The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (children's books read aloud .TXT) 📗

hour, he paid his bill and left. He then entered an ale house three stores down. The window in the pub was small, but if William stood against the wall, he could watch the house.

After another two hours and one more watered-down ale, he left the pub and headed for home. As he slowly rode his horse back to the townhouse, his thoughts were in a jumble. If Patrick was indeed the talented actor Mother seemed to think he was, he was certainly capable of convincing William that he was ill, then grieving, the two times William had seen him.

He decided to stop at his club and have a decent drink before he returned home and was again subjected to his mother’s enthusiasm about the dinner party. Also, there was a good chance one of the members who was familiar with the law might be able to answer a few questions for him.

The club was more than half-full. He viewed the area and walked toward Mr. Adam Richards. The man was a solicitor. William had sought his advice before when his own solicitor was unavailable.

“Wethington, haven’t seen you in a while.” Richards stood, and they shook hands.

“Yes. I’ve been busy.” William waved at a footman to bring him his favorite brandy.

Richards lowered his voice. “I heard some rumors that you are being looked at by the police as a suspect in a murder? That can’t possibly be true.”

William nodded his thanks at the footman and poured brandy into the glass. “I’m afraid it is true. My man of business, Mr. James Harding, was found floating in the River Avon. For some bizarre reason, they have placed their focus on me.”

“Whyever would they have come to that conclusion?”

“They have confiscated the man’s files, and unfortunately, Harding was doing some finagling with various businesses and forged my name on some documents that made it look as though I was involved.”

Richards let out a low whistle. “That’s not good.”

“Not at all. That leaves me with another mess to clean up, even after the murder charges are dropped. Based on that, the police have foolishly assumed we were partners in crime and I killed him to take over the businesses.”

The man’s brows rose. “That is the best they can do?”

There was no reason for William to share that their suspicion had been furthered when he’d been caught twice trying to get his files. “They have refused to look at other suspects and are spending their time trying to build a case against me.”

“If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. It’s a very bad position they’ve put you in.”

“Yes. However, there is one thing I wanted to ask you.” He paused. “If a man is a trustee for an estate, is it possible to transfer the trust to another person?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Given that it is quite hard to come by trustees because it involves a lot of work, transfers occur all the time. Considering the age of the beneficiaries of the trust, the responsibility could last a considerable length of time.”

“How is a transfer done?”

“As soon as the trustee has the consent of another person willing to step into his place, he merely files papers with the court transferring the trust.”

“Does it involve an in-person interview?”

“It may, depending on the court. Not usually, though, since as I said, it is hard to find trustees, so they generally just accept a notarized document.”

“Thank you. That does help.”

“You’re very welcome, and I hope you are able to clear up this mess soon. I take it you are doing your own investigation, since the police seem to have fallen short on their duties?”

“I am. After a few weeks of stumbling around, I think I might have a solid suspect.”

“Good for you. It’s a shame we pay the police to protect us, and then we find ourselves in a position such as yours where you are forced to do their work.” He took another sip of his brandy and shook his head.

William nursed his own brandy, going over the facts in his head. He now needed to learn if a new trustee had been named on Whitney’s estate trust and when that had happened.

Before or after Harding’s death.

CHAPTER 31

Amy yawned as she padded over to the cushioned box on the floor in the corner of her bedchamber. Persephone’s bed had always been at the foot of Amy’s bed, but the dog had been dragging it each day until it sat where it did now. When Amy had tried to move it back, her darling little Pomeranian had growled at her.

She bent down to pet the animal and reared back. From what she could see, it appeared Persephone was going to give birth very shortly.

Amy had scoured the Bath Public Library as well as the bookstore for books on dogs giving birth. One of the early stages of labor was the dog pacing and shaking. Persephone was just climbing out of her box, shaking like a leaf. She began to pace.

Amy panicked.

“Aunt Margaret!” She went flying out of her bedchamber and banged on her aunt’s door.

After a minute or so, Aunt Margaret opened the door, tying the belt to her dressing gown. “For heaven’s sake, Amy, whatever is going on?”

“I think Persephone is about to give birth.” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice, but she was afraid she hadn’t succeeded.

Her aunt leaned against the doorjamb, smiling. “These are very natural things, darling. Don’t worry yourself. Persephone will be fine.”

Amy shook her head. “No! She won’t. We have to do something.”

“I am going to do something. Get dressed, eat my breakfast, and meet with my man of business.”

Amy frowned. “You have a man of business?”

“Yes.” She tapped Amy on the nose. “And I do not wish to be late, so I must get washed and dressed. Don’t be afraid; your little dog knew how to get herself into this situation without your help, so I’m sure she will know how