The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club (A Hollis Morgan Mystery 3) (21 page)

“Do you know who?”

“Evidently he’s more afraid of what they’ll do to him if he talks than he is of us.”

“So right now you’re unable to cross-check if he killed Jeffrey, too.”

Mosley gave a slight wince. “Brian Wallace is still a prime suspect in my book, but the DA’s office disagrees. They think Ness is a more likely candidate.”

“How are you going to nail him?” Hollis asked.

Mosley gave her a sardonic look. “Just like they say, we’re going to follow the money.”

For once Hollis had a full day at the office. George had given her several new cases that needed to be researched including a recommendation for a legal approach. Whoever thought probate law was straightforward? It had more twists, turns, and upsets than she could ever imagine.

By four o’clock, she’d made major inroads into the stack of files in her inbox, and she was ready to brief George.

He sat and listened as she reviewed each matter. He asked a few questions and gave her specific advice on how to handle particular clients.

She’d saved the Wallace Trust case for last. It took several minutes to bring him up to speed with the happenings of the last few days.

George tilted back in his chair. “I know you’re going to get prickly about what I’m about to say, but do you think you’re in over your head? Could you use a little help? I can shift a few client meetings and we can focus on the trust together. The two of us will take a lot less time.”

“You’re right; I’m going to be prickly,” Hollis said. “I can handle the Wallace Trust. I wasn’t asking for your, or anybody’s help. I’ve done the hardest parts. I only brought it up so that you would be aware of the doubts I still have about the assets.”

He looked at her summary notes. “Don’t worry. If the family members discover there were undisclosed assets or fraudulent distribution, we can file for a new hearing. Let it go.”

Hollis bit her tongue. She had no intention of letting it go. Frances would go through the trust like a hot knife through butter. There would be no assets to retrieve later.

Still, George was right. She had to move on. The hearing was next week. She was out of time.

S
itting on the balcony drinking her morning tea, Hollis pondered for the umpteenth time what might have happened three months ago. Whatever it was, Frances was getting giddier by the day. She’d called Hollis twice the day before to make sure the trust hearing had not been cancelled.

She looked down at the phone viewer screen and saw the familiar number. It had been a mistake to give Frances her cell contact.

“Yes, Frances.” Hollis only partially tried to hide the exasperation in her voice.

“I know you think I’m a pest, but I made plane reservations for Vegas the same afternoon as the hearing, and I told the buyers for my house they could move in early.” Frances sounded breathless over the phone. “So, is it still on Thursday?”

“Yes, of course. Nothing has changed.”

“Okay, that’s good. And it’s final, right? It can’t change again? Will it take more days for it to be really final? Is there like a waiting period?”

“No, Frances. It’s final on that day. Check with your insurance agent. You’ll likely get your half of the insurance policy within a few days of the hearing.” Hollis added, “Oh, and make sure they have your new Vegas address.”

“Okay, okay, that’s good.” Frances paused. “Now, you told me that I don’t have to split the insurance policy with the Public Library Foundation, right?”

Hollis sighed. “Frances, we’ve gone over this—”

“I know, I know, but this is the rest of my life we’re talking about.”

“No. The insurance policy identifies the beneficiaries. It’s only the trust that specifies Jeffrey’s community property share will go to the Public Library Foundation. And they only get whatever is left of the estate after you and Brian are dead.” Hollis took a breath. “Jeffrey’s insurance policy specified that you and Brian will split his policy fifty-fifty. It would have been shared with Todd had he lived.”

“Such as it is,” Frances said. “I told Jeffrey we needed more.”

Hollis didn’t bother to respond.

“Your legal fees are paid from the trust, true? I won’t owe you anything, right?”

“That’s right, Frances.”

“Look, instead of putting the final papers in the mail. Can I come to your office Tuesday and pick up a copy? It would save you some time.”

Really.

“That’s two days before the hearing. The papers won’t be stamped by the clerk recorder until after the papers are filed.”

“No matter. I’ll get the court copy in the mail. I just need to have what you filed.”

Need to have it for what?

Frances consulted her calendar, and Hollis agreed she could come by the following Tuesday. At that their call ended; Frances had to rush off. She commented she was getting her nails done and having a Botox injection.

“I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of progress,” Hollis said under her breath.

“What?”

Hollis regrouped. “I said, we’re finally making progress.”

Hollis tossed the salad one more time, and checked on the leg of lamb for the twentieth time. John, nursing a glass of Pinot Grigio, was waiting for her on the patio.

It was as if they both recognized that they had come to a crossroads.

All day she could feel his eyes following her. When she glanced at him, he would be peering at her with an expression she’d seen him use after he’d reached a decision. Even though he was only leaving for a few days, she knew she would miss him more than she thought possible. Still, there was a thickness in the air, and other than the common courtesies they had exchanged along with the light banter about his training, it had been underscored by silence.

He came and stood behind her, sliding his arms around her waist.

She smiled and half-turned. “It’s not much longer to dinner.”

“Good, it smells fantastic. Come outside and sit with me.”

“I … I ….”

Ignoring her hesitation, he led her by the hand and picked up a glass of wine he had already poured for her. They sat at the patio table.

“Yesterday, while I was packing to go to training, I tried to imagine all the reasons we should be together and all the reasons we shouldn’t.” He looked her in the eyes. “But when I got about midway through, I stopped, because it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, at the end of the list, at the end of all the pros and cons … no matter how it added up, or not … I just want to spend my life with you.”

Hollis gasped. Her eyes started to tear.

“John, I … I—”

“And then I thought about what you said you wanted.” He picked up her hand. “I am not Bill Lynley. I am not your ex-husband. I’m not going to take away your self-respect or leave you behind to clean up my mess. I’m not going to muddle your mind, so you can’t judge right from wrong. I’m not going to put your life in danger and expect you to protect me.”

She was unashamedly crying now. The years of pent-up disappointment and emotional fence-building required to keep her pain at bay had left her tired and spent. Her heart was exposed for the first time since her court sentence ten years ago, when Bill had walked away, leaving her to her fate and ending their marriage. Over the years she had sealed up her heart and was comfortable leaving it that way, until John.

John.

He held her and let her sob into his chest. Finally, she quieted. He handed her a cloth napkin for the tears.

Hollis’ voice trembled. “I love you.”

He nodded. “I know. I love you.”

She leaned against him, beaming. “How much notice do you have to give to your landlord?”

He looked into her eyes and smiled. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell him tomorrow.”

He held her face lightly and kissed her deeply.

Slow to arrive at her office the next morning, Hollis tried to suppress the smile that kept creeping onto her face. She had woken up at three a.m. and looked over at John’s sleeping figure, with his arm crossed over onto her pillow. From now on, he would be there for her. She would have someone by her side. She still couldn’t believe her luck. Her smile wouldn’t go away.

Later, her phone rang. She’d been distracting herself with work, finishing up a draft client letter. She hesitated a moment, bracing herself for Frances’ voice, then saw who it was and picked up.

“Hollis, this is Vince,” he said, swallowing. “I wanted you to know that I passed my test. I’m a high school graduate.”

Her throat tightened. “Oh, Vince I am so proud of you.” She gulped back a little sob of happiness. “You did it. You stuck with it, and you did it.”

He cleared his throat. “No,
you
did it. You wouldn’t let me get away with giving up.”

“Well, you answered the questions. Now, when is the ceremony, and when do we celebrate?”

“I’m not going to the ceremony,” he said. “You know, because of my mom and everything. She’ll want to come, but she wouldn’t do well—you know what I mean.”

Hollis rubbed her eyes. “Yes, I know what you mean. Well, we can still do a dinner. Where would you like to eat?”

“You’ll take me to dinner?” he said. “Say, you know that all-you-can-eat place in San Leandro?”

Hollis nodded. “Sure, but you can pick a nicer place, Vince. You can go to the all-you-can-eat place anytime.”

“Maybe you can go there anytime, Hollis, but I can’t,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to go there. I’ve never been.”

She mentally kicked herself for her insensitivity.
“Then that’s where we’ll go. Are there any friends you want to invite?”

“You’re my only real friend,” he said. “Do you think Stephanie would come?”

Hollis grimaced at the thought of Stephanie’s reaction to going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant—for Vince. She would have to do a little arm twisting.

“I’ll ask her. I’m sure she will. But, what about young people your own age?”

He said, “No, not really.” He took a long pause. “But who knows, maybe I’ll make friends at Laney College.”

Hollis caught her breath then squealed. “Vince Colton, you come upstairs right now!”

A wide smile spread across her face. In less than five minutes, Vince stood in front of her desk. She came around to give him an embrace.

“I don’t care if you don’t like them,” she said. “You are getting a big hug.”

She gave him a robust squeeze.

Vince said, “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He stiffened and accepted her hug.

“Are you going to apply to Laney?” Hollis asked. “Community colleges are a great way to get an advanced education. Have you spoken to a counselor? Do you need me to help you?”

Vince laughed. It was a wonderful, hearty sound.

She startled. She had never heard him laugh before.

He moved closer, keeping his arms to his side. “You’ve been great to me. I will never be able to thank you enough, but I think you’d want me to take it from here.”

Hollis nodded. And for the first time in the short year she’d known him, she knew he was going to be okay.

That evening, the Fallen Angels came to a pause in their deliberations. They sat somberly in the same room that had witnessed so many of their discussions over the years.

Richard said, “I guess I always thought we would solve Jeffrey’s murder and somehow pay him back.” He passed his hand over his head. “Now, they may never find out who really did it.”

“I thought we were getting close,” Miller said, finishing a pale pink origami crane. “I always thought it was Todd.” He paused. “That is, once I knew there was a Todd.”

Gene shrugged. “I wanted to find the killer for Jeffrey, too. I thought if we worked together we could accomplish what the police couldn’t.”

Sitting next to him, Rena leaned over to pat him on the shoulder.

Hollis looked around at each of them in turn. “So, are we giving up?”

“What do you expect us to do?” Richard said. “The police are trying to link Jeffrey’s murder to Todd’s. You have to file
the trust, and once that’s done, what reason do we still have to poke around?”

Gene said in a quiet voice, “Hollis, I know you don’t think the murders are linked—that Jeffrey’s killer is still out there—but we’ve all neglected our jobs and violated some privacy law or another to come up with a lot of puzzle pieces that don’t quite fit together. We gave it our best shot, and frankly, I’m just out of ideas.”

She stood. “Then let’s go through everything we know one more time.”

They all groaned.

Ignoring them, Hollis walked around the table. “Why was Todd killed? Why is Frances so happy and so anxious? Why is Brian, who should be concerned, not scared? Why is the trust for a modest estate such a big deal? What happened three months ago that caused Frances to file for divorce?”

“You don’t suppose Frances caught Jeffrey with Patrice Leoni, do you?” Rena asked.

Richard shook his head. “Oh no, Rena, don’t encourage her. Besides, the police must have eliminated that angle weeks ago.”

Rena said, “Maybe Frances kept quiet about knowing. She was proud and hurt. She would divorce him and go on with her life. After Jeffrey was murdered, there was nothing else for her to do. She may be a little greedy and insensitive, but I believe her. She wants the trust done with.”

Hollis looked doubtful. “Nah, it’s possible, but I don’t see her keeping that kind of knowledge to herself.”

Gene drummed his fingers on the table. “Rena may have a point. There may be something to the mistress angle.”

She ignored them both. “It’s about the trust. The trust is at the center of it all. We need to go back to square one.”

“Don’t you guys get it?” Gene looked at the others. “Hollis is not going to let us go home. They’ll find our bodies here, rotting from mental overdrive.” He took out a pad of paper. “Okay, one last time. Let’s tackle each question separately.”

He wrote at the top of one page: ‘Why was Todd killed?’

“If we’re brainstorming, suppose it was just a mugging?” Miller said. “But I’m going to cancel my own idea. His death was personal.”

Richard frowned and shook his head. “He knew something about Jeffrey’s killing and he had to be silenced.”

Rena rubbed her forehead. “But if we assume—like Hollis said—that it has to do with the trust, Todd didn’t want anything to do with it. He was ready to walk away from the first editions. But Brian wanted the money from the sale of those books.”

“Once Jeffrey was killed, only two people benefited from the trust,” Gene said, “Frances and Brian.”

“Excuse me,” Richard said. “But remember, there was nothing in the trust to make it worth killing for.”

“Wait,” Miller said, “what if the first editions are more valuable than we thought? What if the first appraiser missed something?”

Rena picked up Gene’s pad and tore off another sheet of paper. She made a circle of arrows. “If Todd was killed for the first editions, then either Frances or Brian could have wanted the cash that wasn’t coming through the trust.”

Hollis sat up. “I don’t know. Those first editions were there from the beginning. It’s an idea, but it doesn’t feel … I just don’t think that’s it. I wonder if Todd found out that Frances was hiding assets.”