PART II Chapter Twenty-one
Kate held the paper in her hand, she seemed mesmerized for a second until Megan’s question broke her train of thought.
Kate brought the paper to Megan and said, “This is partnership papers that shows William had formed a partnership with John Webber. John and his wife live in the apartment building where William lived and his wife Mary was having an affair with William. There may be many motives for murder here.”
Megan asked, “If they were still partners when William was killed what was the motive?”
Kate said, “We were told that William had been in a partnership in the past. The implication was that there were no longer any partnership connections. There must be a dissolution of the partnership somewhere. Keep looking through the papers.”
Megan said, “I found a court document showing John Webber sued William over their division of property after their partnership dissolved.”
Megan handed the paper to her mother. Kate took the document and studied it for a few minutes.
Kate said, “We may need an attorney to translate this into laymen for us, but it seems that John Webber didn’t think he got a fair deal from the settlement.”
Cindy said, “Few people feel great after they go through a legal proceeding.”
Kate said, “I never dreamed that John Webber was William’s partner. Now we have to think about his physical condition. Even if he had a motive, and it appears he had a good one, would he be capable of pulling a trigger?”
Cindy said, “If he was angry, the extra adrenaline in his system may have given him enough strength to do it.”
Kate said, “Anything is possible and even though he would normally be unable to physically pull the trigger, the added anger made it possible.”
Megan asked, “How would you prove that? I know from classes how important that is.”
Kate said, “I don’t know but I think we need to have a talk with John and his wife again. We can see if their story matches what they said the first time. I still have my notes from that interview. John told us he knew of William but didn’t ‘know’ him. I would think that with a partnership and a court battle you would get to know each other pretty well.”
Cindy said, “I think we should continue looking through these files to make sure there isn’t something else that can help us establish a motive.”
Kate replied, “I just hope the pizza holds out, there are a lot of folders left and tons of papers.”
Megan responded, “We can always order more pizza.”
Cindy found the document that was the start of the partnership. It was evident that William already had a business and John invested money to get a share. The documents revealed that William retained a fifty-two percent while John received forty-eight percent.
Kate said, “William intended to keep a controlling share and I can’t fault him for that. I would do exactly the same thing. In case of a disagreement someone has to have the ability to say, ‘okay this what we are going to do’.”
Cindy replied, “I am with you. If I owned it to start with I would want to keep the ability to control what happens with the company.”
Megan found the court agreement that dissolved the partnership. Megan handed the court document to her mom. She thought she and her mom also had a partnership and the way she saw their partnership was that her mom had about seventy-five percent share. Kate looked at it closely and then put it in her evidence folder.
Kate said, “That document shows when they split the company they divided close to four and a half million dollars. The lawsuit that John filed claimed that William hid assets to reduce the amount that John would get.”
Cindy asked, “Was the lawsuit ever settled?”
Kate replied, “The court could find no evidence of hidden assets. It was over an investment in gold coins. John claimed that the company invested profits into gold coins. William had bills of sale showing he bought the coins as a personal investment but John insisted William used company funds to make the purchase.”
Cindy asked, “What do you think?”
Kate replied, “What I think is that William got away with stealing from the company till. There is no proof of that but that is what I think. As for the murder, I don’t have a clue, I think we need to talk to Elizabeth again along with John and Mary Webber.”
Kate and Cindy set up appointments with both Elizabeth and John and Mary . They went to see Elizabeth first.
When Elizabeth opened the door, Kate said, “We have a few loose ends we are trying to clear up, can you answer a few questions?”
Elizabeth replied, “Sure, come in and have a seat.”
Kate and Cindy walked inside Elizabeth’s home and had a seat on her couch while she sat in a chair positioned at a ninety degree angle on the right side of the couch.
Kate said, “We have been going through the files you gave us in those three boxes and I can say for a short while we felt overwhelmed. I assume you knew we would find the partnership agreement, dissolution and lawsuit? What do you know about John Webber?”
Elizabeth replied, “I knew his name because I saw it in those papers. I had seen him a few times as a small child but all of their issues and legal battles took place when I was a child. I don’t remember any of it.”
Kate asked, “When did William tell you about the gold coins?”
Elizabeth replied, “My grandfather called me one day a few months ago and asked me to come talk to him. He said he wasn’t getting any younger, which of course was no secret but then he told me he had some assets he wanted me and my cousins to have. He took me to the bank where his safety deposit box was and we added my name to all of his accounts and the sign in for the safety deposit box and he got me a key. We set up the power of attorney so I could do what I needed to do in the event that he wasn’t able.”
Cindy asked, “Did William tell you the coins had been part of a dispute and lawsuit when the partners separated?”
Elizabeth replied, “No, he just told me if something happened to him, get the coins from storage and hide them somewhere. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t go through probate like everything else.”
Kate said, “Our guess is that William was afraid that John would bring his protest to probate and challenge the will. Did you bring the coins to store them at your house?”
Elizabeth replied, “I got a safety deposit box in my name at a different bank and put them there. They won’t be part of the probate but I intend on sharing them with my cousins.”
Kate asked, “Did you know your grandfather’s former partner lived in the same apartment complex?”
Elizabeth answered, “I am not even sure my grandfather knew he lived there. He was more interested in Mary and I don’t know if he ever met John. I think I heard somewhere it is bad luck to meet the husband when you are sleeping with his wife.”
Kate responded, “I am not sure about rules in that situation either. I would have thought that at some point the men would have met randomly going in and out of the apartment.”
Elizabeth answered, “I don’t know. I thought John was in bad health, maybe he didn’t get out much.”
Cindy said, “Clearly we need to talk to John and Mary Webber again. Maybe John didn’t want William to know he lived there. William never met John’s wife, he never had a wife when the two men were still partners.”
Elizabeth said, “The bottom line is, I never took any possessions except to which I was legally entitled. I didn’t know my grandfather’s partner and certainly didn’t know he lived in the same apartment complex as my grandfather.”
Kate gave Elizabeth the speech about calling if she remembered any other details. Kate reminded her that she had already given her the card.