Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Four

The day before the will was read, Kendall and Woody sat in Steve's office. "I don't understand why we're here," Woody said. "Isn't the will to be read tomorrow?" "I want you to meet someone," Steve told them. "Who?" "Your sister." They both stared at him. "We've already met her," Kendall said. Steve pressed the intercom. "Please let her in." Kendall and Woody looked at each other in bewilderment. The door opened and Julia Stanford entered the office. Steve stood up and introduced, "This is your sister Julia."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Woody growled. "What trick are you playing?" "Let me explain," Steve said quietly.He narrated for fifteen minutes, and when he had finished, Woody said, "It's Tyler! I can't believe this!" "Please believe it." "I don't understand. Another woman's fingerprints prove she's Julia," Woody said. "I still have her fingerprint card." Steve felt his pulse beat violently. "You still keep it?" "Yes. I just did it for fun." "Please do me a favor," Steve said.

※※※ At ten o'clock the next morning a large crowd assembled in the conference hall of the law firm of Longcastle, Longcastle, and Fitzgerald.Simon Fitzgerald sat at the head.Also present were Kendall, Taylor, Woody, Steve and Julia, and some strangers in attendance. Fitzgerald introduced two of them: "These two are William Parker and Patrick Evans, who are now serving in the law firm commissioned by Stanford Corporation. They brought the company's financial report. I will chair the discussion of the will first. , and then they will take over." "Let's get down to business!" Taylor said impatiently.He sat apart from the others.I'm not only going to get the money, I'm going to screw you bad guys.

Simon Fitzgerald nodded in agreement. "Row." Fitzgerald had before him a large file bearing the stamp "Harry Stanford—Last Will and Testimonial." "I'm going to send each of you a copy of the will so we don't have to wade through all the jargon. I've already told you that Harry Stanford's children will divide the estate equally." Julia glanced at Steve blankly. I'm happy for her, Steve thought, even if it would take her away from me. Simon Fitzgerald went on: "There were a dozen estates, but they were all insignificant." Tyler was thinking: Lee is coming here this afternoon, I'm going to pick him up at the airport.

"You already know that the Stanford Industrial Group has about five billion dollars in assets." Fitzgerald nodded towards William Parker. "I'll let Mr. Parker go on." William Parker opened his briefcase, took out some documents and spread them on the conference table. "Mr. Fitzgerald is right. The industry group has assets of five billion dollars, but..." He paused meaningfully for a moment, looking around, "but the liabilities of the Stanford industry group are as high as more than 15 billion. Dollar." Woody stood up abruptly. "What are you talking about?"

Taylor's face turned pale. "Are you joking to scare people?" "Absolutely kidding!" Kendall said gruffly. Mr. Parker turned to one of the people in the room and said, "Mr. Leonard Redding is on the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission. I'll let him explain to you." Redding nodded. "For the first two years, Harry Stanford was convinced that interest rates were going to fall. He had made millions in the past speculating like this. When rates started to rise, he still thought they were going to fall again, so he kept borrowing money. He made a lot of money. Borrowing a lot of money to buy long-term bonds, but the interest rate keeps rising, so the cost of his borrowing is also skyrocketing. Yet the value of the bonds he bought is plummeting. Given his popularity and wealth, banks are willing to deal with him ...but they became concerned when they saw him buying risky securities recklessly to cover his losses. He made some disastrous investments. In order to continue borrowing, he had to use securities as collateral, so part of the borrowing It’s actually secured against securities purchased with borrowed money.”

"In other words," interjected Evans, "he's running an illegal business, piling up debt." "Indeed. Unfortunately, this time again, interest rates have seen the largest rise in financial history. He has to keep borrowing to cover previous losses, and it's a vicious cycle." Everyone sat, catching every word he said. "Your father had personally vouched for the company's pension plan, but he illegally used the money to buy more stock. When the banks started asking about his economic activities, he set up fake companies and gave false proof of solvency , he also forged fake bills for property sales to inflate the value of his securities. This was a deception. Finally he asked the bank to help him out of the predicament, the bank refused him and reported his situation to SEC. That's when Interpol intervened."

Redding pointed to the man beside him and said, "This is Sheriff Pato of the Paris Police Department. Sheriff, please explain the rest to everyone." Sheriff Pato said in English with a slightly French accent: "After accepting the request of Interpol, we found the traces of Harry Stanford in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, so we sent three detectives to follow him. These detectives. Interpol issued a green code to inform all police departments that Harry Stanford was a suspect and must be watched. If they had understood the extent of his crime at the time, they would have issued a red code, or special pass, and we Then we can arrest him."

Woody was terrified: "I understand why he left the property to us. It turned out that he used empty plans." Michael Parker said: "You're right. Your father listed you as heirs because the bank refused to keep his relationship with him. He actually understood that you got nothing from him." Wren of the Lyon Credit Union Gautier promised to help Harry Stanford, and Harry Stanford told him that if he thought he was solvent, he would rewrite the will and disinherit you." "But what will happen to the yacht, the plane and the house?" Kendall asked. "I'm sorry," said Michael Parker, "everything has to be sold to pay some of the debt."

Tyler sat numb.It was an unimaginable nightmare.He's no longer "Taylor Stanford Billionaire," he just has to keep being his judge. Tyler staggered to his feet, ready to leave. "I...I don't know what to say. If nothing else..." He had to rush to the airport to pick up Li and explain to him what happened. Steve went up to him and said, "There's something else." He turned around and asked, "What's the matter?" Steve nodded to the man standing by the door.The door opened and Hal Baker walked in. "Hey, Judge." ※※※ A new breakthrough in the case came when Woody told Steve that he still had the fingerprint card.

"I want to see that card," Steve told him. Woody asked suspiciously: "Why? There are only two sets of fingerprints printed on it. We checked it and it proved to be a match." "But the fingerprint card came from a man who called himself Frank Timmons, didn't he?" "yes." "If he had touched the card, his own fingerprints would have been on the card." Steve's guess was correct. There were Hal Baker's fingerprints all over the card, and his identity was revealed after less than half an hour of computer processing.Steve called the District Attorney in Chicago.Two detectives then showed up at Hal Baker's doorstep with warrants in hand. He was playing handball with Billy in the yard. "Are you Mr. Baker?" "That's right." The detective showed his badge. "The District Attorney sent you." "No, I can't go." He said angrily. "Can you tell me why?" one of the detectives asked. "You see why, don't you? I'm playing ball with my son." ※※※ The district attorney reviewed the transcript of Hal Baker's interrogation.He looked at the man sitting in front of him and said, "I know you are a family man." "Yes," Hal Baker said triumphantly. "A country is made up of many families, if each family..." "Mr. Baker..." The prosecutor leaned forward, "Have you been in collusion with Judge Stanford?" "I don't know any Stanford judges." "Let me remind you that he had you impersonate a private investigator named Frank Timmons. We have reason to believe he also had you kill Julia Stanford." "I do not understand what you are saying." "I'm talking about ten to twenty years. I'm going to offer you twenty years." Hal Baker's face suddenly turned pale. "Don't you! Why, my wife and children will..." "That's right. But if you're willing to turn on your sponsors," said the district attorney, "I'll try to reduce your sentence." Hal Baker broke out in a cold sweat. "What...do I have to do this?" "tell me……" ※※※ Now, in the conference room at Longcaster-Longcaster-Fitzgerald LLP, Hal Baker looked at Taylor and said, "How do you do, Judge?" When Woody saw Hal Baker, he exclaimed, "Hey! That's Frank Timmons!" Steve told Tyler, "You're the one who ordered this guy to break into our office, steal a copy of your father's will, and have him dig up your father's body and kill Julia Stanford." Taylor froze for a while before saying: "You are crazy! He is a convicted felon, and no one will believe his false accusations against me." "No one has to take his word for it," Steve said. "Have you seen this man before?" "Of course he was tried in my court." "What's his name." "His name is..." Taylor realized that he had fallen into a trap, "I mean... he may have many aliases." "When you tried him in court, he used the name 'Hal Baker'." "Yes... not bad." "But when he came to Boston, you introduced him as Frank Timmons." Tyler stammered, "Well, I...I..." "You bail him out on your behalf and send him out to prove that Margot Posner is the real Julia." "No, I had nothing to do with that. I never met that woman before she came along." Steve turned to Lieutenant Kennedy, "Have you got the evidence, Lieutenant?" "got it." Steve turned to Tyler and said, "I investigated Margot Posner. She was also in your court and she was released on bail. The Chicago District Attorney issued a search warrant this morning against you. The safe was searched. They have just called to tell me they have found a document evidencing the transfer of Julia's inheritance to you. The document was signed five days before the fake Julia arrived in Boston." Tyler started to panic, but he did his best to stay calm. "I... I... this is ridiculous." Lieutenant Kennedy said, "I'm arresting you for murder, Judge Stanford. We'll take you back to Chicago when extradition is done." Tyler stood still, aware that his world had collapsed. "You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say will and will be your testimony in court. You have the right to a lawyer and to have him accompany you to your trial. If you don't have money for a lawyer, we can appoint a A lawyer defended you at the interrogation. Did you understand me?" Lieutenant Kennedy asked. "Understood." A winner's smile slowly appeared on his face.I know how to beat them!he thought happily. "Ready, Judge?" He nodded, and then said calmly, "Yes, I'm ready. I want to go back to Rose Hill to get something." "Okay, we'll send these two policemen to accompany you." Tyler glared back at Julia, making her shudder. ※※※ Half an hour later, Taylor and two police officers arrived at Rose Hill.They came to the vestibule. "I just need a few minutes to pack," Taylor said. They watched Tyler go up the stairs and into his room.Taylor went to the desk where the revolver was hidden, took out the gun, and loaded it. The sound of the shot seemed to echo in the air forever.