Hez had winced at the news of the explosion. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” He accepted the mug Hez handed him. “We went to see Mary after church yesterday morning. I didn’t pull in right away but stopped down the street. Adams pulled out from under her house. Paradise was suspicious and started analyzing what we know. We decided not to tell Mary we’d found the will. Instead we asked her about Dean’s friends and got a couple of names.” Blake unloaded all the events of the last two days.
“I always knew I liked Paradise. This sounds very suspicious, Blake, and I’d proceed with caution. If Mary is working with Dean in a plot to defraud you of the property and split the proceeds between them, they will be formidable. The minute Mary gets that will, she’s likely to address the probate court and throw her support behind overturning the sale. It would go right through, and Aunt Jenna would have to find somewhere else togo. If they would be this underhanded, they might even conspire to say she knew all along there was a will and chose to ignore it. She’d never get her money back.”
Blake sank back in the chair. “That’s my biggest fear. Abby suggested we check out Mary’s finances. I’m not sure how we do that.”
“A simple credit check would tell us a lot.” Hez jiggled his mouse and stared at the screen, then typed a few words. “This won’t take long.” The seconds ticked by and a frown settled on his forehead. “She’s got a terrible credit score and her house is in pre-foreclosure. She initially paid cash but got a mortgage a few years ago that’s in default.”
Blake absorbed the news. “If she joined in with Dean to regain the property, it could change everything for her too. They could split the millions and both end up with much more money than she got initially. It all makes sense.”
The computer dinged and drew Hez’s attention again. “This is what I’d hoped to see. The program thinks Allen’s signature is a forgery. It will take time to get an expert to weigh in, but you’d have ammunition to go to Mary and Dean and tell them you know what they’re trying to do.”
“Should I do that or continue to investigate? I don’t want Dean to get away with murdering Allen either. We spoke to Dean’s former best friend and girlfriend, who happen to be married now.” He told Hez about Elowen’s behavior. “Paradise thinks she’s hiding something, and she might be able to pry it out of her when she sees her without her husband.”
Hez leaned back in his chair. “Creed Greene’s brother—that’s an interesting connection. Based on this new information, you should wait to talk to Mary or Dean and see what you can find out. In the meantime I’ll get to work on finding an expert to giveus an official opinion on the signature. We might be able to nip this at the source before we get mired in litigation.”
Hez’s buoyant expression lifted Blake’s hope, which had been sagging about as low as a sow’s belly. “I think I’ll take the family somewhere to celebrate. The boys have been feeling the weight of our worry. We haven’t told them, of course, but kids feel that stuff.”
Hez nodded. “Simon’s the same way. He picks up on the smallest things.”
Blake swallowed the last of his coffee and stood. “I’m glad I got to see the famous Justice Chamber. Whoever attracts your attention is lucky you’re working on their case. Me and Mom would be in manure as deep as the haymow if we didn’t have you.”
Chapter 36
Moisture from last night’s rain soaked Paradise’s boots on her jog across the grass to the ticket booth to meet Elowen and Tessa. She sidestepped a skink that darted away from her feet. She smiled when she spotted Elowen’s radiant smile. She held Tessa on her hip and pushed a stroller with her other hand.
“You made it.” Paradise had paused long enough to grab a stuffed otter, and she held it out to the toddler.
Tessa let out a squeal that made the monkeys down the path screech back. “Otter!” She clutched the stuffie to her chest.
“What do you say?” her mother prodded.
“T’anks.”
“You’re welcome. The baby otters asked me if you were coming today, and I said I hoped so. Let’s take a cart.” She led Elowen and Tessa to an employee golf cart and got them seated, then folded the stroller and stuck it in the back. “Hang on.”
Tessa’s smile widened with the wind in her hair. She peered at the birds as they passed the aviary, and when the parrots squawked, she covered her ears. Paradise exchanged an amusedglance with Elowen. They reached the otter enclosure, and Paradise stopped the cart.
“For the past few weeks we only watched via a camera so the little family could bond in seclusion, but the pups are eager to explore their new world, so they’re being released for the public to see tomorrow. But I’m going to take you into their domain today before anyone else gets to encounter them.”
“That’s amazing. Thank you so much.” Elowen scooped up Tessa and followed Paradise past the fences screened with murals announcing the upcoming arrival of the new family.
Paradise grabbed a cooler of crayfish. Inside the first perimeter, there were no posters screening the habitat from view. The otters frolicked in a pond surrounded by green grass and weeds. The babies spotted Paradise and came her way, emitting their characteristic chirps and squeaks.
“They associate me with food. They tend to get excited about their meals, so I can’t let you give it to them. I don’t want them to mistake your cute fingers for crayfish.” Paradise opened the cooler and began to feed the otters. “We have five in this raft, which is what a group of otters is called, including the mama.” The otter smell was strong from them marking their territory, but Tessa didn’t seem to notice.
They spent half an hour watching the otters play and swim. Paradise couldn’t decide if she should bring up her questions or wait and see if Elowen offered whatever secrets she might be holding. When the toddler made noises about going to see the other animals, Paradise decided she had to make a move. It was already nearly noon, and she had other animals to check on.
She led the way out of the enclosure and locked the gate behind her. “The petting zoo is right here. I’ll bet Tessa would loveto see the rabbits.” She took them the short distance to the barnyard entrance.
Elowen let Tessa go in by herself to sit with the rabbits. “I wanted a moment with you,” she said, glancing around. “You asked me and Wade if we’d ever heard anything about a will, and I—I lied. Wade is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I didn’t want him to be disappointed in me. There is a will out there, Paradise, but it’s forged. Dean forged it.”
Paradise put her hand to her mouth. “When was this?” They had proof, but if Elowen wouldn’t testify, it wouldn’t get them very far.
“When Dean came back a few weeks ago, I ran into him at the barbecue place where he works. I was carrying my take-out order to the car, and he waylaid me. I wasn’t trying to see him or anything, but Wade might think I knew he was working there. I hadn’t heard he was even back in town.”
“You should tell Wade. It’s not a good thing to keep secrets from the man you love. It makes complete sense that you’d go get food without knowing he was there.”
