Hutch sat straighter in his chair.
“Threats,” Rus put in.“Intimidation.Even brainwashing.Lacey Diever said her uncle was one man before he met Enstrom, and he was another after he let Enstrom stay on the property, so he was around all the time.Lacey says it only took months for her uncle to fold in on himself, let go parts of his personality that she’d known all her lifetime, and eventually do everything Enstrom said, and finally, leave everything to Enstrom.”
“Sounds like a teething cult leader,” Hutch remarked.
“Exactly like it,” Rus said.“And Cade agrees.”
“Did this Lacey ever meet Enstrom?”Hutch asked.“Before the court dates, that is.”
Both Rus and Harry nodded, but it was Harry who answered.
“A couple of times, before her uncle kicked her off the property and told her never to come back.She said that was entirely out of character, and from it, she got the feeling he was doing it for her own safety.”
“She said Enstrom gave her the skeeves,” Rus added.
Hutch looked to Harry.“You said you’ve dealt directly with this guy?”
Harry lifted both hands, palms facing up, from his desk.“Soul of amiability.Friendly.Helpful.‘Yes, sir.’‘No, sir.’If there’s a wildfire it was, ‘We’ll be gettin’ right on that evacuatin’ if we gotta leave our land.You need any help spreadin’ the word?’That kind of shit.”
“You ever see any of the women when you were there?”Hutch queried.
Harry nodded.“Almost like they were trotted out so I could witness they were well fed, clothed, warm, had shoes on their feet.But it was all just glimpses and they went about their business nowhere near me.”
“This Lacey got a case, or is it lost?”Hutch asked.
“It’s Flannery’s signature on the will, that’s been established,” Rus answered.“That said, the family’s worked with one law firm for as long as anyone can remember, and this will wasn’t written up by someone in that firm.”
“Who was it written by?”
“Someone whose driver’s license states his address is The Lion and The Lamb,” Harry said.
“Fuck,” Hutch muttered.
“He’s got a law degree, passed the bar, licensed to practice in Washington, but transcripts show every judge they’ve gone in front of thinks that’s sketchy.It smacks of conflict of interest.There’ve been a lot of continuances, but this is on Enstrom’s side.Lacey thinks he’s dragging it out so she and her cousins will run out of money and give up.”
“How long has this been going on?”Hutch asked.
“Since Flannery died,” Harry told him.“Six years.”
“Jesus,” Hutch said.
Harry nodded.
“She close to giving up?”Hutch inquired.
“That woman would wheel herself into a courtroom on her deathbed before she’d let go of that land without a court ordering her to do it,” Harry replied.“From what she says, the cousins feel the same.”
“Least there’s that,” Hutch murmured.
“Other than that, we’re still having trouble getting a lock on these folks,” Rus shared.“Can’t be super vocal, but what little we’ve learned, Enstrom homed in on Flannery, but he hasn’t had much to do with anyone else, except saying, ‘thank you, ma’am’ when someone buys his jam.”
“Flannery have money as well as land?”Hutch asked.
“A little,” Rus told him.
“Not enough to build that compound,” Harry said.He shrugged.“Rus told me you went up there, wasn’t sure the Google aerial shot was current, so he and I did the same.Took some pictures.It’s quite a setup.”
“Agreed,” Hutch replied.
