The Underground Man

25

Tracy Garvin stood and watched while Steve Winslow read through the facsimile of Jack Walsh’s holographic will. Steve finished, set the paper on his desk, leaned back in his chair and frowned.

“Well?” Tracy said.

Steve shook his head. “It’s all wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

Steve tipped the chair forward, pointed to the will. “This will. It’s all wrong.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Have you read it?”

Tracy shook her head. “No. I knew you were waiting for it. As soon as it arrived, I brought it in.”

“All right,” Steve said. “Listen to this.”

He picked up the will and read, “‘I, Jack Walsh, being of sound mind and body, do hereby revoke all prior wills and make this my last will and testament.’”

Steve looked up from the will. “He now puts in the date, specifying not only February 26th, but February 26th at 2:30 p.m.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Tracy asked.

“Nothing. It’s just odd. People date a will. They don’t usually put the exact hour.”

“So he was a precise man.”

“He was also a lunatic. At least, arguably. And an insane man cannot write a will. Not and have it binding. Putting the time on is odd, and anything odd is suspect.

“But that’s nothing,” Steve said. “Listen to the rest of it. I’m writing this will in the 66th Street Station of the Broadway Number One line. It pleases me to do so. I think it a nice touch that a document affecting the transfer of so much money should be executed at the very spot where indigents sleep.

“‘Having revoked all prior wills, I now dispose of my property as follows:

“‘To my relatives, Rose Tindel, Pat Grayson, Claire Chesterton, and Carl Jenson, I leave the sum of one thousand dollars each, in the hope that they will use it to pull themselves together and find themselves and their lazy, worthless spouses work.

“‘The rest, remainder and residue of my property I leave as follows:

“‘To Jeremy Dawson, who though only a boy, has exhibited the attributes of consideration, concern and kindness. It was he who came to me in my hour of need, and he who saw fit to look out for my welfare. He is deserving, and this shall be his reward.

“‘I hereby appoint the Chase Manhattan Bank to act as trustee for Jeremy Dawson until he shall reach the age of twenty-one, at which time they are to turn over the entire principal to him without restriction or reservation. I appoint the bank sole trustee, and specifically state that none of the aforementioned relatives, Rose Tindel, Pat Grayson, Claire Chesterton, Carl Jenson, or the aforementioned spouses, Jason Tindel and Fred Grayson, shall have any say whatsoever in the trust, nor have any right to use any of the monies contained therein for any purpose whatsoever.’”

Steve looked up from the will, shook his head, said, “And that’s it.”

“So what’s wrong with that?” Tracy said.

“Everything,” Steve said. He picked up the will, handed it to her. “Here. Take a look.”

Tracy took the will, looked at it and frowned. “Seems O.K. to me.”

“Yeah, well there’s something missing.”

“Really? What? No, don’t tell me.” She looked at the will again and then her eyes widened. “Son of a bitch.”

“Got it?”

“Yeah. The signature.”

“Right.”

“He didn’t sign it.”

“No. And that’s very odd, because it’s one of the things we specifically talked about.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I told him writing his name at the top could be construed as a signature, but to make sure there’s no mistake, sign it at the bottom.”

“Suppose he misunderstood you?”

“Not that man. He’s sharp as a tack.”

“So why’d he do it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t.”

Tracy frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, take a look. Jack Walsh was writing in longhand. The handwriting is spread out and nearly fills the page.”

“So?”

“So what if there’s a page 2?”

Tracy looked at him. “You think there is?”

“It’s possible there was.”

“All right, well what if there was? What difference would it make?”

“It might make a lot,” Steve said. “Look at the way the will is worded.”

“What do you mean?”

“Particularly the residuary clause. Notice, he doesn’t say, ‘All the rest, remainder and residue of my estate I leave to Jeremy Dawson.’ Instead, he says, ‘All the rest, remainder and residue of my estate I leave as follows:’ Then there’s a colon. Then he starts a paragraph, To Jeremy Dawson, etc., etc.’”

“What’s the difference?”

“Big difference. Suppose on page 2 there’s another short paragraph about how the trust is set up and how the other relatives can’t get their hands on it, ending with a semicolon. And then the next paragraph begins, To my beloved such-and-such.’”

“You mean there could be another heir? He could have left his money to two people?”

“Exactly. And the way this will is worded, that’s not really such a long shot.”

“Well, if that’s true,” Tracy said, “what happened to page 2?”

“There’s two possibilities. One, Jeremy destroyed it so he’d inherit the whole thing.”

“Is he smart enough to do that?”

“Hard to tell. He’s smart in some ways, dumb in others. He’s a tough kid to read.”

“What’s the other possibility?”

“Jack Walsh gave it to someone else.”

“Why would he do that?”

“How should I know? The man was eccentric. It might have amused him. And then there’s a third possibility.”

“What’s that?”

“He might have kept it himself. In which case it burned up with him.”

“Shit. You really think he did?”

“I think it’s a good possibility. I keep trying to get in the man’s mind. And I know from the questions he asked me he was planning something exactly of that sort. If the will isn’t found right away, and the prior will gets probated, and then the new will shows up. Well, it’s a just slight wrinkle on that to what if half of the will gets probated and then the other half shows up.”

“You mean-”

“Exactly. I think it’s entirely possible Jack Walsh wrote out a second half of the will, which he planned to stash somewhere with someone, to be mailed to me or the police or the bank at some later specified date.”

“If that’s true, then we’ll never know.”

“Right, and-”

Steve broke off at the sound of the outer door opening and closing. “Someone in the outer office.”

“I’ll see who it is,” Tracy said.

She went out, returned moments later.

“Jason Tindel to see you.”

“Oh? Is he on the warpath?”

“Not with me. He seemed perfectly polite and respectful.”

“This should be fun. Show him in.”

Tracy went out and came in ushering Jason Tindel.

Tindel immediately held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I’m not angry,” he said.

“Oh?”

“No. That was some job you did to me on the witness stand. But I understand you were only doing your job. There’s no hard feelings.”

“I’m glad to hear it. So what can I do for you?”

“It’s about Jeremy, of course.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. The family’s very concerned. At first we thought it was ridiculous, but now it appears there actually is something of a case.”

“The police seem to think so.”

“That’s absurd. Jeremy wouldn’t do anything like that. Not to Uncle Jack. Now Jeremy is a bit wild. He’s been in scrapes before. There’s some things I wouldn’t put past him. But not this.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Steve said. “But why are you here?”

Jason frowned. “To offer my support, of course. The whole family’s support.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I would think you’d need help in this. From what I hear, the police happen to have a pretty good case. Well, we happen to know a few things about Jeremy’s background, his history, that could assist you in putting together the defense.”

“Such as what?”

“Well, Jeremy hasn’t always been mentally stable. There’s been incidents in the past, things you could bring up that would show diminished responsibility.”

A grin spread over Steve’s face. “Diminished responsibility?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve seen the will, haven’t you? Jeremy’s will?”

Jason Tindel frowned. “Yes. Why?”

“And you plan to contest it, don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do,” Jason said.

“On what grounds?”

“Lots of grounds. When Jack Walsh made that will, he was not of sound mind. There’s also the question of undue influence. There’s also the fact that the will isn’t signed.”

“Sounds like good grounds to me,” Steve said. “I assume a lawyer pointed them out to you?”

“I spoke to my lawyer, yes.”

“Yeah, I was sure you had,” Steve said. “The moment you used the term, ‘diminished responsibility.’ And your lawyer advised you you could contest the will on those grounds?”

“Well, yes he did.”

“And he also told you you couldn’t be sure of winning, didn’t he?”

Jason frowned. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“It’s got everything to do with it,” Steve said. “I was wondering why you were here. Then you said ‘diminished responsibility and I knew. Because I know the next thing your lawyer told you. And that’s even if you couldn’t knock out Jeremy’s will, it still wouldn’t matter if Jeremy got convicted of murder. ’Cause a murderer can’t inherit from his victim. That’s why you’re in here offering me support, and that’s why the support isn’t anything that’s gonna get Jeremy off. It’s the type of stuff to get the sentence reduced once he’s convicted. ’Cause you don’t care how long he goes to jail, just as long as he’s convicted and it knocks out his will.”

Jason Tindel looked totally nonplussed. “Well, now …” he said.

“Well now, indeed,” Steve said. He smiled. “Well, anyway I’m glad you’re not angry. I’m not angry either.” Steve pointed. “But if you wouldn’t mind doing me the favor, would you please get your ass out of my office?”