AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The businesses were still operating when he died,” said Decker.
“Yes, but they all petered outfrom a combination of a lack of capital and Baron’s heirs not being nearly as good at business as he was.”
Decker said, “That brings me back to my original question. If there is treasure up there, it would be pretty hard for someone to look for it without you knowing, right?”
“Well, I’m almost always there. And when I’m gone, it’s only for a couple hours. And you can’t accessthe grounds without coming right past the front door.”
“And you still own the place, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“But if you get convicted of murder, what happens?”
“You damn well know what happens. I go to prison.”
Jamison interjected, “No, he means what happens to theproperty? The house?”
Baron’s brows knitted together. “Oh, I see. Well,I’m barely keeping my head above water. I wouldn’t be able to work in prison, so my income, little though it is, dries up.”
“You could sell some of your personal assets. Like the old guns you showed us.”
“It’s not just that.”
“What else?”
“Well, although Brad Costa denied my most recent request, Ididmanage to refinance the mortgage a year or so ago. Thebank gave me a slightly lower interest rate, but there was language added.”
“What sort of language?” asked Jamison.
“A moral turpitude clause. The estate possibly could be designated as a historic site. That gives it value. But any sort of scandal would lessen the worth of the property, and that added value was factored into my refinancing request.”
Jamison said,“So are you saying that if you were arrested and convicted of a crime…?”
“The bank would be able to declare an event of default and they could foreclose and sell off the property to the highest bidder. Even if I could continue to make the payments on the mortgage.”
“But why would they care, if you could still make the payments?” said Jamison.
“Because the collateralfor the loan is the house. If I committed a serious crime, they argued that it would diminish the marketability and value of that collateral. Thus they wanted the right to find me in default so they could try to salvage that asset.”
Baron eyed Decker. “You don’t seem surprised by this.”
“I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“If you didn’t commit the murders then someonewas trying awfully hard to see that you were blamed for them. You knew or had contact with all four victims. This wasn’t apparent for all of them. It required some digging on our part. And you didn’t help yourself by lying to us.”
“Obviously.”
“So whoever did kill them didn’t want to make it seem too easy.”
“Why not?” asked Jamison.
“Because we would havecome to the conclusion that someone wasframingBaron.”
“And is that the conclusion you’ve now reached?” asked Baron.
“I’m getting there. How much is the mortgage on the property?”
