PART II Chapter Seventeen
With the interview of Abby over, Kate had to shift gears and change her thoughts back to William Duncan. She needed to know what happened to the coins and stocks and who his partner was so many years ago.
Kate made a trip to the lab to see if any of the materials from the safe contained any information. The lab found only fingerprints from their victim, a copy of the will that William’s lawyer had already revealed and not much of anything else. Kate gave all of the paperwork found in the safe to their research department so they could start searching for the partner.
Kate did a background check on the nephews she learned about when she talked to William’s lawyer. Kate had also taken a description of the gold coins that William had purchased by using his receipts and sent it to all of the coins and gold shops in the area in case someone had tried to sell them.
Kate ran a background check on William’s attorney to make sure he could be trusted. She thought it was time to check all possibilities. With the information she had at the moment, the one person that would gain the most was the granddaughter, but she would have no reason to steal anything out of the safe, she would inherit it all anyway.
Kate and Cindy knew they had to dig deeper into Mr. Duncan’s finances. There had to be something else they didn’t know yet. They could talk to the nephews and more of the in-laws to see if anything new came to the surface. Kate didn’t want to talk to Elizabeth again at the moment because she didn’t have any new information to bring to her.
With a little digging, Kate found the two nephews who would be sharing the estate with Elizabeth. Charles and Seymour Duncan were actually great uncles, cousins to Elizabeth. Kate made an appointment to talk to them, and wanted to do it individually by putting them in different interview rooms so they couldn’t compare stories.
Kate split the two brothers as soon as they walked into the station. She chose to talk to Charles first and left word with Seymour that she would be with him as soon as possible.
Kate started with some general background questions. She asked, “What kind of relationship did you have with your cousin Elizabeth growing up?”
Charles replied, “Probably the same kind of relationship most young boys have with their girl cousins. My brother and I were convinced she had cooties, even though we weren’t quite sure what cooties were. When we were all younger, she was quite the tomboy, she went fishing with us and camped out. She could build a fire and if we tried to sneak off to hunt frogs or something like that, she would complain until we invited her to come along. ”
Kate inquired, “Did that relationship change after you got older?”
Charles answered, “Yes, we had a good close relationship after we hit our teen years. We took her under our wing when she started dating and watched out for her by keeping an eye on the guys she brought around. If we didn’t feel they were right for her, we would pull her aside and tell her our opinion.”
Kate asked, “What about your relationship with your Uncle William, did you have any issues with him?”
Charles replied, “No issues at all. He was a kind and generous man. Seymour and I lost our father while we were still kids and William took up the slack. He took us fishing and camping. We worked at his company in the summers doing odd jobs like delivering the mail and some light janitor duties.”
Kate asked, “Did you know William’s partner’s name?”
Charles responded, “I remember what he looked like and I spent some time talking with him but I never knew his name. He was always pretty busy and when I talked to him, it always felt formal and business like. I don’t think he had any kids and looking back it didn’t seem like he cared much about having any.”
Kate inquired, “Did it seem like William and his partner got along well?”
Charles responded, “I think they probably got along as well as any business partners did. They didn’t always agree and there were some closed door meetings that contained yelling loud enough that you could hear it through the door. I couldn’t make out what was being said but I knew that it was loud. I wasn’t that interested in business at that time so I may have heard but just didn’t care.”
Kate asked, “Do you see your cousin much in recent times?”
Charles replied, “We have family gatherings like Christmas, weddings and funerals that bring us all into the same place. Both of my parents are gone now as are Elizabeth’s. William was the last relative that we all had in common. He was kind of the glue that held us together. After Elizabeth’s grandmother Pearl died, William wasn’t the same. It took a lot out of him.”
Kate said, “Now that I have the back story loud and clear let‘s move to some more recent issues. Did you know your uncle collected gold coins and owned some stock?”
Charles replied, “Yes, he showed me once when he first started buying them. He had them in his floor safe but he said he was going to move them because he didn’t trust his neighbors.”
Kate asked, “Do you have any idea where he put the coins and stocks?”
Charles replied, “I don’t know. They were still in the safe when he showed me. He just said he was moving them but I don’t know if he ever did or not.”
Kate replied, “They were not in the safe when we opened it. We assumed someone might have stolen them but the safe was still locked when we opened it.”
Charles replied, “Maybe he had a safety deposit box somewhere?”
Kate replied, “It hasn’t turned up anywhere but we are still looking for where he may have put the coins and who his partner was.”
Cindy came through the door into the interview room. She bent over and whispered in Kate’s ear, “His brother, Seymour is here and waiting in the room next door.”
Kate told Charles she didn’t have any more questions for him but she would keep in touch. She gave him her card with the usual “call us if you think of anything else” speech.
Kate went next door to talk with Seymour and Cindy joined her. They sat across the table from Charles’ brother.
Kate introduced herself and Cindy to Seymour and he said that he had met Cindy earlier. Kate asked Seymour the same basic questions that she had asked Charles, to verify what Charles had told her and Seymour’s answers were very similar to what Charles had told her.
Seymour knew about the gold coins in the safe but didn’t know where they were now. Seymour also recalled the story that William had plans to move the valuables from his safe, but like his brother did not know whether he actually did it or not.
Kate didn’t know if William moved the valuables or not, but her gut told her that he did. She was running out of people to ask. It seemed that the people she interviewed were either unwilling or unable to tell her where the coins and stocks were. Kate gave Seymour a card and a speech about calling if he thought of anything else.
Kate went back through the personal effects they found at William’s apartment. She found old receipts and deposit slips. Anything dealing with banking was all done with one bank. It was clear to Kate that if there was a safety deposit box it was likely that it was at that bank.
Kate and Cindy decided it was time to go to that bank and ask some questions. Kate asked for the bank manager and when a short balding man about fifty years old walked over, Kate flashed her badge and started asking questions about William. The manager said there was, in fact, a safety deposit box at that bank for William.
The bank manager, Russel Sanders, then corrected himself and said, “Actually there was a safety deposit box here for William, but his granddaughter came in with her power of attorney and closed out all of the accounts and took the funds and the deposit box contents with her.
Kate asked, “Wouldn’t she need to wait for a reading of the will?”
The manager replied, “Since her name was on the account as a co-owner and she also had power of attorney so legally whatever was in there belongs to her.”
Kate just found another reason to talk to Elizabeth. It was apparent that she hadn’t been completely honest with them when they were questioning her. Maybe the threat of a charge of lying to a law enforcement officer would help improve her memory.