As though she wouldn’t have already done that. “Here it is.” Frances released Nick’s hand and rose. She removed the list from her pocket and took it to the lawyer. “We talked about it in detail on the train. At the bottom are items we think we can verify once we see certain documents.”
“What will you do if you cannot locate other documents to compare your father’s signature on it?” Mr. Littrell asked, scanning the list.
“I have a letter my father gave me the night he died,” Frances said, her voice tight. “And I’ll bet there are plenty of people in this city who did business with him who might still have correspondence.”
“I’m not sure what purpose would be served in such an effort,” the attorney said looking up to study her.
Frances opened her mouth, but her throat tightened. Nick stepped beside her and took her hand.
“If William Lancaster had anything to do with his brother’s death,” he said softly, “my wife intends her uncle will see justice for his crime.”
“The only way that could happen is for the man to be arrested and convicted.” Mr. Littrell shook his head. “You don’t want to bring that kind of shame on your family name.”
“That’shisshame, not ours,” Frances hissed. “I won’t sit back and let him get away with murder.”
The lawyer started to argue again, but then the others jumped up to stand beside Frances and Nick. Mr. Littrell blinked at the sign of solidarity.
“William Lancaster has shown no conscience,” Charles said.
“He must be stopped,” Maude agreed.
“Whatever it takes,” Doris added.
“I’ll do as you wish,” Mr. Littrell said, holding up his hands in surrender.
“Frances,” Charles said once they’d all taken their seats again, “in that note you left when you three fled your uncle’s home, you mentioned knowing how much money was in your father’s accounts. Was that true?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks went hot at the memory, but she refused to be embarrassed by the truth anymore. “As you’re all aware, my father could barely stand to look at me the last couple of years of his life.”
“No,” Doris and Maude cried.
“Yes. You both know it’s true. He couldn’t bear the sight of me—wethink—because I look like Mother. But it’s a moot point now. He’s not here to ask.” Frances clenched her fists, and Nick covered one with his hand. “But when he shut me out, I started doing whatever I could to get close to him. That included snooping through his papers. It made me feel like I was still part of his life.”
“What did you find out?” Nick asked with no accusation, his voice soft and his tone gentle. Frances wanted to grab his face and kiss him.
“Like what bank the safe deposit box key might be from? He only did business with two that I can remember. I hadn’t been looking for things he might have kept there besides his money, but the last time I looked at his account he had nearly half a million dollars in the bank. That was a week before he died.” She met Charles’ gaze. “So, yes, I know how much money ought to be in the account.”
“Then tomorrow should be an interesting day,” Mr. Littrell said and then moved on to discussing other details that didn’t interest her.
“Do you think we’ll all need to be there tomorrow?” Nick whispered.
“Probably not.” Frances shifted closer, sensing he was up to something. “What do you have in mind?”
* * *
“I’mreal curious about that safe deposit box key.” Nick hoped how close she was sitting was a good sign. He’d spent way too much of the evening debating with himself whether to tell Frances how he felt. “I’m sure the trained professionals will handle the legal and financial things.”
“And the others will look after our interests, including asking if Father kept a safe deposit box there,” she said with a nod. “Are you thinking we should check the other bank while everyone is busy?”
“It’ll save time.”
“Divide and conquer.” Frances kissed his cheek. “I like it.”
“Are you lovebirds even paying attention?”
“Sorry.” Nick straightened.
As the others went on talking, he had to resist touching his cheek where she’d spontaneously kissed him. She seemed to feel everything so strongly, more than anyone he’d ever known before. Her passion for life had been one of the first things that had drawn him to her. He hadn’t known her two days before he’d felt like a moth drawn to a candle.
