Chapter 4

The lawyer's office was on the fourth floor of a building downtown, and the lawyer was a man named Ellis Grant who had handled the Hale family's affairs for thirty years.

Desmond had called ahead. He had said he needed to discuss a matter relating to his father's estate, and the secretary had found him a slot that afternoon, which told Desmond something. The firm was not busy. Or the firm was always ready for a Hale. He did not know which one was worse.

Ellis Grant was a thin man in a grey suit who looked like he had been assembled from the furniture of his own office. He shook Desmond's hand, offered him a chair, and poured coffee into two cups that had been waiting on a silver tray.

"You said it was about your father's estate," Grant said. "There shouldn't be much to discuss. The accounts were settled two years ago."

"The accounts," Desmond repeated.

"Everything passed as the will specified. The house, the hotel shares, the personal property." Grant smiled a thin smile. "The tax documents are all in order. I can have copies sent to you, but there's nothing out of the ordinary."

"I want to talk about the theft," Desmond said.

The coffee cup stopped halfway to Grant's mouth.

"Years ago," Desmond said. "The hotel money that went missing. The year before my brother left."

Grant set the cup down. He looked at Desmond for a long moment, and Desmond watched the lawyer's face go through the calculation — how much to say, how much to admit, how much could be walked back if this turned out to be a fishing trip.

"I remember the matter," Grant said carefully. "It was handled. The employee was removed, and the funds were recovered from her accounts. The family chose not to press charges. It was a private matter."