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- 11/30/2021
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Timothy - 36. Chapter 36
Between working on the case for Gramps and developing my strategy for Mr. Morris, I was kept quite busy.
In the evening, with Stephen’s help, I created a graph showing the steps taken by Mr. Morris once I had informed him of the legality of the prenup.
I had a copy of a letter he sent to the eldest son of Mr. Struthers indicating that he was now in the procession of a document that would prove the prenup was illegal. The copy of the letter and the further correspondence between Mr. Morris and the heirs I obtained through a subpoena issued at my request by the municipal court judge.
I also had copies of newspapers showing items being put on the market by Mr. Struthers's son dated after speaking to Mr. Morris concerning the illegality of the prenup.
I made copies of everything, one for Mr. Morris and one for the trial, which I will be using during my examination of Messrs. Morris and Struthers.
I reviewed everything I had. I knew I was on solid ground, and I didn’t want my overconfidence to be a mistake. With Stephen’s help, I had a copy of Ann Marie’s bank accounts and her husband’s bank accounts before he died. He had two accounts, a joint account, and a personal account.
Ann Marie’s account showed the deposit of 10,000 dollars. I also saw her withdrawals. Mr. Struthers’s account showed one withdrawal in his personal account for 10,000. Both of his other accounts were closed the day after I met with Mr. Morris. I couldn’t find the money in any of the heirs’ accounts. Then I heard a whisper, ‘off shore.’ I looked around, and I was alone.
I know I’m not crazy. “Who is there?” I looked around, “Stephen, are you home?” No answer.
“Tim, where are you?”
“Upstairs, in my study.”
It didn’t take long for Stephen to enter my study. I heard him running up the stairs.
“How is it going?”
“Stephen, how long have you been home?”
“I just got here. Why?”
“I heard someone whisper to me.”
“Take a break. Come and have a cup of coffee with me.”
Having a cup of coffee with Stephen was therapeutic for me. I would sit on his lap as we drank our coffee. Stephen is a few inches over 6 feet, while I am 5 feet 7. That puts my head on his chest. For me a very comfortable seat. “I think we will name our second child John.” Stephen laughed.
(The meeting)
“Tim, do you have everything for the meeting”
“Yes, are you sure you will hear everything?”
“We have time to test the system. I’ll be sitting at the receptionist’s desk with the recorder. Say something, and we can do a system check.”
Stephen left the office, “Jane, please bring me a cup of coffee.”
The door opened, and a young lady entered with a cup of coffee, followed by Stephen.
Mr. Morris arrived at 1 pm. He had an assistant with him. I had expected that. I didn’t feel threatened. In fact, Mr. Morris might discover that was a mistake on his part if we go to court.
He introduced the young man as an intern working in his law firm. I didn’t believe him. I suspected he was a co-worker brought for support and someone to help him if we go to trial.
“Gentlemen, may I get you something to drink, coffee, soda, water?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Walkins. I hope this meeting won’t take long. We have a 4 o’clock flight back home.
“Mr. Morris, it has been several weeks since we had a discussion in your office concerning the pre-nuptial between Mr. and Mrs. Struthers. Mrs. Struthers has not been notified that the prenup she signed was not valid. I would like to know why?”
“Are you representing Mrs. Struthers?”
“Yes, and for the record, what is your name?”
“My name is David James, and I work in the same law firm as Mr. Morris.”
“I needed to confirm the dates of the prenup and wedding.”
“Mr. Morris, that isn’t true. You needed to stall notifying the interested parties so that the heirs of the Struthers estate could take action to prevent Mrs. Struthers from getting her share off her husband’s estate.”
“That isn’t true.”
“You notified the heirs two days after our meeting. I have a copy of the letters you sent.” I showed him the copy. Mr. James looked at the letters. He looked at Mr. Morris, and I knew he was unaware of the correspondence by the look.
“The heirs needed to know there would be a challenge to the estate.”
“Yes, but you could have sent a letter to Mrs. Struthers as well, and you didn’t.”
“I didn’t think there would be a hurry. She had 10,000 dollars. That should have lasted for a few months.”
“Let’s examine what the heirs have done once they received your letter.”
I gave them a copy of the ‘for sale’ column from a newspaper. I had highlighted the items. I gave them a copy from a real estate company that had listed Mr. Struthers's lodge. “These documents are the bank accounts of Mrs. Struthers and Mr. Struthers. Note the 10,000 deposit in Mrs. Struthers’s account and the debit in Mr. Struthers’s joint account. This third page is Mr. Struthers’s personal account. Notice that one week after my visit, all of the accounts in the name of Mr. Struthers have been closed. The money is either in a safe box located in the home of one of the heirs or an offshore account.”
I watched the reaction. “Mr. Walkins, I’m not responsible for what the heir did.”
I noticed Mr. James had a worried look.
“Mr. Morris, you have two choices, either correct these actions taken after your letter arrived, or we can let a judge make the decisions. I have copies to back up my positions.”
“Mr. Walkins, may I have a copy of that information?”
“Yes, I handed a package of information to Mr. James.”
“Mr. Morris, if you correct these actions of the heirs so that Mrs. Struthers obtains her share of the estate befitting the wife of Mr. Struthers, I’ll cancel my lawsuit.”
“That doesn’t give us much time.”
“You are right, Mr. James. However, there are two things you can do within the next 24 hours. Notify the Realtor that the lodge is no longer for sale and notify the heirs to return the money to the bank and put it in Mr. Struthers’s account. If that is done, I’ll postpone the hearing.”
“We can do that, but there is no guarantee they will do that.”
“I suggest you use your best to get them to do that, or I’ll go after them, and they may lose more.”
“Let’s go, Andrew. We might get lucky and get an early flight. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Walkins.”
“Good luck, gentlemen.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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