Jules got down to business. “I’ve created a written report—I’ve emailed it to you in a zip file, plus I’ve got a hardcopy for you here.” He pushed the hefty document down the table toward them. “But I thought, if it’s okay with you, we could just quickly do an oral debrief—see if you have any questions, although your lawyer really does seem to be on top of things.”
“Yeah, no, I’d like that,” Emily said, turning to look at Mick who added, “That would be great.”
“Okay, then. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to start with a breakdown of exactly what happened on the night that your mother was killed,” Jules said.
Emily nodded, but Mick reached over and took her hand.
“There’s a wealth of new information about that,” Jules continued, “because Harper confirmed in his confession—although I never had any doubt from the evidence we uncovered—that Milton Devonshire Senior was indeed the perpetrator of the hit-and-run that killed your mother. Harper saysMilton called him in a panic, and Harper in turn called Clayton Spencer, who at the time was with the LAPD. This was the start of their ongoing partnership in crime, by the way. Together, Spencer and Harper helped Milton frame Mick, by creating the incriminating video with the time-stamp editing done by Gavin LaCrosse. Who was paid off, monthly for years, until his recent murder.”
“Murder,” Emily repeated.
“I should probably say alleged murder,” Jules back-pedaled. “But the police strongly suspect foul play. And we do, too. Security footage from the parking lot shows Clayton Spencer and one of his men at the Magic Hour elder facility on the morning of LaCrosse’s death. No one’s confessed to killing him just yet, but there will be an autopsy—they weren’t going to bother, but now... They will.” He turned toward Mick. “We also haven’t yet confirmed that the firearm on your father’s desk was left there intentionally for you to use, but Clay Spencer owns a Glock that fits your description, right down to the metal case with his initials.”
Mick nodded even as he glanced back over his shoulder at the big desk in the middle of the room. Thiswaswhere that had happened. Yikes. And Robin thought his own father sucked.
“Any questions so far?” Jules asked.
“I want to see that doctored video,” Emily said. “I know I said I didn’t, but... I do. I want to see everything.”
“It’s in the digital report,” Jules told her with a smile. “Both the video with the original timestamp, and the cropped video.”
“Thank you.”
“Moving on to the next criminal act from Team Harper and Spencer,” Jules continued, “Harper claims Spencer came up with the plan to commit fraud three years ago, when thereal Milton died as a result of a massive stroke. Harper claims he was coerced into participating, but he was very intensely involved in the day to day management of maintaining the deception, so we’re skeptical about that.”
Mick leaned forward. “So, just to get this clear, because I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it... When my father died three years ago, in order to keep control of his money....?”
“Harper and Spencer buried Milt out in the garden, and claimed he survived,” Jules confirmed. “Yeah. The DNA report is back—your father was one of three bodies that were found there.
“According to Harper, Milton died unexpectedly and instantly from natural causes,” Jules continued. “It’s hard to confirm that for sure, but there’s no obvious trauma to the remains that imply otherwise.”
“After three years, can they really tell?” Mick asked.
“To some degree, yes. For example, there were no broken bones, no obvious injury to the skull,” Jules explained. “But, you’re right, something like death from... being smothered or... drowned is nearly impossible to prove from an autopsy on skeletal remains, so really who knows.”
“Got it,” Mick said.
“According to Harper,” Jules said, “Spencer came up with the idea to find an elderly homeless man to put into a hospital bed here in the library, to replace Milton—which gave them both access to his—your—money. Rinse and repeat, three different times.”
“That’s crazy,” Mick said.
“It really is. Harper—pressured by Spencer, or so he says, and we should all take that with a giant grain of salt... He made sure that no one who knew Milton—including Mickhere—was allowed into the house,” Jules continued. “Because obviously the old man in the hospital bed was not Milton Devonshire. This subterfuge got more and more complicated, each timeMilton—” he made air quotes “—died.”
“Think about it this way,” Sam interjected, adding a quick, “May I?” to Jules, who nodded, giving him the floor. “The role of Milton was played by the original Milton—your father—and three different actors. Easy role—lie in a bed and be silent. Not that anyone signed on willingly. We’re pretty sure they were extensively drugged if they weren’t properly incapacitated. But imagine the headache this created for Harper, who had to make sure that a nurse who cared for Fake Milton Number One wasn’t brought in to care for Fake Milton Number Two, and so on. All Harper and Spencer needed was for one nurse to say,Hey, this isn’t the Milton Devonshire I know—this is a different man.”
“Harper jumped through hoops to make sure that didn’t happen,” Jules told them. “But it was those very hoops—his inane-seeming rules of employment and other odd things like removing all of Milton’s files from the house—that made us realize something fishy was going on.”
“Whydidthey remove all of the files and papers from the house?” Robin asked.
“Spencer—who claimsHarperwas the mastermind behind all of this, because of course he does...Hesaid they wanted to make sure there were no legal documents among Milton’s belongings that Harper didn’t know about,” Jules explained. “And in the end, therewasone in Harper’s own files—the will that Milton changed, that named Emily as his heir. I have no doubt that, had Harper been alone in the room when that latest Devonshire will was pulled from the file, he would’ve shredded it. He was not above forgery, either. Thepolice found a notarized document in his office that granted him power of attorney for you, too, Mick.”
“Yeah,” Mick said. “That was disturbing to hear. I wouldnever, not in a million years agree to?—”
“Everyone knows that,” Jules reassured him. “It’s a forgery, that’s very clear. But apparently after Fake Milton Number Three died and Rene the housekeeper screwed up their plan by calling 9-1-1, where the paramedics pronounced him officially dead, Harper or Spencer or Harper-and-Spencer made a new plan to remain in control of the Devonshire fortune by similarly incapacitating Mick, whom they believed to be the sole heir.”
“Via some kind of brain injury,” Mick repeated a bit of the conversation he’d overheard from Harper while locked in the trunk of the lawyer’s car.
“No one’s admitted that,” Jules reported, “but you heard what you heard. Plus the housekeeper, Rene, really disliked Harper, and she... expounded at some length about the fact that he wanted—against her outspoken advice—to hold on to the hospital bed and other medical supplies that were in the library. Why would he do that, unless he expected to need it in the very near future? Which goes hand-in-hand with Harper’s uncharacteristic desire for Mick to inherit the bulk of the family fortune instead of Emily as per Milton’s will. It was pretty clear that Harper was hoping Emily wouldn’t be found.”
