Morgan James - Promise McNeal 01 - Quiet the Dead by Morgan James Read Free Book Online

though the administrator can’t cash in the trust until then, there are things that can be done into the third and following years to free up parts of the cash and still not trigger an IRS rape of the funds. And most importantly, one of the many rules for this type of trust is that any objection by the heirs must be filed within twenty-four months of the activation of the trust. The activation, of course, would technically have been Tournay Sr.’s death. That, my dear, brings us to the urgency of the matter. We only have sixteen days left to file our objection.”
    “ Sixteen days . Garland. Bring me in on the last roll of the wave, will ya.”
    Tapping out a short rat-tat-tat on the table with the erasure end of his pencil, Garland frowned. “We’re both on the tail end of the wave. Ms. Becca just breezed into my office two days ago. Didn’t I tell you I needed a little magic?”
    I nodded in sympathy. “Okay, so what do you have on Paulie that makes him an unfit administrator? Any drugs, alcohol, past criminal record?”
    “Nada. That’s why I need you, Dr. McNeal, psychologist extraordinaire. The good news is that we don’t have to prove him a total nut case, just not fit to manage the sizable Tournay fortune. He can be mentally unstable, a criminal, or just plain stupid. Take your pick. It doesn’t matter which. Just get me something I can take to a judge.”
    “By the way, how did the Sr. Tournay make the money?”
    Garland waved his right hand and studied the ceiling. “Hell, I don’t know. The how doesn’t matter to our case. He taught art in Atlanta at the Art Institute and then at USC for years after they left Atlanta. He did write one book, Carolingian Art, Diverging Genius . Whatever Carolingian art is.”
    “Catchy title. I think Carolingian has to do with the reign of Charlemagne.”
    Garland’s cinnamon brown eyes narrowed. “How do you know that, and I don’t?”
    “It’s okay Garland. Don’t be hurt. When you were busy with predator skills at law school, I was yawning through art appreciation class. It doesn’t sound like Sr.’s book would have made the bestseller list. Where else could the money have come from?”
    Garland shrugged. “I haven’t a clue. Like I said. It doesn’t matter. Maybe good investing back when you could make a killing in the stock market. I don’t know, and don’t care. Becca’s story is some of it came from Tournay’s family in France. He was French. Did I mention that? I have copies of Tournay’s accounts that merged into the trust showing intermittent deposits since the early fifties. He seems to have kept one investment account separate from what he earned teaching. Some of it goes out over the years, but he seems to have been a thrifty Frenchman and much of it stays in for growth. Anyway, we aren’t concerned with where the money came from, only that the charming Becca gets to keep it. Why are you so interested?”
    “Umm. Well, you know me; inquiring minds want to know. Don’t worry, I hear you. I am being paid to investigate Paulie and not Paul Sr.’s money. So, other than the possibility Paulie sent his mom a somewhat bizarre voodoo doll, what makes Becca so sure he is insane?”
    “Ah, another interesting twist. She says after he moved into the Tournay house, Paulie called his grandfather several times babbling he had seen the ghost of his grandmother on the house grounds. Becca says old Papa was horrendously upset by young Paul’s stories and she is sure the calls sent Papa to an early demise. To say she is very angry with Paulie would a gross understatement. I gather Becca and good old Papa were very close.”
    “Closer than she is with her son, it would seem. What about the grandmother? When did she die?”
    Garland fidgeted in his seat and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Well, that seems to be a long story Becca also refuses to talk about. The short version I got from one newspaper clipping and an obit Paige dug up on line is that