Murder at the Book Fair by Steve Demaree Read Free Book Online Page A

money didn't come from book
sales. His grandfather inherited a lot of money and added to it during his
lifetime. By grandfather I mean his mother's father. Amelia Cooksey married
Reginald Portwood, who died long before he could spend all of her vast fortune.
But he was around long enough to provide Amelia with three children. Amelia
believed in the biblical sense of inheritance, and provided for most of her
fortune to go to her oldest son Cyril when she died. She doted on him and he
doted on her. She more so on him when he went through a sick spell as a child.
He more so on her when she became bedridden with cancer. It wasn't as if she
neglected her other two children, but everyone knew that Cyril was her favorite,
and that included her other two children. From the time I first met Amelia,
when her children were adolescents, Cyril was quite a character and by far the
most outgoing of the three. I have no idea if how they were treated had
anything to do with it. Cyril never met a stranger and was always telling tall
tales. He did it to entertain rather than take advantage of another person.
Amelia was never lavish in her spending, and neither was Cyril. If you happen
to visit his home up on the Ohio River you will see that while there is some acreage that accompanies it, it is a home
that many people can afford. Cyril wasn't lazy, but he never worked. He was
more about having fun and making others' lives better than adding to a fortune
that didn't need any addition. His fortune was well over a million or two.
Incidentally, none of Reginald and Amelia's three children ever married.
    "When Amelia died, her will,
which I drew up, allowed for Cyril to inherit vast millions of dollars, while
her other two children received $50,000 each, which both of them went through
quickly. When Cyril wouldn't dish out another $50,000 they grew even more
distant. If that was possible. I think he sees them only once a year. Both
Archie and Hazel make it a point to come to each Kentucky Book Fair and to buy
a book from each author seated near their brother without acknowledging that he
is there."
    "I assume that Portwood left
a will?"
    "He did. And I drew up his
will, too."
    "How did his brother and
sister fare?"
    "They each will receive
another $50,000, although I doubt if either of them has any idea whether they
will receive all of his fortune or none of it. He left $100,000 to his
next-door neighbor, Millie Longacre, and $25,000 to Bob Barney, his neighbor
across the road. He relegated another sum of money so that each library in the
state and each middle and high school in the state will receive two copies of
each of his books, of which there are seventeen. His property goes to Miss
Longacre, and the rest of his money will be given to charities, with the bulk
of it going to the American Cancer Society and Hospice of the Bluegrass ."
    "Do you know if Miss Longacre
or Mr. Barney know that they will inherit something?"
    "I suspect that Miss Longacre
does, but I don't know that for a fact."
    "How long ago did you draw up
this will?"
    "It was a few years ago, but
we met the other day for lunch and he expressed an interest in changing it. I
was not in favor of that."
    "Did he propose his changes
to you?"
    "He did. He talked of cutting
his siblings inheritance to one dollar, and reducing the amount he would be
giving to Miss Longacre. They had talked of marriage, but he told me he had
called off the wedding."
    "Did he say to whom that
money would be going?"
    "He was still thinking about
that. We were to get together again in a few weeks after he made up his
mind."
    "On what day did you get
together with him?"
    "It was Friday for lunch. We
went to Rick's White Light Diner. The owner of that place is even more of a
character than Cyril Portwood. And you can order alligator there, which could
save you a trip to Louisiana or Florida ."
    "At any time in the last few
days did he mention that he was upset with anyone, or that he would be seeing
someone and