Cottage on Gooseberry Bay: Charmed Summer by Kathi Daley (big screen ebook reader txt) 📗

“I assume you remember that before you left for your trip home, Adam had gone to Switzerland to speak to a man named Joseph Accardi.”

Jemma nodded. “I do remember that. Joseph Accardi had been the Macalester family attorney at the time of Arthur and Adora’s deaths. Accardi had since retired and had moved from Italy to Switzerland, which is why Adam went to Switzerland.”

“Exactly. Adam was able to speak to the man and verify that Warren had gone to his cousin with a statement from the daughter of the midwife who’d delivered Leopold and Leora before Arthur’s death. According to the midwife’s daughter, who had been present at the birth, it had indeed been the female twin who was born first.”

“I remember this as well,” Jemma said. “I think you mentioned it in one of your phone calls. You and Adam were questioning the truth of Marilee’s claim that Warren had killed your parents and was out to eliminate both Ava and Avery as well. You mentioned that Adam was investigating the idea that Warren had already spoken with Arthur about the birth order of Leopold and Leora before Arthur’s death.”

“That’s all correct. Nicolas Macalester was both Arthur and Warren’s grandfather, and he controlled the land and the family fortune at the time. He wanted a male heir, so he paid the midwife a lot of money to switch the times on the birth certificates, allowing Leopold rather than Leora to inherit the Macalester land and fortune on his death. This much seems to be true, but Adam wanted confirmation that Warren knew that Arthur had been made aware of the switch and had altered the trust documents before his death. This is the point where Adam had the idea to speak to Accardi, who confirmed that Arthur had been made aware of the situation and had worked out a deal with Warren that benefitted both men.”

“So the story Marilee told to the family about Warren first tampering with your parent’s plane and then threatening to kill you and Avery was total fiction.”

“It looks likely that’s the case. Accardi was able to confirm that Arthur and Warren had agreed to put the land owned by the Macalester family into a different type of family trust before Arthur’s death. This trust would be managed like a corporation, with every Macalester heir owning stock in the company. Arthur and Warren were both wealthy men at this point, so they both agreed to keep their own liquid assets. It was really only the land and the vineyard that both men wanted and the land and vineyard that both men agreed to share.”

“So if Warren and Arthur had worked this all out before Arthur died, then why did Marilee leave Italy with you and Avery?”

“We aren’t sure at this point, although after personally speaking to Warren, I have a theory.”

Jemma set her glass of wine on the table and leaned forward. “You actually spoke to this man?”

I nodded. “Once Adam and I decided that it was unlikely that Warren had reason to want Avery and me dead, he set up a video conference between the three of us. We started by explaining who I was to Warren, and I have to admit that he was both shocked and delighted to see me.”

“So what did he think was going on when Marilee left with you?” Jemma asked.

“I’m getting to that.”

“Sorry. Go on.”

“Basically, long story short, after Marilee had been in Italy for a few months, she went to Warren and told him that she had decided to take Ava and Avery to the United States. Her family was there, and she knew she’d have help raising the girls, which at the time, Marilee admitted that she felt like she needed. Warren agreed that it might be for the best since the girls were so young, and he was unmarried at the time and had no way to look after them. Marilee asked if there was a way the money Ava and Avery had inherited could be put in a trust with her as the administrator since she would be the one to bear the weight of the financial burden of raising them. Remember that at this point, the land was already in the process of being transferred to the family company Arthur and Warren had agreed upon, but Arthur had a lot of other money and assets that Warren was managing on behalf of his nieces. Warren shared with Adam and me that he wasn’t comfortable signing the entire estate over to Marilee to manage on our behalf. He did, however, want to make sure that both Avery and I had everything we needed, so he set up accounts in each of our names into which he made monthly deposits and Marilee controlled.”

Jemma held up a hand. “Wait. Warren donated money to an account on your behalf every month after Marilee left Italy with you? Is the money still there?”

I shook my head. “No. At least not that money. Hang on, and I’ll get there.”

“Okay. Sorry. Go on.”

“Anyway, Marilee left with Avery and me, promising to stay in touch with Warren, and Warren began making monthly deposits of ten thousand dollars into each of our accounts.”

“Ten thousand dollars a month!”

“I know that sounds like a crazy amount of money for a one and three-year-old, but that’s what Warren told me. Keep in mind that this was money left to us by our parents. Warren was just managing it.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“I knew that I was with the cop who raised me by December of the same year the cash infusions began, so I asked Warren if he knew what had happened to the money. He told Adam and me that he didn’t know how the funds were used and had no idea that Avery and I were missing. He also shared that