My jaw tightened, and I may have grumbled an obscenity or two. "Get in touch with the funeral director and call me back.”
“I'm on it."
I ended the call and told JD, "We might have a problem."
49
"What!?" Bailey explained when we caught up with her at Fish.
We had told her about the amended trust agreement.
She shook her head. "No. Sydney would flip out if she knew they were getting everything and that nothing went to charity. Are you shitting me?"
The lunch crowd had died down, and the dinner crowd hadn’t arrived yet. Bailey had just come on shift.
"From what I understand, complete control of Preston Capital Management will now be under the direction and control of Judy Hollister."
"Wow," she said, stunned. "It's not like Sydney had a say in that, but she would have pitched a fit. I can tell you that."
"Why?"
"Sydney was close to Preston. Closer than she was to anybody else in the family. He repeatedly expressed to her his desire to leave his fortune to charity. He believed his children needed to make their own fortunes. He told Sydney he had given them every opportunity to succeed, and if they couldn't make it on their own by now, it was their issue."
I shared a look with Jack.
Bailey cringed. "Do you think that's why she was killed?"
"Starting to look that way, isn't it?"
“Preston wouldn’t have signed that document if he knew what was in it.”
Jack said, "I'm beginning to think Sydney caught on to what was going down and protested. Maybe she threatened to expose their scheme."
"Sydney would never have kept quiet, that’s for sure,” Bailey said. “She was pretty outspoken."
"I didn't know her personally, but from everything we've learned, she didn’t hide her feelings," I said.
I thanked her for the information, and we left the restaurant. The valet pulled the car around, and I called Isabella while I waited.
"You're impatient, aren't you?"
"Yes, I guess I am. You got anything interesting for me?"
“Possibly,“ Isabella replied.
JD and I hopped into the Porsche, and Jack drove away.
“I have four cell phones at Preston Hollister’s mansion, the night of Sydney‘s death—Preston’s, Judy’s, Sydney’s, and Bryce’s. Sydney‘s phone leaves the residence at 10:30 PM. It arrives at her apartment 10 minutes later. Judy and Preston‘s phones are at the Hollister residence all night, as well as Bryce Van Allen’s.”
That hung there for a moment.
I had the call on speakerphone so Jack could hear.
“That’s interesting,” I said. “Provides a solid alibi. I wonder if he’s offering something more than legal services to Judy?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. She convinces him to amend the document, they get Preston to sign it, she’s several billion dollars richer. Maybe she promised to kick something back to him off the books.”
“You’re the best,” I said.
