Who's Sorry Now? by Jill Churchill Read Free Book Online Page A

the balcony outside. He sat silently for a long time, and both siblings kept a good eye on him, wondering what he was thinking.
    Finally Mr. Prinney tented his fingers and said, "I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed."
    “What is there to be disappointed about?"
    “Your great-uncle didn't live here very long between his Aunt Flora's death and his own, but as soon as he moved to Voorburg, he put all his financial matters in my hands. Then later, he had me write his will. I thought I knew about all his assets, but he never mentioned the money in the fake books. I knew he'd sold all his stock early in 1929. That was when he bought the then-fertile farms in the Midwest, and the extensive properties near Los Angeles. Later he mentioned that he should have waited until later because the stock market hit its all-time high a month or two before the Crash. I suspect now that he did hold on to some of it until then and took the money in cash.”
    Lily said, "It would naturally make you sad to know that, if that's the case, he didn't confide in you at the time."
    “Well, now it's neither here nor there," Mr. Prinney said rather prissily. "What we need to do is take a tally of what's here." He paused for a moment and frowned. "Robert, a few minutes ago you told me you hadn't found the key. How did you manage to open the glass door?”
    Robert had the good grace to look embarrassed. "That day I went to New York, remember?"
    “Yes, I made a note of it, per your great-uncle's will.”
    “I was shopping for Lily's birthday and met up with a guy on a street next to Central Park who sold me a set of lock picks and a badly written set of instructions.”
    “You picked the lock?"
    “Yes," Robert admitted. "Everyone who lives here has commented at one time or another wondering why the bookcases are locked, and there is no sign of a key."
    “What do we do now?" Lily asked. "Is it our money? It apparently isn't mentioned in the will. Does that mean we can't use it until we serve our full ten years of providing for ourselves?"
    “It's a tricky question, isn't it?" Mr. Prinney agreed. "The intention of his will is that you have to earn your own living for ten years. However, whatever money is here wasn't accounted for. I'll have to think this out carefully. But first, we need a complete account of how much cash is here."
    “How are we going to explain this to the rest of the residents? We need to lock them out," Lily said in her usual practical manner.
    Robert said, "Couldn't we just say that the library is out of bounds until some important estate business is completed?"
    “We could," Lily said, "but this seems to be everybody's favorite room in which to sit an dsmoke, read, play cards, listen to the radio, or have a drink. Besides, Mimi would go haywire if she couldn't dust and polish in here every day."
    “How's this?" Robert suggested. "We let Mimi come in to clean first thing in the morning, then we lock it up for a couple of hours a day. Lily makes a detailed account of how much was in every book. After she's done, we put the books back. Then Mr. Prinney locks the records up in the safe at his office. We just keep adding to the records.”
    Lily gawked. "Robert, that's brilliant. I applaud you for this idea. Frankly, I wouldn't want to spend whole days counting money. Much as I like cash.”
    CHAPTER SEVEN
    DR. MEREDITH, the pathologist, had packed up and left early that Wednesday morning, saying to Lily as he saw her come down the stairs, "Dr. Toller isn't going to release that skeleton until he's through with it." He clearly disapproved of this behavior. "I could see him last night from my bedroom window. He was crouched over the hole where the second bush was with a lantern, digging around. I do appreciate your letting me stay overnight, and have thanked Mrs. Prinney for putting me up and feeding me, and left a tip for the maid. I wish I had time to stay and thank everyone."
    “No thanks are required, Dr. Meredith. Mrs.