Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-Two

At 6 a.m., a harbor patrol boat was cruising down the Charles River when a police officer on board spotted an object floating in the water ahead. "Look at the starboard bow!" he exclaimed. "Like a stick. Let's scoop it up before it sinks." It turned out to be a body, and even more surprisingly, an embalmed body. The policeman looked down at the body and said, "How did an embalmed body end up in the Charles River?" ※※※ Lieutenant Michael Kennedy was speaking with the coroner. "Are you sure?" The coroner replied, "Absolutely, it's Harry Stanford's body. I embalmed it myself. We were ordered to exhume it, but when we dug up the coffin and opened it up...well, you know "We reported this to the police."

"Who asked you to dig up the body?" "Family. They have the lawyer Simon Fitzgerald acting on their behalf." "I think it's time to speak to Mr. Fitzgerald." ※※※ Steve went straight to Simon Fitzgerald's office on his return from Chicago to Boston. "You look tired," Fitzgerald said. "It's not exhausted—it's messed up. It's all lost, Simon. We had three leads: Dmitry Kaminsky, Frank Timmons, and Margot Posner. Now, Ka Minsky is dead, Timmons is an imposter, Margot Posner is in a mental institution now. We lost everything...”

Secretary Fitzgerald's voice came from the intercom: "Excuse me, a lieutenant named Kennedy is here to see you, Mr. Fitzgerald." "Let him in." Michael Kennedy was a well-informed, rough-looking man. "Mr. Fitzgerald?" "Yes, this is my assistant, Steve Sloan, I think you two talked on the phone. Please sit down. Need me?" "We just found the body of Harry Stanford." "What? Where?" "Floating on the Charles River. You ordered the body exhumed, didn't you?" "yes." "Can you tell me why the body was exhumed?"

Fitzgerald told him the truth. After Fitzgerald finished, Kennedy said, "Don't you know who disguised himself as private detective Timmons?" "No idea. I talked to Timmons and he doesn't know either." Kennedy sighed. "The case is getting more and more puzzling." "Where's Harry Stanford's body now?" Steve asked. "It is currently in the morgue. Hopefully his body will not be stolen again." "It's something we both want," Steve said. "We're going to do a DNA test." Julia took this test that afternoon.When Perry Wenger saw the preliminary results, he said: "It seems to be consistent..."

※※※ When Steve called to tell Taylor that his father's body had been found, Taylor was genuinely shocked. "It's terrible!" he said. "Who would do such a thing?" "That's the answer we want to find out," Steve told him. Tyler was furious: Baker is an incompetent idiot!I'm going to make him pay for it.I need to smooth this over before things get out of hand. "Mr. Fitzgerald, you know, I was recently promoted to chief judge of Cook County, and I have a load of cases to deal with, and they're rushing me back. I can't stay here any longer. Please, please try to do it as soon as possible. Close the probate."

"I called this morning," Steve told him. "It won't be a problem to finish this matter within three days." "That's good. Please keep in touch with me." "I'll do it, Judge." ※※※ Sitting in his office reviewing the events of the past two weeks, Steve remembered the conversation he had with Sheriff McPherson. "We just found his body, his fingers were chopped off and he was shot several times." Let me think again, Steve muses for a moment.There is one thing he didn't tell me.He picked up the phone and dialed Australia. The other end of the line said, "This is Sheriff McPherson."

"Oh, Sheriff, I forgot to ask you a question. Did you have any letters with Dmitry Kaminsky when you found his body? ... I see ... ok ... thank you. " Steve hung up the phone, and then the secretary's voice came from the intercom: "There is a call from Lieutenant Kennedy on line two." Steve hit the phone button. "Lieutenant, sorry to keep you waiting. I was making an international call just now." "The NYPD has given me a piece of information about Hope Malkovich that will surely interest you. He's a crafty fellow." Steve picks up a pen. "Please go on."

"The police department thinks the bakery he works in is just a windscreen for drug activity." The lieutenant paused and continued. "Malkovich may be a drug dealer, but he's cunning and they haven't caught him yet." "Any more?" Steve asked. "The police also believe that his activities are linked via Marseilles to the French secret criminal organization. If I hear anything else, I will call you." "Thank you, Lieutenant, your information is very valuable." Steve put down the phone and walked out of the office. ※※※ Steve came home full of hope and called out, "Julia?" as soon as he walked in the door.

No one agreed. He began to panic. "Julia!" he wondered whether she had been kidnapped or murdered.He was immediately alert. Julia appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Steve?" He took a deep breath. "I thought..." He paled. "Are you OK?" "No." She came downstairs. "Are things going well in Chicago?" He shook his head. "I'm afraid it won't go well." He told her what happened. "Julia, we plan to read the will on Thursday. There are still three days left. The mastermind behind the scenes must kill you within these few days, otherwise his plan will fail."

She gasped. "I understand, but do you know who this person is?" "Actually..." The phone rang. "Excuse me." Steve picked up the phone. "Hey?" "I'm Dr. Tichener in Florida. I'm sorry I didn't call you in time because I was out of town." "Dr. Tichener, thank you for calling me back. We are the law firm representing Stanford Industries." "What can I do for you?" "I want to know about Woodrow Stanford. I think he's one of your patients." "yes." "Is he on drugs, Doctor?"

"Mr. Sloane, I can't talk casually about my patients." "I understand that I didn't ask you about this out of curiosity. The important thing is..." "I'm afraid I can't..." "You did have him admitted to the Harbor Clinic in the Jupiter area, didn't you?" The other party was silent for a long time. "Yes, that's a documented matter." "Thank you, doctor. That's all I want to know." Steve put down the phone and stood there for a while. "It's incredible." "Say what?" Julia asked. "please sit down……" ※※※ Half an hour later, Steve's car drove towards Rose Hill.Things are finally taking shape.He is so smart.His trick almost succeeded.If something happened to Julia, he could still carry out his plot. At Rose Hill, Clark opened the door for him. "Good evening, Mr. Sloan." "Hi, Clark. Is Judge Stanford home?" "He's in the study. I'll go and tell him you're here." A minute later the butler came back and said, "Judge Stanford is seeing you now." "thanks." Steve walked to the study. Taylor was sitting in front of the chessboard intently.He only looks up when Steve enters the room. "You want to see me?" "Yes, I've figured out who is behind all this." After a moment of silence, Taylor said slowly: "Really?" "Yes, I'm afraid it will surprise you. This man is your brother Woody." Tyler looked at Steve in astonishment. "You mean it's all run by Woody?" "That's right." "I... I can't believe it." "I didn't believe it at first either. But it turned out he did. I checked with a doctor in Hobe Bay. Did you know your brother was doing drugs?" "I... I already have doubts." "Drugs are very expensive. Woody doesn't have a job, he needs money and of course he's trying to get more of his inheritance. He hired a fake Julia. When you offered to do a DNA test, he panicked and had the body removed , because he was afraid of doing such a test. This reminded me. I suspect that he also sent people to Kansas to murder the real Julia. Did you know that Paige has a brother who is involved in criminal gangs? As long as Julia is alive, there is With two Julias, his plan will not succeed." "Are you sure these are facts?" "Absolutely. There are other circumstances, judge." "what's the situation?" "I think your father was murdered by Woody. Paige's brother can make a case for it. I've learned that he has connections with the Marseilles. It's easy. He can pay the crew. I'm going to Fly to Italy tonight to find out about the captain of the yacht." Tyler had been listening intently.When Steve said he was going to Italy, he immediately agreed. "That's a good idea." Captain Vaccaro knew nothing. "I'll try to be back before the reading of the will on Thursday." Taylor said, "How's Julia...can you make sure she's safe?" "Oh, I can," Steve said. "She's staying somewhere no one can find her. She's at my house."