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It wasn’t James Longbaugh’s.
It was Randall Kenyon’s.
I didn’t catch the first spate of words, but heard what sounded like, will not be denied by small-town and small-minded hack before another lost patch of eloquence, then... even in this backwater, I will make this deal happen. It’s in the bag.
I heard movement in the room, then the door swung open.
James stood at the door, holding it open as a not-so-subtle hint.
“You might get it done, Mr. Kenyon, but not with my representation. If there is a negotiation, I will be on the opposite side of the table.” He was too smart a lawyer to put in words what his tone conveyed. That he’d do his best to make the other man pay with lots of dollars. “But I will be more surprised than I have been in most of my professional life if it comes to a negotiation. Good day.”
“I’m not done. I’m—”
“You are. Elizabeth, if you’ll come to my office.” He looked at the assistant. “Please call the sheriff’s department.”
It was nice to have that last part aimed at Randall, not me.
James gestured me ahead of him down the short hallway toward the back. I would have strongly preferred to bring up the rear to see how Kenyon reacted. I had to be satisfied with looking back as I walked, trying to see around James.
Still, I heard Kenyon tromp out.
James pivoted to go to the front door and lock it behind him. He told the assistant. “If anyone tries to come in or knocks, call for me. Don’t open the door.”
“Do you still want me to call the sheriff’s department?”
“Not unless he comes back.”
In his office, he gestured me to a chair in front of the big old desk and took the one behind it.
“Randall Kenyon was here to...?” I invited.
He declined with, “Discuss a business matter.”
I’d gotten that much on my own.
“And what are you here for today, Elizabeth?”
“I want to know about the setup at Elk Rock Ranch, especially how Chester Barlow set it up for the current generation.”
Actually, I wanted to know everything and anything he knew. But saying that wouldn’t get James to spill.
He considered for a moment. “I’ll tell you what’s a matter of record — which you could find on your own — but I’ll save you the time.”
“That’s fair. I understand Chester treated Keefe and Brenda like they were part of the family, but never made that official?”
“Chester helped raise both of them, true. Keefe was a grown man when his mother died. As for Brenda in the early days after her parents’ deaths, that, of course, was not something I dealt with, though my father did. Brenda has been and is this firm’s client. Chester was not. He considered law a do-it-yourself project. But, no, there was nothing official in Chester’s care for them.”
“So neither Brenda nor Keefe had any claim on Elk Rock when he died?”
“None legally. And Chester made no provisions for anyone.”
“No will?”
“Chester wasn’t a man who accepted that he’d ever die.” The way James said that made me think he’d encountered a few of those. “Closest living relatives were his niece and nephews.”
“Wendy Barlow’s brothers hold a share in the ranch?” I’d been told they didn’t, but I wanted his take on the ownership.
“No. They wanted nothing to do with it. Nor did they require the money it would have brought at sale. Each signed over his rights of inheritance for that property to Wendy Barlow. She is the sole owner. That’s all public record.”
