Chapter 5 - The Attorney Who Was Waiting
Jonathan Hale’s office occupied the second floor of a brick building near downtown Detroit.
He greeted Nora with recognition.
“You have your grandmother’s eyes,” he said.
Nora did not know whether to smile or cry.
Jonathan invited Nora and Raymond into a conference room. He carried a sealed folder marked Shirley Bennett, but he did not open it immediately.
“Your grandmother came to me fourteen months ago,” he explained. “She prepared an estate plan that included a will and a trust.”
“Then why did Brenda say no will existed?”
“Because the signed original was not stored here.”
Nora stared at him.
“Why not?”
“Shirley believed someone had entered her desk and photographed earlier drafts. She asked me to keep copies, but she chose to store the originals elsewhere.”
“In the bank.”
“That would be my assumption.”
Jonathan possessed unsigned copies of several documents, enough to demonstrate Shirley’s intentions but not necessarily enough to settle every challenge.
The trust named Nora as successor trustee. The will named her executor. Brenda was listed as a beneficiary of a smaller restricted fund, but only if she provided a full accounting of all money previously received from Shirley.
“Grandma still left her something?” Nora asked.
“She loved her daughter,” Jonathan replied. “She was trying to be fair without being careless.”
He opened the sealed folder.
Inside were notes from Shirley’s meetings.
One entry described unauthorized transfers. Another mentioned pressure to sign over the house.
The final page recorded an alarming event.
Brenda had brought a mobile notary to Shirley’s hospital room. Shirley refused to sign a property deed. The next day, Brenda told relatives that her mother had become mentally confused.
“Did the hospital report it?” Nora asked.
“Shirley asked them not to. She believed she could handle the matter privately.”
Nora closed her eyes.
Grandma had spent her life protecting people from embarrassment, even when they were hurting her.
Jonathan contacted the probate court and prepared a request for emergency access to the safe-deposit box. He also advised Nora to secure the house and document every item Brenda had attempted to sell.
When they returned to Shirley’s home, the moving truck was gone.
So were several pieces of furniture.
The front-door lock had been damaged.
Inside, drawers had been emptied onto the floor. Shirley’s mattress had been lifted. Kitchen cabinets stood open.
Someone had searched the house after Nora left.
Raymond checked the rooms.
“The television is still here. So is the silverware.”
“They were not looking for valuables,” Nora said.
They were looking for the key.
Nora called the police.
Officer Samuel Brooks arrived forty minutes later. He examined the damaged lock, photographed the rooms, and collected a muddy shoe print from the back entrance.
“Do you know who might have entered?” he asked.
Nora hesitated.
“I know who believed something was hidden here.”
Before Brooks could ask another question, Brenda appeared in the doorway.
She looked at the damaged room and covered her mouth.
“What did you do to Mother’s house?”
May you like
Nora turned toward her.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
