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“Kirk, his name is Kirk, didn’t do it. He loved Matty and he doesn’t know he’s dead. I’m going to have to tell him somehow, but I’d hate to send him into a tailspin. He’s coming by today for his paycheck. I’ll talk to him then.”
Nic choked on the swig of coffee he’d just taken. “His paycheck? This homeless…I mean, Kirk is on your payroll? This is the reason I moved my businesses out of the French Quarter. Too many panhandlers.”
“He’s a nice guy in a bad spot. We all have issues.”
Nic watched me for a bit, not responding. Then he shook his head. “You’ve always had a soft spot for the losers in the world. Just make sure that someone’s with you when you talk to this guy. Okay?”
“I’m beginning to feel like I’m five and heading off to kindergarten.” Nic’s eyes flared so I backed down. I wasn’t going to win this fight. “I’ll be smart and have one of my bodyguards with me.”
Trenton turned the limo onto a side street and the houses got even bigger, a feat I didn’t think possible in the Garden District. “It’s up here on the left, sir, but there’s a car in the driveway.
I watched out the window as we pulled into the circular driveway and behind a small convertible. The top was down and showed the cream leather interior and the bright yellow paint job. I suspected it was a BMW, but it could have been something else. I wasn’t that good with identifying car makes. Especially since I hadn’t owned a vehicle in Seattle at all. I’d lived close to my office and if I went somewhere, I’d ordered an Uber or walked.
A woman got out of the car and put her hands on her hips. “It’s about time you showed up. I’ve been waiting for over an hour.”
We climbed out of the limo, including Trenton who’d turned the car off and was holding his cellphone, just in case.
“And who are you, exactly?” Nic asked as we lined up in front of her.
“I’m Mrs. Mathew Goldstein, and I’m the owner of this house.” She brushed the fur from her coat away from her face. She’d been running the air to enable her to keep the coat on without suffocating in the already muggy day, but now that she was standing outside the car, she was melting fast.
“I didn’t think Matty’s will had been probated yet.” Nic walked to the front door. “We have permission from the court to be here, so if you’d excuse yourself, I’d appreciate it.”
“I drove all the way here at the crack of dawn today. You’re not going to keep me out of the house while you three steal me blind.” She stepped on the sidewalk in front of Nic.
“You’re not going to keep me from doing what I need to do. We’re not letting you inside the house.” Nic tried to step around her, but she blocked him. He looked back at Trenton. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all sir.” Trenton picked the woman up by her arms and moved her off the sidewalk, giving us room to get around her. She sputtered but didn’t fight him. “I’ll keep the trash off the sidewalk while you go inside.”
“You can’t call me trash. I’ll get my money from Matty, even if I have to dig his body up to get him to sign a new will.” She yelled at us as we headed into the porch held up by three Grecian columns. The house seemed to chuckle at the scene.
Nic took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. When we were in the cool foyer, Nic turned to me. “Well, our Annamae wasn’t too far off. The woman thinks she’s getting all of Matty’s stuff. Speaking of delusional people, have you heard from Aunt Franny again?”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about my aunt and her lack of family ties. “Money, it changes everything. I never thought she’d say the things she did.”
Nic leaned closer, checking to see if Bubba was out of earshot. “It’s not just the money for our aunt.”
“I know, but this isn’t quite the bonus power most people dream of when they want to be superheroes.” I studied the vase on the table. Taking my list and clipboard out of my tote, I handed a sticky pad and pen to Bubba along with a clipboard and list for him and did the same for Nic. “There’s one of my items. Put a star on the stickie and see if you can find the number on the list. I think it’s Ming dynasty. Maybe about halfway down the list. There’s a picture of the item next to it. Then take a picture. I hired movers to be here at ten, just in case we found the items.”
“Always thinking ahead., I can give the judge the list and the pictures of what we took out of the house.” Nic nodded to the baby grand in the next room. “Is that on the list? I was looking for one on the second floor a few days ago.”
“Good eye.” I scanned the list. “Number forty-two. Put the number on the stickie and mark it off your list. Everyone take a room. Hopefully we’ll be close to done before the movers get here.”
We spent the next few hours, reclaiming items that Matty had ‘stored’ at his house. If the ex-Mrs. Goldstein was still watching, she’d be furious at the amount of things we took out of the house. But even then, there were still several missing items still on my list that were worth a lot of money. As we waited for the movers to finish loading their truck, I sat in the foyer, marking up my list with the finds that Nic and Bubba had found. “I wonder if Matty had a second house?”
“Not according to the judge. He sold it a few years ago. Maybe some of these items were in there and he just didn’t remove them from inventory?” Nic took a drink of water. “Give me a second list showing the still missing items, I’ll take it to the judge and put a hold on anything that looks like what we’re missing.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Or maybe he’ll give us a warrant to check her place too. She seems the type to help herself.”
“Is she the type to kill her golden goose?” I looked out the window and saw her standing by her car, yelling to someone on her phone.
“What, you think she killed Matty?” Now Nic watched her as well.
“I think it’s worth a question to Detective Charles to see if the grieving ex-wife had an alibi. Did the judge reveal who Matty’s heirs were? Please tell me it’s not her.”
“According to the judge, but not to be discussed elsewhere, the ex-Mrs. Goldstein is going to be very disappointed in her inheritance. Matty’s lawyer told me that Matty said she’d drained him for years when he was alive so when he died, he didn’t have to hear her complain.” Nic nodded to the window. “The ex-Mrs. must have a salon appointment because she’s leaving.”
“Or her lawyer told her to get out of here before it looked bad to the judge.” Bubba said as he walked back into the foyer. “I just checked the garage and the outside sheds. Nothing that looked like what could be on your list. He does have a nice cherry red 65 Mustang convertible I’d give my right arm to own.”
“Good thinking to check the outbuildings.” I stood and looked around. “Did we check the basement and attic too? Matty was a hoarder, at least with antiques.”
