Chapter 2 - the missing codicil
Samuel Price had been Richard Pierce's attorney for more than twenty years.
He was the one person Hannah trusted.
At least, she thought she did.
She met him at his office three days later.
Samuel listened without interrupting.
When Hannah mentioned the handwritten note, he became unusually quiet.
“Did you bring it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I was afraid someone would see me take it.”
Samuel leaned back.
“That was wise.”
Hannah frowned.
“You believe me?”
“I believe your father.”
Samuel opened a locked drawer.
He removed a thin file.
“Richard anticipated problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“The kind that occur when people believe inheritance is the same thing as ownership.”
Hannah stared at him.
Samuel placed a document on the desk.
“This is the original estate plan.”
She read the first page.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Then Samuel turned to the final section.
There was a reference to a codicil.
A second document.
Hannah looked up.
“Where is it?”
Samuel hesitated.
“That is the problem.”
“What happened?”
“It disappeared three days before Richard died.”
Hannah felt the room change.
“Someone stole it?”
“We don't know.”
“But you knew it existed.”
“Yes.”
“What's in it?”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“I cannot tell you everything.”
“Why?”
“Because your father instructed me not to reveal its contents unless a specific condition was met.”
“What condition?”
Samuel finally looked at her.
“If someone attempts to remove you from the estate.”
Hannah stared.
“That's why you're telling me now.”
“Yes.”
Samuel opened another folder.
Inside was a copy of a letter.
Richard's handwriting appeared at the bottom.
If Hannah is ever forced from the house, release the second file.
Hannah's heart began pounding.
“What is the second file?”
Samuel closed the folder.
“You don't want to know yet.”
“I think I do.”
“No,” he said quietly. “I think you want to know when it is safe.”
Hannah left the office carrying a single photocopy.
She had expected answers.
May you like
Instead, she had received a warning.
And someone in the Pierce estate knew exactly what Samuel had just shown her.
