Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Steve Sloan and Simon Fitzgerald are drinking coffee in their offices at the law firm of Longcastle, Longcastle, and Fitzgerald. "The poet Shakespeare said, 'There is a moth in the palace of Denmark.'" "What's bothering you?" asked Fitzgerald. Steve sighed. "I can't tell. The Stanfords. They confuse me." Simon Fitzgerald snorted: "I feel the same way." "I've been thinking over and over a question, Simon, but I can't find the answer." "what is the problem?" "They were eager to exhume Harry Stanford's body in order to be able to do a cross-identification of his DNA and the woman's DNA. So, I think we have to make the assumption that the only possible way that the body was stolen The motive must be that the woman's DNA does not match Harry Stanford. If the woman is a liar, then the only person who will profit from it will be herself."

"yes." "However, that private detective named Frank Timmons, who I have checked with the Chicago District Attorney's Office, is very reputable. His fingerprints prove that the woman is the real Julia Stanford. My question is, Who actually stole Stanford's body and for what purpose?" "This question is worth a billion dollars! What if..." The intercom on the desk buzzed with the voice of the secretary next door. "Mr. Sloan, I have your call, you can answer it inside." Steve picked up the phone on the table. "Hey……" The other said: "Mr. Sloan, I am Judge Stanford. I would be very grateful if you could come to Rose Hill this morning."

Steve Sloan glanced at Fitzgerald and said, "Okay, I'll be there in an hour, okay?" "Dealed, thank you." Steve puts the microphone down. "Stanford wants me to go to his place." "I really don't know what they want to do?" "Nine times out of ten, they want to expedite the probate process so they can get that huge sum of money sooner." ※※※ "Is that Lee? I'm Tyler. Hello!" "I am fine, thanks." "I miss you so much." The other party paused briefly, then said, "I miss you too, Taylor."

This made him very excited. "Lee, I have some exciting news for you. I can't talk about it on the phone, but it's news that made you very happy. That time you and I..." "Tyler, I have to go. Someone is waiting for me." "But……" The phone hangs up. Tyler sat there for a while, thinking: If he didn't mean it, he wouldn't say he missed me. ※※※ In the living room of the Rose Hill Villa, all the family members gathered except for Woody and Peggy.Steve watched their expressions carefully. Judge Stanford seemed nonchalant and relaxed. Steve glanced at Kendall, who seemed unnatural and nervous.Her husband had come all the way from New York to the party.Steve looked Mark up and down.The French lad is good looking and looks a few years younger than his wife….There was Julia, who had just been accepted into the family, but who seemed calm.I thought someone who had just inherited a billion-dollar inheritance would be a little agitated, Steve thought to himself.

He glanced around again to see if any of them were responsible for the theft of Harry Stanford's body.If so, which one?Why is he doing this. Taylor spoke first. "Mr. Sloan, I am familiar with the legal procedures for probate in Illinois, but I don't know how much they differ from the practice in Massachusetts. We would like to know if there is any way to expedite the probate process." Steve chuckled to himself.I should have made Simon bet with me.He told Taylor, "We're already working on it, Judge Stanford." Taylor put it bluntly: "The name Stanford may help expedite the process."

He's right on this one, Steve thought.He nodded. "I will do my best, whenever possible..." There was a sound from the stairs. "Shut up, you stupid bitch! I never want to hear from you again, understand?" Woody and Peggy went down the stairs and into the living room.Paige's face was swollen badly, and one eye socket was blue.Woody grinned, his eyes sparkled. "Hi, everyone. I hope the party isn't over yet." Everyone in the room looked at Paige in surprise. Kendall stood up and said, "What's wrong with you?" "It's nothing, I... I hit the door."

Woody sat down, and Peggy sat down next to him. He patted her hand lightly, and asked with concern, "Are you all right, dear?" Peggy nodded, but dared not speak. "Okay," Woody said, turning to everyone. "What were you discussing just now?" Taylor looked at him bored. "I just asked Mr. Sloan if he could expedite the probate." Woody grinned. "That's fine." He turned to Paige. "Do you need a change, honey?" "I don't need to change," she said timidly. "Well, you don't want to go anywhere, do you?" he turned to everyone. "Peggy is very shy, she has nothing to say, am I right?"

Paige turned and ran out of the room. "I'm going to chase her back," Kendall said.She stood up and hurried after her. Oh my god!Steve thought.If Woody would do that in front of other people, what would happen when he was alone with his wife? Woody turned to Steve and said, "How long have you been with Fitzgerald's law firm?" "Five years." "I don't know how they can bear to work for my father." Steve said cautiously: "I understand that your father is indeed... maybe not easy to get along with." Woody snorted and said, "Difficult to get along with? He's a two-legged monster. Did you know he had nicknames for all of us? Mine was Charlie. He was named after Charlie McCarthy." For me, it was a wax dummy owned by a ventriloquist named Edgar Bergen. He called my sister a pony because he said she had a horse face, and Tyler was called..."

Steve said awkwardly, "I don't think you should..." Woody grinned. "Okay, let's not talk about it, a billion dollars can heal many kinds of wounds." Steve stood up and said, "Well, if nothing else, I think I should go." He couldn't wait to get outside for some fresh air. ※※※ Kendall found Peggy in the bathroom and applied ice to her swollen face. "Peggy, are you okay?" Paige turned and said, "I'm fine, thank you. I'm... sorry about what happened downstairs." "Are you still apologizing? You should be furious. Since when did he hit you like this?"

"He didn't hit me," Paige said stubbornly. "I accidentally knocked on the door." Kendall moves closer to her. "Peggy, why are you resigning yourself to it? You know you don't have to." Paige was silent for a moment, "No, I must." Kendall looked at her, confused, and said, "Why?" She turned around. "Because I love him." Then, she gushed. "He loves me too. Believe me, he's not always like that. The problem is he...sometimes he can't help himself." "You mean, when he got addicted?" "No!"

"Peggy..." "No!" "Peggy..." Paige hesitated for a moment. "I think maybe so." "When did he start?" "Just... right after we got married." Paige's voice was hoarse. "It started from a polo match. Woody fell off his horse and hurt badly. In the hospital they gave him some medicine for the pain. They put him on drugs." She read Look at Kendall, pleadingly: "You know, it's not his fault, is it? After he got out of the hospital, he... he continued to use drugs. Every time I tried to persuade him to quit, he... hit me." "Paige, for God's sake! He needs help! Don't you understand that? You can't do this kind of thing alone. He's a drug addict. What is he on? Cocaine? " "No." Peggy said after a short silence, "It's heroin." "My God! Can't you try to save him?" "I tried." Her voice was almost a whisper. "You don't know how I managed to save him! He's been to a rehab hospital three times." She shook her head. "He was fine for a while, and then...he was on it again. He...he couldn't help himself." Kendall put his arms around Peggy. "I'm so sorry." Paige forced a smile and said, "I'm sure Woody's going to be fine. He's trying, really." Her face lit up. "When we first got married, he was such a joy to be with. We were always laughing and laughing. He used to buy me little presents and..." she said with tears in her face, "I loved him so much .” "What can I do for you……?" "Thank you," Paige whispered, "I appreciate it." Kendall held her hand tightly. "We'll talk about it later." Kendall went downstairs and sat between them again.Before her mother died, she thought, we had dreamed of a bright future together. "You're going to be a famous designer, sister, and I'm going to be the greatest athlete in the world!" But sadly, Kendall thought, his ideals could have been realized, but now he has become It became like this. Kendall couldn't tell if she was feeling sorry for Woody or Paige. When Kendall came downstairs, Clark came up to her, holding a tray with a letter on it. "Excuse me, Miss Kendall. A letter has just been delivered to you by a postman." He handed it to her. Kendall looked at it in surprise. "Who sent...?" She nodded. "Thank you, Clark." Kendall opened the envelope, and as she began to read it, she paled violently. "No!" she said in a low voice.Her heart was beating violently and she felt dizzy.She stood leaning against the table, trying to catch her breath. After a while, she turned and walked into the living room, her face still ugly.The meetup is coming to an end. "Mark..." Kendall cheered up, "Can I see you for a while?" He looked at her with concern. "certainly." Taylor asked Kendall: "Are you okay?" She smiled reluctantly. "I'm fine thank you!" She took Mark by the hand and led him upstairs.Kendall closed the door behind them as they entered the bedroom. Mark said, "What's going on?" Kendall handed him the letter.The letter said: As with several other letters, all of the letter "E"s are torn. "The bastards!" Mark said furiously. "How do they know I'm here?" Kendall asked. Mark said angrily, "They'll just have to read the paper." He read the letter again. "They're not going to stop there, we've got to go to the police." "No!" Kendall cried. "We can't! It's too late! Don't you understand? It's all over, everything!" Mark took her in his arms and held her tightly. "It's okay, we'll figure it out." But Kendall knew there was nothing they could do about it. ※※※ It happened on a pleasant day in early spring six months ago.Kendall attended a friend's birthday party in Ridgefield, Connecticut.The party was very lively.Kendall chatted with old friends, and she also had a glass of champagne.During the conversation, she suddenly glanced at her watch and said, "Oh, no! I didn't expect it to be so late. Mark is waiting for me." Kendall bid them a hasty goodbye and drove away.On the drive back to New York, she decided to take Route 1684 back down a winding country road.She was going almost fifty miles an hour as she turned a sharp curve.A car stopped on the right side of the road, and Kendall naturally turned to the left.But at that moment a woman suddenly crossed the narrow path with a handful of freshly picked flowers.Kendall tries desperately to avoid her, but it's too late!Everything after that seemed to happen in a blur, and she heard a sickening thud when the front left fender of her car knocked the woman down.Kendall stopped the car abruptly, and her whole body trembled violently.She turned around and walked to the woman, only to see her lying on the road, covered in blood. Kendall stood there, petrified.Finally she bent down to turn the woman over and looked into her dull eyes. "Oh my gosh!" Kendall whispered to himself.She suddenly felt bitter bile rushing straight down her throat.She raised her head in despair, bewildered.She circled around in terror, seeing no other vehicles.She's dead, Kendall thought, and I can't save her.It's not my fault, but they'll sue me for drunk driving.I'm going to have alcohol in my blood and I'm going to jail!Taking one last look at the woman's body, she hurried back to the car.The fender on the left front is dentted and bloodstained.I've got to stash this car in some garage, Kendall thought.The police will look for it.She got into her car and drove away. On the way to New York, she checked her car's rearview mirror from time to time, afraid to see the flashing red lights of the police car and hear the siren.She took the car to an auto repair shop on Ninety-sixth Street.She used to fix cars here.Sam, the owner of the dealership, is talking to his mechanic, Red.Kendall got out of the car. "Good evening, Madame Lenore," greeted Sam. "Good evening..." She tried her best not to chatter her teeth. "Can you store the car here for the night?" "Okay...okay, please." Red looked at the fender and said, "Madame Lenore, there's a big dent in here, and it looks like there's blood on it." The two men looked at her. Kendall took a deep breath. "Yeah, I... I hit a deer on the road." "You're lucky you didn't do more damage," Sam said. "My friend ran over a deer and the car was destroyed." He grinned. "The deer wasn't hurt much either." "Please drive the car into the garage," Kendall said nervously. "certainly." Kendall walked to the garage door and glanced back.The eyes of the two men were fixed on the fender. ※※※ Once Kendall got home and told Mark about the horrific accident that had happened, Mark took her in his arms and said, "Oh my God! Honey, how could you...?" Kendall sobbed, "I...I can't help it. I didn't have time to brake when she crossed the road. She...she just came back from picking flowers..." "Hush! I'm sure it wasn't your fault. It was an accident. We need to call the police." "I know. You're right, I... I should have stayed there till they went. It's just that I was... freaked out, Mark, and now it's a hit-and-run. But there's nothing I can do with her, she's dead , You didn't see her face, it was terrifying." He held her for a long time until she calmed down. Kendall said tentatively, "Mark...do we have to call the police?" He frowned. "what do you mean?" She was trying to restrain herself. "It happened, didn't it? We couldn't bring her back to life. What's the point of punishing me? I don't want to. Why don't we act like it never happened?" "Kendall, if they find you..." "How could that be? No one was around. No one saw this. You know what would happen to me if they caught me and sent me to jail? I'd lose my career, lose what I've built over the years Everything, because of what? Just because of something that has happened! It's over!" She began to sob again. He hugged her tightly. "Hush! Let's figure it out, let's figure it out." ※※※ Every morning newspaper played up the incident.Adding to the drama of the accident was the fact that the deceased was on his way to get married in Manhattan. The New York Times reported the story as it was, but both the Daily News and Newsday played it up as gripping drama. Kendall bought a copy of every newspaper, growing more and more horrified at what he had done.Her mind was filled with all kinds of terrible ideas. If only I hadn't been to Connecticut for my friend's birthday...   If I stayed at home that day... If I hadn't been drinking... If only the woman had been picking flowers a few seconds earlier or a few seconds later... I committed homicide! Kendall could not help feeling sick at the thought of the terrible suffering she had caused the woman's family and her fiancé's family. Police are reportedly asking anyone with information about the hit-and-run case to come forward. They can't find me, Kendall thought.I just pretended nothing happened. ※※※ When Kendall went to pick up the car from the garage, Red happened to be there. "I wiped the blood off the car," he said. "Do you want me to fix that sunken part?" certainly!She should have thought of this earlier. "Okay, please." Red looked at her strangely.Maybe it's just her imagination? "Sam and I were talking about it last night," he said. "It's kind of weird, you know, it's not deer season." Kendall began to panic, and suddenly his mouth was so dry that he could barely speak. "That's a... a fawn." Red nodded and prevaricated: "It must be a fawn." As Kendall pulled the car out of the garage, she could feel his eyes on hers. ※※※ When Kendall walked into the office, Nadine, the secretary, took one look at her and said, "What's the matter with you?" Kendall froze. "What... what do you mean?" "You look listless. Let me get you some coffee." "thanks." Kendall walked over to the mirror.Her face was pale and haggard.Just look at my face and they'll know something's wrong with me! Nadine came in with a mug of hot coffee. "Come on, this will make you feel better." She looked at Kendall curiously and said, "Is everything all right?" "I... I had a little accident yesterday," Kendall said. "Oh, is anyone hurt?" The horror of the woman who was hit and killed still came to her mind. "No. I... I knocked down a deer." "How's your car?" "It's being repaired." "I'm calling your insurance company." "Oh, no need, Nadine, don't hit me." Kendall caught the look of surprise in Nadine's eyes. Two days later, she received her first letter: The letter was not signed.All the letter E's in the letter are broken.Enclosed in the envelope was a newspaper clipping about the accident. Kendall read the letter twice.Apparently it was a threatening letter.She thought hard and couldn't find a solution.Mark was right, she thought, I should have turned myself in to the police.But now everything has changed for the worse, and she is a fugitive.If they caught her now, it would mean not only the ruin of a well-earned career, but prison and disgrace. She went to the bank at lunchtime. "I want to wire $50,000 to Switzerland..." ※※※ When she got home that night, she showed Mark the letter. He was stunned. "My God!" he said. "Who could have sent this letter?" "Nobody...nobody knows." She was trembling. "Kendall, someone must know the inside story." She was twitching all over. "There was no one around, Mark! I..." "Wait. Let's refresh. Did anything happen when you came back to town?" "No wow. I... put the car in the garage and..." She stopped. "There's a big dent here, Madame Renaud. It looks like there's still blood on it." She seemed to remember something. Mark sensed the expression on her face. "Tell me?" She said slowly, "The owner of the garage was there with his mechanic. They saw the blood on the fender and I told them I hit a deer. They said hit a deer and the car would die." The damage should be bigger." Another thing came to her mind. "mark……" "what?" "Nadine, my secretary. I told her about it too. I could see she didn't believe me either. So it must be one of the three." "No!" Mark said slowly. She stared at him intently. "What's the meaning?" "Sit down, Kendall, and listen to me. If one of these three men becomes suspicious of you, they may tell a lot of people about you. Every paper has reported about the accident. Someone has Some facts have been extrapolated. I think this letter is just out of thin air. They are trying to test you. It was a terrible mistake to wire that money." "but why?" "Because now they know you're guilty, don't you understand? You've given them the evidence they need." "Oh my God! What am I supposed to do?" Kendall asked. Mark Leno thought for a moment. "I have an idea to find out who those villains really are." ※※※ At ten o'clock the next morning, Kendall and Mark sat in the office of Russell Gibbons, vice president of Boston First Securities. "What can I do for you?" asked Mr. Gibbons. Mark said, "We want to check a bank account in Zurich." "what?" "We want to know who opened this account." Gibbons touched his chin: "Is it involved in criminal activities?" Mark immediately replied, "No! Why are you asking that?" "Well, the Swiss government doesn't let outsiders know the secrets of their bank account numbers unless there's some kind of crime, like disguising illicit money from a bad source, or violating Swiss or American law. Their reputation is based on serving customers Confidential." "Is there really no other way...?" "Sorry, I'm afraid not." Kendall and Mark looked at each other.Kendall's expression was full of despair.Mark stood up. "Thank you for making time for us." "Sorry, couldn't help." He sent them out of the office. ※※※ When Kendall drove to the garage that night, neither Sam nor Red were there.Kendall parked the car.As she walked through the small office, she looked through the window and spotted a typewriter on a shelf.She stopped and stared at it, wondering if it had a broken "E."I have to go and see, she thought. She walked towards the office, hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and went in.As she walked towards the typewriter, Sam appeared out of nowhere. "Good evening, Madame Renaud," he said. "What's up?" Startled, she turned around quickly. "No, I... I just left the car here. Good night." She hurried to the door. "Good night, Madame Renaud." When she passed the dealership's office the next morning, the typewriter was gone.There was a personal computer in the original place. Seeing her staring intently at the computer, Sam said, "Pretty, isn't it? I decided to furnish the place and bring it up to date." How could he afford a computer? That night, Kendall told Mark about it."It's possible, but we need evidence," he mused. ※※※ Nadine was waiting for Kendall when she arrived at the office Monday morning. "Are you feeling better, Madame Renaud?" "Better, thank you!" "Yesterday was my birthday. Look, what my husband bought me!" She went to the closet and pulled out a luxurious mink coat. "is it beautiful?"