PART II Chapter Fifteen
Kate needed to talk to Elizabeth but she also wanted to work on Megan’s kidnapping case, she hadn’t been able to spend as much time on it. While Kate was in deep thought the lab called her. They had the name of the young murdered man who had been at Megan’s party. His name was Jason Brinkley and he was twenty-one.
Kate thought to herself, “Too old for Megan but too young to die.” They were trying to get some background information but were slow in retrieving anything. Kate sent an alert out to the media with a photo asking for anyone with any information about him to contact Kate at Roxbury homicide.
Kate said, “We will see if that publicity brings in any leads, but for now I need to call Elizabeth and ask what she knows about her grandfather’s investments.”
Cindy replied, “The lab called yesterday about Mr. Duncan’s paperwork from the safe. There was a will but legally they had to contact his lawyer’s office about it. His lawyer had a copy.”
Kate asked, “Did they happen to mention who William’s lawyer was?”
Cindy replied, “They did indeed and I already have his address and phone number. Should we make an appointment before going over?”
Kate called the office of Tom Upchurch and made an appointment for that afternoon. Kate and Cindy drove to the offices and walked to the front entrance and knocked on the stained oak doors. It was an impressive look on the inside as well, it was obvious that Mr. Upchurch had been successful in his career. Oak woods and leather splashed across the room and the focal point of the office decor.
Kate introduced herself and Mr. Upchurch offered his hand and Kate shook it.
Tom said, “I have seen you in the news, usually involved somehow in a shooting.”
Kate replied, “occupational hazard. I have seen you a few times as well. I must say your advertising is much more tasteful than some of your competitors.”
Tom said, “You are here about the death of William Duncan, how may I assist you?”
Kate said, “Except in extremely rare cases, people don’t just kill for the fun of it, there is a motive somewhere and we are trying to figure out what that is. That should help point us to the person who had that reason to kill him.”
Tom replied, “You want to know who had the most to gain from William’s death?”
Kate said, “Exactly. Who would have the biggest gain from William’s estate?”
Tom said, “It gets a little complicated. There is no spouse, no living children or siblings. William’s granddaughter is the closest living heir and as such William left her one half of his estate.”
Kate replied, “I would have guessed even more. What about the other half?”
Tom said, “That’s where it gets complicated. It is split between two nephews and the hospice that cared for his wife in her last days.”
Kate said, “Do you know where the assets are located? We opened the safe, there were no gold coins, no stock certificates or anything else of value. Do you suppose he kept those elsewhere?
Tom replied, “I don’t know the answer to that but I think Elizabeth would know, she was trusted by him. She had power of attorney over him medically and financially. She probably knows where everything is.”
Kate replied, “Elizabeth had control, she wouldn’t need to kill him.”
Tom said, “I have William’s tax records, and bank info if that would help any. You might find a trail there of some kind.”
Kate thanked Tom for his help and gave him her card and parting speech. She would study the financial records first before calling Elizabeth again for questions. She wanted to investigate the nephews also before talking again with Elizabeth. Kate didn’t know exactly what she was looking for yet and hoped there was some useful information in the bank and tax records.
Kate and Cindy took the documents and drove back to the station and Kate immediately started going through the records. She looked through the tax records and found William’s income was derived primarily from a business partnership. Since this wasn’t the business information return it didn’t list who the other partner was.
Kate knew that in the absence of a spouse, a business partner was a prime suspect. She would have to locate the information return filed for the business to find out who that would be. Kate’s suspect list kept changing because the motive kept changing. Kate examined the bank records carefully, comparing transactions with receipts they had already found for gold coins and stock certificates.
William had purchased stocks electronically and paid by electronic means but had bought the gold with cash. Perhaps that was a condition of the seller, maybe that was something William was doing to help hide the fact he had gold. Kate didn’t know any of the reasons, she just knew it had happened.
Kate remembered the last conversation she had with Elizabeth. The granddaughter told her she knew about the safe but not how to get into it. It was hard to believe that Elizabeth would have power of attorney but not the safe combination.
Cindy asked, “Are we going to talk to the granddaughter again soon?”
Kate replied, “I think we should do that now. I want to talk eye to eye. I can tell more from body language sometimes than I can from what is actually said.”
The call was made and Elizabeth agreed to come in and talk to them in person. Kate would study the financial records and prepare her questions for when Elizabeth came in. They had several hours before Elizabeth would be there. Kate and Cindy killed time by going to lunch and discussing what they hoped to find out.
They arrived back at the station just shortly before Elizabeth showed up. They took all of their notes and information to the interview room and waited for Elizabeth to get there. They saw Elizabeth come in on the security monitor and went to escort her back to their interview room.
They exchanged greetings and Kate said, “I just have a few questions about your grandfather’s financial records. His lawyer told me you had power of attorney over his financial and medical activities.”
Elizabeth replied, “That is true, on paper at least. He wanted some protection in case something happened to him. Since he was healthy, very healthy for his age, I didn’t interfere with any of his business dealings. I was just there in case he became unable to think for himself.”
Cindy asked, “Were you aware William was buying gold coins?”
Elizabeth replied, “I didn’t know in the beginning, but I checked his account regularly and I noticed large withdrawals for cash and I questioned him about it. After he told me he was buying the gold, I didn’t ask again. I figured it was his money, he could do whatever he wanted with it.”
Kate asked, “You don’t know where those gold coins are now?”
Elizabeth responded, “I haven’t got a clue. I assumed they would be in the safe or maybe his lawyer had them secured for him.”
Kate smiled and asked, “Do you trust his lawyer?”
Elizabeth responded, “As much as any lawyer. I am not a fan of that profession. I never saw anything inappropriate happen because of him.”
Kate was thinking, questions were forming in her head based on what she had been told so far. Kate asked, “Did you know your grandfather had a business partner when he was working?”
Elizabeth replied, “Yes I knew he did. I used to see his partner when I visited as a little girl. They separated and went their separate ways. I never knew the details of that separation and the information was never volunteered.”
Kate told Elizabeth she was free to go for the moment but she may have more questions later. She gave Elizabeth the standard speech about "if you remember anything else, call me.”
After Elizabeth left, Kate told Cindy she was tired and headed home. She told Cindy she needed to check on Megan anyway and make sure she was alright.