“We found our rat,” Stanton said, handing me the envelope.
I reached for it. “Let me guess. Sherman.”
“I wish. It was Mother.”
English and I stared at each other before I said, “Now we know she isn’t harmless.”
As cold-hearted as Mother was, this news was devastating. I’d always believed she loved my father, but now we knew it had been a sham.
English reached for my hand and held it.
“Guess not,” Stanton spat.
“Where’s Ravina?” I asked.
“I’m right here,” she answered, walking into the room. “What did you find?”
We told her the news. “Did you let Mother borrow your car?”
“Not to my knowledge, but then she had access to it like she did all the cars here.”
“Stanton, did she know about the meeting that day?”
“No idea, and I didn’t ask Dad.”
“And why would you have? You never thought the morning would end in a wreck.” I glanced back at the papers in my hand. The only prints in the car, other than Ravina’s, were my mother’s.
Landry paced the room. “Now what do we do? Call the police?”
“Yes, and turn everything over to them. If they determine there’s enough evidence, which I doubt there is, then she’ll be charged.” With the little knowledge of the law that I had, everything that had turned up seemed circumstantial to me. But it was best to let the law decide.
English clenched my hand. “Tristian, this doesn’t make sense. Why would she do this?”
I had thought the same thing. Until… “I believe she wanted Dad to add a codicil to the will, only leaving everything to her. After she found out what he was planning, she wanted him out of the way before things were finalized. What she didn’t realize is the codicil was already signed and sealed.”
“Why didn’t Sherman just tell her?” Stanton asked.
This was what had bothered me at first too. “I had the same question. Dad must’ve suspected something fishy was going on and had another attorney do the codicil and not Sherman. Mother and Sherman were conniving enough to work out this accident plan. I think they figured if Dad was out of the way, Mother would get everything. And if I inherited, controlling me would be easy because I didn’t want the business. They had no idea about Dad’s little charity clause and I doubt they thought I’d get married. They most likely assumed everything would end up in her hands or Stanton’s, so that’s why the accident. Remove Stanton and Dad at the same time so it would default to her. Too bad for Dad, he outsmarted them. It cost him his life.” Turning to my wife, I added, “And it almost cost you yours, because she couldn’t stand the idea of me having control all because of you.”
Ravina stood. “She was going to blame all this on me! She deserves to pay for this.”
Everyone agreed. I also said, “If the law can’t press charges due to insufficient evidence, I’m going to cut her off. It’s the least we can do.”
My older brother called in the police and we explained, turning over everything we had to them. Next, I contacted Ryan and asked for his help. He suggested calling in Clayton Summers, who had more expertise in this area. Clayton agreed with us in that there might not be enough evidence to arrest her. “Let’s wait and see what the police find.”
It was tense, knowing what we did and not able to confront my mother with it. The days dragged, but Clayton called to let us know that a trial date had been set for William McLure. It was in twelve days and Mark was eager to move forward.
While I was on the phone with Clayton, I asked, “Any news yet with the situation at my house and the cars?”
“Nothing yet and don’t be surprised if you hear before me.”
“I’ll call if I do. How do you think Bill McLure’s trial will go?”
Clayton chuckled. “The governor fired McLure, so I would say if that’s any indication, it’ll go well. I feel sorry for his attorney.”
“Why?”
“Put yourself in his shoes. How would you like to defend that?”
“Point taken.”
Ten days later, English and I sat together in the court room as the trial went on. The best part of it was when McLure jumped up and shouted at his attorney. The judge ordered him to sit down, and when he wouldn’t, he was found in contempt. One more problem to add to his mountain of issues.
“Mr. Bridges, can you take me through the night you were assaulted by Mr. McLure?” Clayton asked.
“Objection. He is making an assumption.”
“Overruled,” the judge said. “That is no assumption, as Mr. McLure was arrested at the scene. You may continue, Mr. Summers.”
“Mr. Bridges, will you walk me through that night?”
“Yes. I got a call from my granddaughter, who was extremely frightened. She told me Mr. McLure had forced his way into the house and was threatening my daughter-in-law. Since I live right down the street, I jumped in my car and headed over there. When I walked in the house, Mr. McLure was shouting at my daughter-in-law and threatening to take my great-granddaughter away from her. He was in her face, yelling. So I went up to him and asked him to lower his voice and to stop acting that way. He then punched me in the face. I fell backward, tried to break my fall with my elbow, but hit my head anyway. It knocked me for a loop, I’ll tell you.”
“Did you require hospitalization?”
“Yes, and I need shoulder surgery as well. The fall tore my rotator cuff.”
The defense attorney tried to rattle Mark but nothing he said worked. Mark only replied, “When someone is in your home, trying to attack your family, it’s a very frightening thing.”
McLure’s attorney said, “No further questions, your honor.”
As Clayton said, it was a slam dunk. The jury was out for less than an hour when they read the guilty verdict. McLure would be joining his son in prison.
Then Mrs. McLure cried out, “This is all your fault,” pointing to English. “If you’d treated my son better…”
“Maybe if he hadn’t beaten me, I would have,” English retorted. She was not taking any of that. Mrs. McLure shut her mouth and left the court room.
Then my wife glanced at me and said, “I guess we’re done with them.”
I nodded, thinking about what we still faced with my family.
Chapter Fifty-Three
English
The verdict against Bill McLure called for a celebration. We were invited over to Banana and Geepa’s house for dinner. Banana even bought a special collar for little Bucker, who was coming along nicely in his training. Unlike Boonior, he didn’t care for shoes, but when we arrived, Geepa showed us what that little Bucker had done to their sofa. He’d chewed holes in their cushions. Banana beamed behind Geepa. What was that all about?
I pulled her aside a few minutes later and asked.
“That little Bucker is my ally. I have hated that couch for years, but Geepa hasn’t wanted to buy a new one. Bucker came to my rescue.” She high-fived me and kept grinning.
After inspecting the cushions closer, I said, “Banana, I’d wait to get a new one until he’s done with chewing. He has piranha teeth.”