Historical Society?â
âI never talked to her about her will, just about the gift, and the fact that she wanted me to know she would pay it off this summer.â
âWhich makes it sound to me like she intended to go through with the land sale,â Henry said.
âYou mean she didnât have enough money otherwise?â
Henry laughed heartily. âDonât mean that at all. Mary Ellen had huge assets, but like most good Yankees she kept them in stocks and bonds and land. Not exactly liquid, especially with the market the way it is. She could have raised the half-million in cash easily, but she wasnât the type to sell into a bad market if she could hold on to get more gains. The thing is that the land deal provided cash so she wouldnât have to liquidate anything. That definitely appealed to Mary Ellen. But like I was saying, if she told you she was going to have the money shortly, then Iâm sure she wasnât going to opt out of the sale. And thatâs what Steven thinks, too. But back to the will. The reason I asked you if Mary Ellen had talked to you about it is that Steven told me she had mentioned it to him.â
âWhen?â Julie asked.
âInteresting timing. Over breakfast Tuesday morning, apparently for the first time. She told him she was thinking of changing her will to leave one-third of the estate to the historical society.â
âWow!â was all Julie could say.
âIf you knew the size of the estate, Julie, youâd be saying double wow. But let me be clear about thisâshe didnât change the will, and didnât even mention the idea to me, so I donât think the society can pursue this.â
âWhat do you mean by that, Henry?â
âJust that if she had told you she was going to make the change and then didnât, because she didnât have time, the society might have grounds for contesting the will.â
âWe wouldnât do
that!
â
âWell, not with me as solicitor! Thatâs when Iâd have a plain and visible conflict. But I had to advise Steven of the possibility, and thatâs why I needed to know if Mary Ellen had talked to you.â
âMaybe thatâs what Steven thought she was going to do on Tuesday morning. He told Mike Barlow his mother was planning to see me before the groundbreaking, but she hadnât mentioned that to me. But Steven might have thought so, especially if Mary Ellen just brought up the idea of a change over breakfast that morning.â
âI suppose. Anyway, itâs obvious Steven would not have been happy if she had.â
âNo, I guess not,â Julie said slowly, pondering the implications. âBut did she tell Steven why she was going to do that? Could she have decided to back out of the land deal and then change her will so we got the money that way?â
âThatâs certainly a reasonable inference,â LaBelle said.
âBut because she was killed she couldnât back out?â Julie practically yelled over the phone.
âWell, obviously. But I doubt we can conclude she knew she was going to die and therefore couldnât exercise the cancellation option.â
âNo, but she had Tuesday and Wednesday and today to cancel. Or so she thought.â
âSure. I see what you mean. But I donât think thatâs the issue here. The idea of changing the will had more to do with Steven.â
âHow so?â
There was a long pause, and Julie heard the sip and swallow again at Henryâs end. Finally he continued. âLook, this is where my legal duty gets blurry, but I talked to Steven about this, and he said I should go ahead and tell you. He wants everything out front.â
âOkay, but Iâll keep it to myself if you want me to.â
âThat would be best. Hereâs the thing: Mary Ellen told Steven and Elizabethâor Steven says she did; I can only repeat what he told meâthat