Murder at the Bellamy Mansion by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

waged on longer than expected and Northern tradesmen like Jenkins and Porter grew anxious and gave up hope of ever being paid, Greensleeves arranged for a bank called the East River Bank & Trust to buy the outstanding notes at a discount. Later, East River was bought out by Bowery Savings, then Bowery Savings was bought by a Los Angeles bank.
    “ Long story short, through a series of acquisitions, Citigroup ended up owning the assets and liabilities from the original East River Bank. And among those assets are notes owed by Dr. Bellamy.”
    “ How much money are we talking about here?” Cam asked with a frown.
    Brian arched curly eyebrows. “With one hundred and fifty years of compounded interest on the original debt, plus penalties and legal fees, we’re talking almost seventy-five thousand dollars.”
    “ Whoa!” I cried. “Have you thought this through, Brian? The mansion is a stewardship property of Preservation NC. They’d never be able to come up with seventy-five thousand dollars to settle an old debt!”
    “ They would not,” Jon echoed. “Why, it’s taken them years to raise the money for renovations. There’s no extra cash lying around. And now, with times hard on everyone, donations are down.”
    “ And,” Cam added, “state revenues have fallen as well so we can’t go running to the state legislature for an appropriation.”
    Han had been studying Brian intently. Now, with his hand cupping his chin, he said thoughtfully, “Do I understand you correctly, Brian? If the original note is not paid, Citigroup would have the option to foreclose on the property? To force its sale?”
    Brian replied evenly, “It is conceivable that is what could happen. Of course, we would negotiate, do everything we could to prevent such a thing from happening, that is foreclosure. But, yes, the teeth in the bite of collection is foreclosure. We could force the sale.”
    “ Well,” Han said slowly, as if thinking out loud, “what if an interested party made an offer to Preservation NC that they could not refuse? This interested party would pay the old debt and its interest and penalties, and in addition, offer a most attractive, above-market price for the mansion. Would they not be willing to sell under those circumstances?”
    All eyes turned to Brian.
    “ By interested party, I assume you are referring to yourself and Candi,” Brian replied. “What sort of figure did you have in mind?”
    “ Naturally, I must consult with my financial advisers,” Han, ever cautious, said, “but Candi has her heart set on that mansion. And she has found a local, established realtor to handle the sale.”
    He turned to me. “Melanie Wilkes. Your sister.”
    “ And my wife,” Cam said, and seemed not at all pleased to have Melanie dragged into this discussion.
    Then Han went on, “So the way I see it, we will have the mansion appraised by an independent appraiser. Then we’ll add a hefty amount on top of the appraisal, settle the old debt, and proceed to closing.”
    “ Oh, I don’t . . .” I started to say.
    “ They’d never . . .” Jon started to say.
    Brian interrupted, “But Jon, Ashley, isn’t that precisely the mission of Preservation NC? They sell historic properties to individuals who will restore and maintain them. They should have no problem with this transaction. And as I see it, doubtless they’d have no choice. If, as you say, they cannot come up with seventy-five thousand dollars to pay the old debt, they’d have no choice but to sell. This would be a way out for them.”
    “ No choice,” Han said as if the matter was settled. “I can’t wait to tell Candi.”
     

 
     
     
     
    7
     
    “ If that wasn’t the party from hell, I don’t know what was,” I told Jon as we got into the Escalade. Then we followed Melanie and Cam across the bridge and made a quick left onto Airlie Road. After a quarter mile, we whipped into their tree-lined driveway that snaked out to the Intracoastal Waterway and