AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So who is he?” Colette asked.
“I don’t know. Did you meet with him?”
“Yes, after I knew he wasn’t who he said he was, I was curious. Plus he called me at work and said he was nearby and asked if we could talk. I agreed, and he met me in the hotel employees’ cafeteria.” Colette took a break. “I had a friend sit at another table. She took a photo.” Colette pulled out her phone and pulled up the photo Dottie had forwarded to her. She handed the phone to Clive.
“Huh. That’s a man named Jerry Thompson. He’s a private detective who often works for Arthur Millstone.”
Colette’s hands started to shake again. “But why was he looking for me? And lying to me?”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to know if I had, in fact, witnessed Mr. Randolph’s signature and if I had read the document. I told him that I did witness it but did not read it.”
“What did he have to say about that?”
“Not much, really. I don’t know if he was satisfied, but I wasn’t about to give him any more information.”
“Smart,” Clive encouraged her.
“Then I thought about this notebook. I surely wasn’t going to tell him about it, and that’s when I thought I should bring it to you. Mr. Randolph trusted you very much.”
“And he trusted you as well,” Clive said kindly. “So, let’s take a look at that book.” Clive spun it around and began to peruse the pages. Columns of dates and amounts and initials. The dates ranged over the course of a year. The amounts varied from $3,000 to $7,000 at a time. The initials were always the same: A.M. Clive stared down at what appeared to be a journal of cash disbursements to Arthur Millstone. There was no other person with those initials.
Now the question was where had this information come from? The family household expenses, or one of the many bank accounts Millstone Enterprises had? Clive noted that the checks were not for huge amounts according to the expenses the family household incurred. But there had to have been over $100,000 recorded from where the journal began and ended. Clive closed the binder. “I cannot thank you enough for bringing this to me.”
“I didn’t know what else to do.” Colette was finally feeling calm. Safe.
“When I spoke to Arthur recently, he claimed that they couldn’t find the missing mysterious will.”
“If that’s what the document in the envelope was, how did they know about it?” Colette was certain she had hidden it well.
“I told Arthur that I had a meeting scheduled with his father the day he had his heart attack and it had something to do with his will.” Clive poured another coffee for both of them. “Randolph told me he had changed it, but he never had the opportunity to share the changes with me. But he did say you witnessed his signature. That’s why I was trying to get hold of you.”
“No wonder people are looking for me.” Colette slumped in her chair.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything. For the time being, you and Max will stay here. Until we can sort this out.”
“Oh, but I wouldn’t think of imposing.”
“Look around, dear girl. There is plenty of room for all of us. Besides, it will be nice to have some fresh faces here. I know Logan is probably sick of looking at mine.” Clive was genuine in his invitation.
“But I just started a new job recently, and I can’t take off any more time. I’m lucky I was able to have someone cover for me for two days.” Colette was trying not to fret.
“Who is your current employer?” Clive got up to get a pad and pen.
“The Curtiss Hotel. I’m the housekeeping manager.”
Clive sat down at the table and started taking notes. “For one, we can handle the Curtiss. I’ll have someone from my office call them and explain you were called away on legal business. Most employers don’t dare ask or protest if a law firm is involved.”
Colette sighed, relieved and happy to have Clive act on her behalf. “Well, it is the weekend tomorrow, so Max doesn’t have school. He’s in kindergarten.”
“Then it’s settled. This should only take a couple of days to sort out, but I must warn you, you will be at the mercy of my cooking, or worse, Logan’s!”
Colette finally relaxed and laughed. “Not to worry, Mr. Dunbar. I’ll be the chef while we’re here.”
“And you must call me Clive, please.” He knocked on the table.
“OK. Clive. I called Mr. Millstone, Mr. Randolph. He wanted me to call him Randolph, but out of respect, I couldn’t. So it became Mr. Randolph. Sometimes people got confused, but he was the only person I really had to please.”
