waiting for the police, Mr. Patterson. Interesting pattern I noticed. For the last ten years, ever since you became Celeste Taylor’s attorney, her accounts have had money going out while you have had money going into your off-shore account.” She told Millicent. “Your mother probably thought the money was going out for her expenses since your lawyer took care of the bills. That’s why you were surprised to discover a huge debt when she passed away.”
“You creep!” Millicent slapped him. “And you brought that lying appraiser in here to cheat me out of mom’s jewels. She even told me that the Blue Starburst Diamond was a phony.”
“The police are here,” Frederick came in to announce. “Would you like me to send them up here to arrest Mr. Patterson for murder?”
“Only embezzlement,” Mac said. “They’ll be arresting someone else for murder.”
When everyone turned to him, Mac said, “As Archie said, Patterson became Celeste’s lawyer ten years ago. I doubt if you’ve spent much time here at the mansion, where she had her jewels and artwork, ill-gotten goods.”
“Correct,” Patterson said. “She only told me about her jewels and artwork, which she told me were genuine. I was as surprised as Millicent when that appraiser declared them fakes.”
“But you hired her,” Millicent said.
“But, Mr. Patterson, would I be correct in assuming you never took an inventory?” Mac asked.
“Celeste said she had an inventory of her priceless jewels and artwork, which we would find in her safe upon her death,” Patterson answered.
“According to that inventory, everything was genuine,” Millicent said.
“I’d like to see that inventory,” Eli said.
“I’ll be glad to show it to you,” she replied.
“Celeste didn’t give the inventory to her lawyer for a reason,” Mac said. “Because everything was stolen. Even though the statute of limitations had run out, Celeste wouldn’t want the world to know about her having the paintings and jewels until after her death. Therefore, Mr. Patterson was unaware of the value of her stolen treasures. I believe, since she hinted to Millicent about a surprise after her passing, she wanted her secret to be revealed later. However, someone who was here in this house, for thirty years—Maybe he even got close enough to read the inventory himself, he learned her secret and decided to take advantage of the situation to profit from it for himself.”
Mac turned to Frederick. “You were here when Brenda Collins, the appraiser Patterson hired, showed up for the appraisal. You offered her a bribe—a percentage of the profit if she said everything was worthless.”
“You gave her a deposit of fifty thousand dollars.” Archie held up her tablet. “I found where you took fifty thousand dollars out of the trust that you inherited from Celeste Taylor.”
Mac continued, “You even enlisted Brenda’s boyfriend, Clark Dunning, into the scheme to pretend to take a called in bid on the pieces that you wanted to purchase at a reduced rate. You couldn’t actually call in because you were working in your job as butler, which gave you an alibi.”
“Phone records already showed that no calls came in for bidding at the time that the diamond gown was up for bidding,” Ben said.
“When Gnarly and I upped the bidding too high, you delivered the coffee to Clark to tell him to drop out of the bidding. Your role as butler was perfect. You have the full run of the house while being invisible. I never even stopped to notice you when you were at the door when I was chasing Clark while he was trying to escape after you had killed Brenda when her deception was discovered. People would have noticed if the butler was seen chasing him across the grounds outside so you had to stop running after him and come back to find another way to cover your tracks. You did that by gunning him down from up on the verandah after we caught him.”
“You can’t prove any of it,”
“You creep!” Millicent slapped him. “And you brought that lying appraiser in here to cheat me out of mom’s jewels. She even told me that the Blue Starburst Diamond was a phony.”
“The police are here,” Frederick came in to announce. “Would you like me to send them up here to arrest Mr. Patterson for murder?”
“Only embezzlement,” Mac said. “They’ll be arresting someone else for murder.”
When everyone turned to him, Mac said, “As Archie said, Patterson became Celeste’s lawyer ten years ago. I doubt if you’ve spent much time here at the mansion, where she had her jewels and artwork, ill-gotten goods.”
“Correct,” Patterson said. “She only told me about her jewels and artwork, which she told me were genuine. I was as surprised as Millicent when that appraiser declared them fakes.”
“But you hired her,” Millicent said.
“But, Mr. Patterson, would I be correct in assuming you never took an inventory?” Mac asked.
“Celeste said she had an inventory of her priceless jewels and artwork, which we would find in her safe upon her death,” Patterson answered.
“According to that inventory, everything was genuine,” Millicent said.
“I’d like to see that inventory,” Eli said.
“I’ll be glad to show it to you,” she replied.
“Celeste didn’t give the inventory to her lawyer for a reason,” Mac said. “Because everything was stolen. Even though the statute of limitations had run out, Celeste wouldn’t want the world to know about her having the paintings and jewels until after her death. Therefore, Mr. Patterson was unaware of the value of her stolen treasures. I believe, since she hinted to Millicent about a surprise after her passing, she wanted her secret to be revealed later. However, someone who was here in this house, for thirty years—Maybe he even got close enough to read the inventory himself, he learned her secret and decided to take advantage of the situation to profit from it for himself.”
Mac turned to Frederick. “You were here when Brenda Collins, the appraiser Patterson hired, showed up for the appraisal. You offered her a bribe—a percentage of the profit if she said everything was worthless.”
“You gave her a deposit of fifty thousand dollars.” Archie held up her tablet. “I found where you took fifty thousand dollars out of the trust that you inherited from Celeste Taylor.”
Mac continued, “You even enlisted Brenda’s boyfriend, Clark Dunning, into the scheme to pretend to take a called in bid on the pieces that you wanted to purchase at a reduced rate. You couldn’t actually call in because you were working in your job as butler, which gave you an alibi.”
“Phone records already showed that no calls came in for bidding at the time that the diamond gown was up for bidding,” Ben said.
“When Gnarly and I upped the bidding too high, you delivered the coffee to Clark to tell him to drop out of the bidding. Your role as butler was perfect. You have the full run of the house while being invisible. I never even stopped to notice you when you were at the door when I was chasing Clark while he was trying to escape after you had killed Brenda when her deception was discovered. People would have noticed if the butler was seen chasing him across the grounds outside so you had to stop running after him and come back to find another way to cover your tracks. You did that by gunning him down from up on the verandah after we caught him.”
“You can’t prove any of it,”
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