Title: Unhappy heirs
By
Author: Elizabeth Hawn
Tag line: There’s
nothing like the reading of a well to bring out the worst in people!
Police characters: None.
The gist: Helen’s will divided her assets equally between
her three grandchildren. When told this
by Martha, the executor of the will, only Paula seemed happy. Jake and Adam were unhappy claiming that
Paula had plenty of money and that they needed it more. Paula’s comment was that she worked hard and
was a success and that grandma would never penalize her for that by leaving her
a lesser share. Grandma’s house and most
of her assets were sold at auction. When
handed the list of items sold along with the selling price of the home though even
Paula was not smiling. Another list was
given to each showing which family heirlooms Grandma wished to leave to each
grandchild. Jake grumbled that Paula’s
list had more items of value, particularly a set of silverware, and told Paula
she should sell the silver and divide the proceeds. Paula responded that the silver was left to
her because grandma knew she would keep it in the family whereas the boys would
sell it.
The items
the grandkids were left were stored in a storage unit in town. They all drove to the facility. A code was needed to unlock the front door,
but no security cameras were seen. This
was noted by Adam who was the only one there when the code was entered by
Martha. The four of them then proceeded
to the storage unit where Martha opened it using a key from her purse. There was much complaining about how to
move/ship/store the items that were left to them; heavy desks, boxes of old books,
etc. Paula was smiling though as she
inspected not only the silverware but the china that was left to her.
That night
each grandchild had their own bedroom. They
were sleeping in Helen’s home. Helen
slept on a pullout bed in the basement.
The next day while the two boys
were out (one was renting a trailer and one was going to a shipping company to
get prices) it was discovered that the
silver was missing out of the storage unit.
Martha recalled that her purse had been in the living room all night. Martha knew who had taken the silver.
Crime scene: Storage unit.
Clues: Only Adam was there when the front door code
was entered.
Suspects: Supposedly the 3 heirs.
Red herrings: None.
Solution: Only
Adam was there when the front door code was entered. He took the key out of Martha’s purse in the
night and hid the silverware in one of the boxes of books his grandma had left
him.
My two cents: A female executor of a
will is called an executrix.
What woman
goes to bed in the cellar and leaves her purse on the living room when there
are strangers in the house? None I know
of.
We have to
eliminate Paula right away as she was the only one happy with the will. That leaves the two boys, of which only one
was present when the code was entered.
You don’t
have to be Sherlock to figure this one out.
How stupid
is Adam to think Paula wouldn’t notice one of her two items was missing from the
storage unit the very next day. Did he
really think he was going to hide the silverware in a book box and ship it
home, and that was going to be the end of it?
Did he not think Paula would call the police and report a theft the
minute she realized it?
Clue: Yes, the story had a clue. It was not cleverly hidden… but it was in the
body of the story.
Motive: Clear motive.
Greed.
Police
work: None.
Writing: Not particularly impressive. Executor vs. executrix. We have a woman leaving her purse unattended;
phone, credit cards, money, car keys. How convenient for the story, but not very
believable.
Characters: Cardboard characters, malcontents for
men.
