secretary. Any ostensible reason for her termination would have been a thinly veiled excuse subject to a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Instead, they sent her from lawyer to lawyer, each papering her employment file with some inane complaint. Eventually, she came to rest in the cubicle just outside Dana’s office, and over the past two years, they had developed a kinship as outlaws.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Linda said.
“I’m glad to have you here, too.”
“Crocket has been asking to review your files and your time sheets. He’s looking for things. I saw a memorandum regarding the practice group presentation. He hit you pretty hard.”
At the moment it all seemed unimportant. “Thanks for looking out for me, but don’t get yourself in any trouble, Linda. Just give him what he wants. I’m not worried about Crocket. He can attack me, but he can’t attack my work. That’s what pisses him off.” She winked. “But I don’t think I need to tell you that.”
Linda laughed. “Maybe you should get a nose ring.”
“I’d like to give him a nose ring. Would you hold my calls? I’m going to be taking care of some personal matters.”
Dana opened the box on the floor that contained James’s personal papers. Over the next hour, she sorted through his credit card and bank records. The estate was not inconsequential, but because he had sold most of his possessions, it was not complicated. He had $183,000 in a retirement fund and another $78,000 in stocks. His Green Lake home had an assessed value of $425,000. He had an additional $62,000 in cash from the sale of his Capitol Hill home invested in mutual funds. He also had a $1 million life insurance policy with Molly his beneficiary. Dana had contacted the insurance company; who advised her that they would be conducting an investigation, apparently to determine whether her brother could have beaten himself to death, suicide not being a covered event. Brian Griffin had told her that he’d drafted a will and a trust for James, but Dana did not find copies of either. She had made an appointment to see Griffin later in the week.
James had done most of his banking online. His password was written on the inside of his file, M-O-L-L-Y. Dana accessed the website for his credit card and scrolled through the entries. A careful review did not reveal what she was looking for. She then logged on to his banking site and reviewed his statements for the previous nine months but again did not find any large withdrawals or checks. About to log off, she noticed a check entry to a company called Montgomery Real Estate for $695 and considered it of interest since, to her knowledge, her brother did not own any real estate besides his home. Scrolling back through the records, she noted the same entry the previous month and the four months prior to that as well. She wrote the name of the company on a legal pad as her direct line rang, indicating an in-firm call. She checked the extension before answering.
“I know you didn’t want to be bothered,” Linda said, “but a Dr. Bridgett Neal is on the telephone for you. She said it was important.”
15
R OBERT M EYERS EMERGED from beneath the apple-red wing of the Meyers International floatplane and stepped down onto the deck before turning and offering his hand to his wife. Elizabeth Meyers stepped out, resplendent in a royal blue St. John’s pantsuit. Meyers smoothed his tie and adjusted his blazer as the couple strode up the wooden pier hand in hand. His father, the former two-term governor of the state of Washington, had taught him that life was about making entrances and exits.
“Nobody remembers what happens in between,” he would say.
It was the reason Meyers had opted for the floatplane. Today he intended to make an entrance. The weather had certainly cooperated, providing a glorious sky, and sunshine reflected in the windows of Seattle’s downtown skyscrapers to the immediate south. Days like these had earned Seattle
“I’m glad you’re back,” Linda said.
“I’m glad to have you here, too.”
“Crocket has been asking to review your files and your time sheets. He’s looking for things. I saw a memorandum regarding the practice group presentation. He hit you pretty hard.”
At the moment it all seemed unimportant. “Thanks for looking out for me, but don’t get yourself in any trouble, Linda. Just give him what he wants. I’m not worried about Crocket. He can attack me, but he can’t attack my work. That’s what pisses him off.” She winked. “But I don’t think I need to tell you that.”
Linda laughed. “Maybe you should get a nose ring.”
“I’d like to give him a nose ring. Would you hold my calls? I’m going to be taking care of some personal matters.”
Dana opened the box on the floor that contained James’s personal papers. Over the next hour, she sorted through his credit card and bank records. The estate was not inconsequential, but because he had sold most of his possessions, it was not complicated. He had $183,000 in a retirement fund and another $78,000 in stocks. His Green Lake home had an assessed value of $425,000. He had an additional $62,000 in cash from the sale of his Capitol Hill home invested in mutual funds. He also had a $1 million life insurance policy with Molly his beneficiary. Dana had contacted the insurance company; who advised her that they would be conducting an investigation, apparently to determine whether her brother could have beaten himself to death, suicide not being a covered event. Brian Griffin had told her that he’d drafted a will and a trust for James, but Dana did not find copies of either. She had made an appointment to see Griffin later in the week.
James had done most of his banking online. His password was written on the inside of his file, M-O-L-L-Y. Dana accessed the website for his credit card and scrolled through the entries. A careful review did not reveal what she was looking for. She then logged on to his banking site and reviewed his statements for the previous nine months but again did not find any large withdrawals or checks. About to log off, she noticed a check entry to a company called Montgomery Real Estate for $695 and considered it of interest since, to her knowledge, her brother did not own any real estate besides his home. Scrolling back through the records, she noted the same entry the previous month and the four months prior to that as well. She wrote the name of the company on a legal pad as her direct line rang, indicating an in-firm call. She checked the extension before answering.
“I know you didn’t want to be bothered,” Linda said, “but a Dr. Bridgett Neal is on the telephone for you. She said it was important.”
15
R OBERT M EYERS EMERGED from beneath the apple-red wing of the Meyers International floatplane and stepped down onto the deck before turning and offering his hand to his wife. Elizabeth Meyers stepped out, resplendent in a royal blue St. John’s pantsuit. Meyers smoothed his tie and adjusted his blazer as the couple strode up the wooden pier hand in hand. His father, the former two-term governor of the state of Washington, had taught him that life was about making entrances and exits.
“Nobody remembers what happens in between,” he would say.
It was the reason Meyers had opted for the floatplane. Today he intended to make an entrance. The weather had certainly cooperated, providing a glorious sky, and sunshine reflected in the windows of Seattle’s downtown skyscrapers to the immediate south. Days like these had earned Seattle
Similar Books
