanks for speaking to me. If I have any more questions, I’ll call you.”
Zev just groaned and disconnected.
Doreen looked over at Mack.
“I got called in on a case,” he told her.
She gasped. “Another one?”
“Yes, but not a murder. I’ve got to go.”
Doreen nodded. “I want to go home and go straight to bed anyway. I’m exhausted. My brain still wants to run around and do its thing, so I wonder just how much sleep I will get tonight.”
“So you try to get some rest while it’s running around, doing its thing, and, when it’s done, you let me know what pops up.” He drove her and her animals home. “Get some real food tonight, please.”
“Will do,” she muttered, as she clambered out of the truck, with her animals in tow, and they all walked inside her house with a wave goodbye to Mack. She grabbed a towel to try and dry furry feet before everyone took off to roam the house.
She hadn’t been kidding. A hot bath and bed was about all she could manage tonight.