Justice For All, page 29
“I may know more than you do. Put down the gun. Let’s talk about this like reasonable people.”
“No!”
“Security will be here soon. Do you want them to find you holding a weapon?”
“They won’t find me.” Brief pause. “At least not alive.”
Dan felt his heart plummet. “Don’t do anything crazy. Let’s just—”
He was interrupted by a crashing sound, loud and sharp, like a sudden explosion.
He did not see Jenny on the floor.
Now or never. He ran down the hallway, making a serpentine route just in case someone was firing . . .
About halfway down the hall, he found Jenny. Standing up.
With a big mouse sprawled at her feet.
She was short of breath and heaving. “Had to . . . act . . . quickly.” She drew in deep gulps of air. “Clubbed him over the head with a fully loaded Gucci tote. He’ll probably be out for hours.”
Dan bent down and removed the mouse mask.
Ernie Ulrich. And he wasn’t unconscious. Maybe stunned.
“Why?” Dan asked. “Just . . . why?”
His eyelids fluttered. “It’s . . . my heritage.” And then his eyelids closed.
Jenny shook her head. “That boy really wanted that dinosaur.”
Dan shook his head. “He wasn’t talking about King Kaiju. He was talking about his family.” He pursed his lips. “Or what he thought was his family.”
All at once, he realized Wu stood behind him, gazing down at the figure on the floor.
“Go easy on him. Please.” Wu crouched and laid his hand on the boy’s forehead, brushing his matted hair away. “Your mother didn’t treat any of us very well, did she?”
Chapter 45
Dan shook Kenzi’s hand. “Done deal.”
They both tumbled into their conference chairs. And began to laugh.
“Can you believe we finally settled this mess?” she asked.
“I knew you’d come around eventually.”
“Oh did you now?” She swiveled around. “You figured your mansplaining would eventually persuade me?”
“No. Your obvious intelligence.”
She puffed up her shoulders. “Mr. Pike. Did you just compliment me?”
“I’ll deny it. I do regret that this negates our bet. I was looking forward to the sunken hollow expression in your eyes when you had to live without your cellphone for a week.”
“Yeah. But I don’t care about seeing you in a swimsuit again. I was just trying to get Maria’s goat.”
“I know. When are you returning to Seattle?”
“I don’t see why I can’t go tonight. I can’t wait to get home. This case has completely energized me. I see now how limited I’ve been.”
“You can do anything.”
“And I will. There are many ways I can help women. And my firm is going to start doing all of them.”
He grabbed a soda from the credenza and popped it open. “Is that why you got into law? To help other women?”
“That’s my mission statement.”
“But my question was—”
“No. I got into law to prove my sexist father was wrong about me.”
Dan chuckled. “I got into law to vindicate mine. Fathers and sons. Or daughters. Parents and their children. That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it? Every time. Children and art. Which are much the same thing.”
“Certainly in this case. You should try going out on your own, Dan. Why is someone with your talent taking orders?”
Dan shrugged. “I like Ben. He’s a good guy.”
“Substitute father figure?”
“Maybe. I lost my father. Ben never had a son. It works.”
She sighed. “It occurs to me now, Dan, that I . . . may not have treated you all that well. And I apologize.”
He waved it away. “We were opposing lawyers. Being tough is our job description. Sometimes I think the adversarial system is . . . not all it’s cracked up to be. Dramatic, but possibly not the best way to resolve a dispute. What was it you called this?”
“All-out war?”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be a better world if we focused less on winning a war and more on . . . making the world a better place?”
“Mr. Rogers Goes to Law School.”
“But still. We should be social justice warriors, resolving conflicts rather than intensifying them. I’d like to imagine I left the world in slightly better shape than I found it.”
“You go on crusading, Dan, and I’ll go on fighting the good fight too. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
He smiled. “I hope so.”
* * *
Dan relaxed in the large semi-circular sofa in the living room of the Snell Isle headquarters. It always felt comfortable, but never more so than now, at the end of a long and grueling case.
They were celebrating. Wu was the guest of honor. He was talking excitedly about his plans for King Kaiju, now that he had a seat at the table. He was finding Sidekick considerably easier to work with. Before they had been concerned that if they acknowledged him at all, it would lend credibility to his claims. Now that those claims were resolved, they were listening. And realizing that he understood the character better than anyone. “They say the feature film is basically going to be an adaptation of those critical first six issues.” He winked. “With an action scene every six minutes. Gotta compete with those Marvel movies.”
Wu appeared happier than Dan had ever seen him. Maybe he should do more civil cases, he mused. Preventing innocents from being railroaded by the government was worthy work. But there were other ways to help people. Maybe it was time he explored some of those.
Jenny prepped most of the snack foods—except “snack foods” made it sound as if she were serving Cheetos, when in fact it was Brussel sprout sliders and baked brie bites. Garrett was noodling on his keyboard, but tonight, instead of the usual jazz, he appeared to be playing triumphant music. One rarely heard John Philip Sousa on a keyboard. But Garrett made it work.
Something caught his eye. He squinted, trying to focus.
Was that a teddy bear in Garrett’s lap?
He shook his head, marveling. Seemed like everyone on this team was changing.
And speaking of . . .
Jenny came racing over to him. “I found your gift. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it. All that original art!”
“From Neal O’Neill himself.”
“It’s spectacular. But it’s too much.”
Dan waved her protests away. “He just wanted his work left in good hands. And there are none better than yours.”
Jenny wrapped her arms around him and practically squeezed the stuffings out. Maria beamed.
But Garrett continued playing.
Jenny released Dan and grabbed a platter of canapes, hovering in the vicinity of Garrett. They liked to joke that Garrett was the team’s “token conservative.” No one knew yet how he would react to Jenny’s latest choices.
Jenny cleared her throat. “Um, you . . . want a slider? I . . . kinda made them ’cause I know you like them.”
Garrett slowly looked up from his keyboard and placed one hand on the teddy bear. “You made them?”
Jenny’s forehead creased. Her facial expression reminded him of the last scene in City Lights. Maybe . . .
Garrett smiled. “If you made them, I’ll take three.”
A smile spread from one side of Jenny’s face to the other. “Really? I was worried—”
“I feel pretty relaxed these days.” Garrett pointed toward the teddy. “Bear-Bear thinks I need to chill. Relax more. Live in the moment.”
Jenny’s lips parted but froze, as if she wasn’t sure what to say. “I couldn’t help but notice . . .”
“I got a good deal on him. If you want I could take you to—”
She stopped him. “Thanks. I already have a Dreamer doll, but my husband won’t let me bring him to bed.” She hesitated. “But . . . maybe we could do something else. Grab dinner.”
“I would love to have dinner. What about Beachcombers? Dan loves that joint.” Garrett looked straight at her. “And it’s always packed.” He reached out, pulled her close, and kissed her cheek. “Let’s do it soon.”
Maria looked at Dan. Dan looked back. Her eyes were wide and watery. And he understood why.
Maria was seated beside Wu, patiently listening to his plans for a comic-book character she knew little about. He recalled once suggesting they watch a Godzilla movie on TV and she laughed out loud. But now, when she was about ten months pregnant, she listened to a detailed account of the time King Kaiju took on the entire Legion of Evil.
“But I want to do more than combat scenes. I want to take Kaiju back to his roots. Fight for the people. That’s the root of this entire genre. Go read the earliest Superman stories. There were no supervillains. He fought for the little guy. He took on slumlords. Defended battered women. Prevented innocents from being executed. That’s the true work of a hero.”
Dan caught her eye and winked. She just smiled. Reminding him how lucky he was.
His iPhone buzzed. “Mr. K” was ready. Maria was occupied and didn’t need any unnecessary movement, so he punched the buttons on his laptop and put Ben on the television. He still preferred not to engage the video. He said he didn’t like the way he looked on Zoom. Dan suspected it was more about social anxieties, but given how much Ben had done for him, for the entire team, he was more than happy to indulge him.
Ben’s voice boomed from the speakers. Everyone drifted back to the living room.
“Hello, team. And congratulations on your success. This turned out even better than I hoped. What a victory!”
“It really wasn’t a victory,” Dan said. “We settled.”
“That’s an even better victory. Everyone gets something, by mutual agreement. I wish more lawyers would understand the value of settlement. Before they’ve spent a year running up the bill with motions practice and discovery.”
“I should’ve figured it out sooner. But when Garrett unearthed that surrogacy case, I finally understood. Much too late.”
Jenny cut in. “Could someone please explain the significance of that to me? Because I still don’t get it.”
“Let me bottom line it for you. Delia researched surrogacy, years ago, because she and Joe were having trouble conceiving. There’s a good chance Joe was sterile, not astonishing given how he’d had to live, on the edge of starvation and with no medical care. But that was too complicated and expensive. Much easier to simply have an affair. We’ve done the DNA tests. Delia held Ernie out as Joe’s son. Joe undoubtedly believed Ernie was his son, at least for a time.” He paused. “But he wasn’t. Delia confirmed it with a DNA test. Then buried all the paperwork.”
“Why not burn it?”
“She didn’t want to find it...but I don’t think she wanted to destroy it, either. She might need it somewhere down the line.”
“Like, to keep Ernie in line?”
“Yes. What Delia didn’t realize was that Ernie already knew. He stashed an Apple AirTag in his mother’s car. He could follow her movements. So not long after she buried the info—he dug it up.”
Garrett jumped in. “Joe’s will only leaves Delia a third of his estate. The majority, including the Kaiju rights, go to ‘his children.’ Which Ernie isn’t.”
“Could he be considered a . . . common law child?” Jenny asked. “He lived with them. They held him out as Joe’s son.”
“Florida doesn’t even recognize common law marriage, much less children. No, a will leaving something to children would include both biological and adopted children—but Ernie was neither. Any grant to Ernie from Joe’s will could be challenged. Probably successfully.”
“Who would do that?”
Garrett allowed a small smile. “Delia, for starters.”
“I’m confused. If Delia only gets a third and Ernie gets nothing—who gets the rest?”
“If there are no children to inherit, the will leaves everything to the Comics Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit that protects creator rights. Of course, after the Headmark contract went through, Delia’s third would be more than enough to live off comfortably. Assuming Joe was declared the creator or co-creator of King Kaiju.”
“But if people learned that Ernie wasn’t Joe’s son, Ernie would get nothing.”
“From Joe’s will. He could still inherit from Delia.”
“Yes.” He paused. “Except Delia could live another forty years, plus she doesn’t like Ernie very much and she’s likely to spend it all and then some before he gets near it. So if he wanted a piece of the action . . .”
“He had to kill anyone who knew he wasn’t Joe’s biological son. Delia had no reason to tell—at this time. It wouldn’t get her more than her designated third and admitting she cheated on Joe wouldn’t help her case. But others might talk.”
“Whether Ernie was biologically Joe’s child or not,” Jenny said, “he loved that boy. A probate judge might still award him something. Joe raised the kid.”
“Maybe. But remember that Delia is in the mix. Delia had Joe’s power-of-attorney, and if she secured the contract with Headmark, she would’ve made sure the profits were paid to her or some corporation she created. If Ernie tried to challenge her, she’d reveal the truth and cut him out altogether. Might make her look bad, but if it got her millions—I don’t think she’d care that much.”
“Who else knew?”
“It happened a long time ago and the records were sealed. Garrett was eventually able to get access, but that’s only because he’s a skilled researcher and hammered away at the bureaucracy for a long period of time. And his . . . ahem . . .” Dan declined to use the word “hacking.” “His computer skills allowed him to unearth documents others might not have found.”
“But Wu’s first lawyer knew. Kevin Lieber.”
“Yeah. And there’s a reason for that.” He drew in his breath. “He’s the one Delia had the affair with.”
Jenny’s eyes bugged out. “He was Ernie’s biological father! He wasn’t killed because he represented Wu. He was killed because he had information that could destroy Ernie’s plans. That’s a wild coincidence.”
“Except it isn’t a coincidence. There’s a reason Wu hired Leiber to represent him. Delia recommended him.”
“She recommended her own lover?”
“Probably thought she could control her lover. After all, she didn’t want Wu getting anything.”
“So Leiber was sleeping with one potential heir and fathered the other. Poor man. No wonder he’s dead.”
“It’s possible Lieber tried to blackmail Ernie. Wanted a bigger slice of the Kaiju prize for himself. In any case, he revealed that he was Ernie’s father. The father Ernie never knew. The one who neglected and ignored him his entire life. Ernie lived in poverty while his daddy-lawyer had everything he wanted.”
“So Ernie killed his own father?”
“Makes a kind of crazy sense. I mean, think about it. Cutting off someone’s head? While they’re still alive? That’s more than an act of greed. That’s an act of personal animosity.” He took another deep breath. “That’s what you do to someone you hate.”
Even though he couldn’t see Ben’s face, Dan could feel him wincing. “So maybe Ernie hated Leiber. There must be easier ways of venting than decapitation.”
“I have some thoughts on that,” Jenny said. “Ernie killed Leiber at his home, which remember was in Orlando, close to the airport. He needed Leiber’s cellphone, because Leiber had digital copies of the documents that proved he was Ernie’s father on his phone. Problem is, the phone was not in Leiber’s home. Lieber kept a separate work cell phone in his office. And since Ernie didn’t know the passcode, he had to rely on Face ID.”
Maria covered her face. “So he cut off Leiber’s head?”
“Easier than lugging an adult male corpse around. Ernie severed the head, put it in a suitcase, went to Lieber’s office, used the face to open the phone, then deleted the documents. Kept the phone, but later destroyed it, because he knew hackers can recover deleted files.”
Maria took a deep breath. “And he almost got away with it.”
“Sure,” Jenny commented. “White boys commit murder and get away with it. While others can’t even put on a dress without being harassed.”
“How did he cut off the head?”
“I think he tried several things, and eventually used a bread knife he found in the kitchen. Must’ve been damn sharp. Turns out the woman at the airport who found the head, Lydia Blankenship, is a seasoned chef and recognized the striation pattern of the bread knife on the bone.”
“He cut off a head with a bread knife?”
“I think he started that way. Killed Leiber, but couldn’t get all the way through the bone. Finished the job with an axe.” He shrugged. “I noted how strong Ernie looked. Told us he lifts weights, remember? And we know he liked hunting. I’m guessing he’s gutted deer and other animals. This wouldn’t’ve been pleasant, but he could do it. In the bathtub.”
“I can’t believe he could clean the tub so well the police couldn’t find traces with luminol.”
“Why would they examine Ernie’s bathtub? He was never considered a suspect.”
“And then he dropped the head off at the Lost Luggage office?”
“I guess. I would’ve buried it ten feet underground. But maybe Ernie didn’t think he had time for that. By that point, he was probably anxious to be rid of it. And he didn’t think it could be identified. Remember, he didn’t ditch the body until much later.”
Dan saw the light dawn in Maria’s eyes. “Ohmigod. This is so . . . disgusting.”
“Yeah.” Dan jumped back into the discussion. “He thought he’d wiped the slate clean. Except then he came to the first settlement meeting and heard me talk about how our investigators were digging up the truth. He feared we’d learn he wasn’t Joe’s son. And panicked.”
“And that’s why he tried to shoot you!”
“Probably. Jake is running ballistics tests on the bullets to confirm that. While Ernie was going after about me, Elliott Gomez learned about the hidden message on the covers. Probably from Megan Sanderson, who got it from Curtis Swart at Sidekick. She’d been in touch with O’Neill. Remember, she had a secret stake in the Kaiju battle and wanted to make sure it paid off. Gomez contacted Joe to make a deal, cutting himself in for a huge share of the profits. Joe didn’t care about the money, but he didn’t want his son to lose everything. So he shot Gomez. Making it look as if Lydek was the target.”
“No!”
“Security will be here soon. Do you want them to find you holding a weapon?”
“They won’t find me.” Brief pause. “At least not alive.”
Dan felt his heart plummet. “Don’t do anything crazy. Let’s just—”
He was interrupted by a crashing sound, loud and sharp, like a sudden explosion.
He did not see Jenny on the floor.
Now or never. He ran down the hallway, making a serpentine route just in case someone was firing . . .
About halfway down the hall, he found Jenny. Standing up.
With a big mouse sprawled at her feet.
She was short of breath and heaving. “Had to . . . act . . . quickly.” She drew in deep gulps of air. “Clubbed him over the head with a fully loaded Gucci tote. He’ll probably be out for hours.”
Dan bent down and removed the mouse mask.
Ernie Ulrich. And he wasn’t unconscious. Maybe stunned.
“Why?” Dan asked. “Just . . . why?”
His eyelids fluttered. “It’s . . . my heritage.” And then his eyelids closed.
Jenny shook her head. “That boy really wanted that dinosaur.”
Dan shook his head. “He wasn’t talking about King Kaiju. He was talking about his family.” He pursed his lips. “Or what he thought was his family.”
All at once, he realized Wu stood behind him, gazing down at the figure on the floor.
“Go easy on him. Please.” Wu crouched and laid his hand on the boy’s forehead, brushing his matted hair away. “Your mother didn’t treat any of us very well, did she?”
Chapter 45
Dan shook Kenzi’s hand. “Done deal.”
They both tumbled into their conference chairs. And began to laugh.
“Can you believe we finally settled this mess?” she asked.
“I knew you’d come around eventually.”
“Oh did you now?” She swiveled around. “You figured your mansplaining would eventually persuade me?”
“No. Your obvious intelligence.”
She puffed up her shoulders. “Mr. Pike. Did you just compliment me?”
“I’ll deny it. I do regret that this negates our bet. I was looking forward to the sunken hollow expression in your eyes when you had to live without your cellphone for a week.”
“Yeah. But I don’t care about seeing you in a swimsuit again. I was just trying to get Maria’s goat.”
“I know. When are you returning to Seattle?”
“I don’t see why I can’t go tonight. I can’t wait to get home. This case has completely energized me. I see now how limited I’ve been.”
“You can do anything.”
“And I will. There are many ways I can help women. And my firm is going to start doing all of them.”
He grabbed a soda from the credenza and popped it open. “Is that why you got into law? To help other women?”
“That’s my mission statement.”
“But my question was—”
“No. I got into law to prove my sexist father was wrong about me.”
Dan chuckled. “I got into law to vindicate mine. Fathers and sons. Or daughters. Parents and their children. That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it? Every time. Children and art. Which are much the same thing.”
“Certainly in this case. You should try going out on your own, Dan. Why is someone with your talent taking orders?”
Dan shrugged. “I like Ben. He’s a good guy.”
“Substitute father figure?”
“Maybe. I lost my father. Ben never had a son. It works.”
She sighed. “It occurs to me now, Dan, that I . . . may not have treated you all that well. And I apologize.”
He waved it away. “We were opposing lawyers. Being tough is our job description. Sometimes I think the adversarial system is . . . not all it’s cracked up to be. Dramatic, but possibly not the best way to resolve a dispute. What was it you called this?”
“All-out war?”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be a better world if we focused less on winning a war and more on . . . making the world a better place?”
“Mr. Rogers Goes to Law School.”
“But still. We should be social justice warriors, resolving conflicts rather than intensifying them. I’d like to imagine I left the world in slightly better shape than I found it.”
“You go on crusading, Dan, and I’ll go on fighting the good fight too. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
He smiled. “I hope so.”
* * *
Dan relaxed in the large semi-circular sofa in the living room of the Snell Isle headquarters. It always felt comfortable, but never more so than now, at the end of a long and grueling case.
They were celebrating. Wu was the guest of honor. He was talking excitedly about his plans for King Kaiju, now that he had a seat at the table. He was finding Sidekick considerably easier to work with. Before they had been concerned that if they acknowledged him at all, it would lend credibility to his claims. Now that those claims were resolved, they were listening. And realizing that he understood the character better than anyone. “They say the feature film is basically going to be an adaptation of those critical first six issues.” He winked. “With an action scene every six minutes. Gotta compete with those Marvel movies.”
Wu appeared happier than Dan had ever seen him. Maybe he should do more civil cases, he mused. Preventing innocents from being railroaded by the government was worthy work. But there were other ways to help people. Maybe it was time he explored some of those.
Jenny prepped most of the snack foods—except “snack foods” made it sound as if she were serving Cheetos, when in fact it was Brussel sprout sliders and baked brie bites. Garrett was noodling on his keyboard, but tonight, instead of the usual jazz, he appeared to be playing triumphant music. One rarely heard John Philip Sousa on a keyboard. But Garrett made it work.
Something caught his eye. He squinted, trying to focus.
Was that a teddy bear in Garrett’s lap?
He shook his head, marveling. Seemed like everyone on this team was changing.
And speaking of . . .
Jenny came racing over to him. “I found your gift. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it. All that original art!”
“From Neal O’Neill himself.”
“It’s spectacular. But it’s too much.”
Dan waved her protests away. “He just wanted his work left in good hands. And there are none better than yours.”
Jenny wrapped her arms around him and practically squeezed the stuffings out. Maria beamed.
But Garrett continued playing.
Jenny released Dan and grabbed a platter of canapes, hovering in the vicinity of Garrett. They liked to joke that Garrett was the team’s “token conservative.” No one knew yet how he would react to Jenny’s latest choices.
Jenny cleared her throat. “Um, you . . . want a slider? I . . . kinda made them ’cause I know you like them.”
Garrett slowly looked up from his keyboard and placed one hand on the teddy bear. “You made them?”
Jenny’s forehead creased. Her facial expression reminded him of the last scene in City Lights. Maybe . . .
Garrett smiled. “If you made them, I’ll take three.”
A smile spread from one side of Jenny’s face to the other. “Really? I was worried—”
“I feel pretty relaxed these days.” Garrett pointed toward the teddy. “Bear-Bear thinks I need to chill. Relax more. Live in the moment.”
Jenny’s lips parted but froze, as if she wasn’t sure what to say. “I couldn’t help but notice . . .”
“I got a good deal on him. If you want I could take you to—”
She stopped him. “Thanks. I already have a Dreamer doll, but my husband won’t let me bring him to bed.” She hesitated. “But . . . maybe we could do something else. Grab dinner.”
“I would love to have dinner. What about Beachcombers? Dan loves that joint.” Garrett looked straight at her. “And it’s always packed.” He reached out, pulled her close, and kissed her cheek. “Let’s do it soon.”
Maria looked at Dan. Dan looked back. Her eyes were wide and watery. And he understood why.
Maria was seated beside Wu, patiently listening to his plans for a comic-book character she knew little about. He recalled once suggesting they watch a Godzilla movie on TV and she laughed out loud. But now, when she was about ten months pregnant, she listened to a detailed account of the time King Kaiju took on the entire Legion of Evil.
“But I want to do more than combat scenes. I want to take Kaiju back to his roots. Fight for the people. That’s the root of this entire genre. Go read the earliest Superman stories. There were no supervillains. He fought for the little guy. He took on slumlords. Defended battered women. Prevented innocents from being executed. That’s the true work of a hero.”
Dan caught her eye and winked. She just smiled. Reminding him how lucky he was.
His iPhone buzzed. “Mr. K” was ready. Maria was occupied and didn’t need any unnecessary movement, so he punched the buttons on his laptop and put Ben on the television. He still preferred not to engage the video. He said he didn’t like the way he looked on Zoom. Dan suspected it was more about social anxieties, but given how much Ben had done for him, for the entire team, he was more than happy to indulge him.
Ben’s voice boomed from the speakers. Everyone drifted back to the living room.
“Hello, team. And congratulations on your success. This turned out even better than I hoped. What a victory!”
“It really wasn’t a victory,” Dan said. “We settled.”
“That’s an even better victory. Everyone gets something, by mutual agreement. I wish more lawyers would understand the value of settlement. Before they’ve spent a year running up the bill with motions practice and discovery.”
“I should’ve figured it out sooner. But when Garrett unearthed that surrogacy case, I finally understood. Much too late.”
Jenny cut in. “Could someone please explain the significance of that to me? Because I still don’t get it.”
“Let me bottom line it for you. Delia researched surrogacy, years ago, because she and Joe were having trouble conceiving. There’s a good chance Joe was sterile, not astonishing given how he’d had to live, on the edge of starvation and with no medical care. But that was too complicated and expensive. Much easier to simply have an affair. We’ve done the DNA tests. Delia held Ernie out as Joe’s son. Joe undoubtedly believed Ernie was his son, at least for a time.” He paused. “But he wasn’t. Delia confirmed it with a DNA test. Then buried all the paperwork.”
“Why not burn it?”
“She didn’t want to find it...but I don’t think she wanted to destroy it, either. She might need it somewhere down the line.”
“Like, to keep Ernie in line?”
“Yes. What Delia didn’t realize was that Ernie already knew. He stashed an Apple AirTag in his mother’s car. He could follow her movements. So not long after she buried the info—he dug it up.”
Garrett jumped in. “Joe’s will only leaves Delia a third of his estate. The majority, including the Kaiju rights, go to ‘his children.’ Which Ernie isn’t.”
“Could he be considered a . . . common law child?” Jenny asked. “He lived with them. They held him out as Joe’s son.”
“Florida doesn’t even recognize common law marriage, much less children. No, a will leaving something to children would include both biological and adopted children—but Ernie was neither. Any grant to Ernie from Joe’s will could be challenged. Probably successfully.”
“Who would do that?”
Garrett allowed a small smile. “Delia, for starters.”
“I’m confused. If Delia only gets a third and Ernie gets nothing—who gets the rest?”
“If there are no children to inherit, the will leaves everything to the Comics Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit that protects creator rights. Of course, after the Headmark contract went through, Delia’s third would be more than enough to live off comfortably. Assuming Joe was declared the creator or co-creator of King Kaiju.”
“But if people learned that Ernie wasn’t Joe’s son, Ernie would get nothing.”
“From Joe’s will. He could still inherit from Delia.”
“Yes.” He paused. “Except Delia could live another forty years, plus she doesn’t like Ernie very much and she’s likely to spend it all and then some before he gets near it. So if he wanted a piece of the action . . .”
“He had to kill anyone who knew he wasn’t Joe’s biological son. Delia had no reason to tell—at this time. It wouldn’t get her more than her designated third and admitting she cheated on Joe wouldn’t help her case. But others might talk.”
“Whether Ernie was biologically Joe’s child or not,” Jenny said, “he loved that boy. A probate judge might still award him something. Joe raised the kid.”
“Maybe. But remember that Delia is in the mix. Delia had Joe’s power-of-attorney, and if she secured the contract with Headmark, she would’ve made sure the profits were paid to her or some corporation she created. If Ernie tried to challenge her, she’d reveal the truth and cut him out altogether. Might make her look bad, but if it got her millions—I don’t think she’d care that much.”
“Who else knew?”
“It happened a long time ago and the records were sealed. Garrett was eventually able to get access, but that’s only because he’s a skilled researcher and hammered away at the bureaucracy for a long period of time. And his . . . ahem . . .” Dan declined to use the word “hacking.” “His computer skills allowed him to unearth documents others might not have found.”
“But Wu’s first lawyer knew. Kevin Lieber.”
“Yeah. And there’s a reason for that.” He drew in his breath. “He’s the one Delia had the affair with.”
Jenny’s eyes bugged out. “He was Ernie’s biological father! He wasn’t killed because he represented Wu. He was killed because he had information that could destroy Ernie’s plans. That’s a wild coincidence.”
“Except it isn’t a coincidence. There’s a reason Wu hired Leiber to represent him. Delia recommended him.”
“She recommended her own lover?”
“Probably thought she could control her lover. After all, she didn’t want Wu getting anything.”
“So Leiber was sleeping with one potential heir and fathered the other. Poor man. No wonder he’s dead.”
“It’s possible Lieber tried to blackmail Ernie. Wanted a bigger slice of the Kaiju prize for himself. In any case, he revealed that he was Ernie’s father. The father Ernie never knew. The one who neglected and ignored him his entire life. Ernie lived in poverty while his daddy-lawyer had everything he wanted.”
“So Ernie killed his own father?”
“Makes a kind of crazy sense. I mean, think about it. Cutting off someone’s head? While they’re still alive? That’s more than an act of greed. That’s an act of personal animosity.” He took another deep breath. “That’s what you do to someone you hate.”
Even though he couldn’t see Ben’s face, Dan could feel him wincing. “So maybe Ernie hated Leiber. There must be easier ways of venting than decapitation.”
“I have some thoughts on that,” Jenny said. “Ernie killed Leiber at his home, which remember was in Orlando, close to the airport. He needed Leiber’s cellphone, because Leiber had digital copies of the documents that proved he was Ernie’s father on his phone. Problem is, the phone was not in Leiber’s home. Lieber kept a separate work cell phone in his office. And since Ernie didn’t know the passcode, he had to rely on Face ID.”
Maria covered her face. “So he cut off Leiber’s head?”
“Easier than lugging an adult male corpse around. Ernie severed the head, put it in a suitcase, went to Lieber’s office, used the face to open the phone, then deleted the documents. Kept the phone, but later destroyed it, because he knew hackers can recover deleted files.”
Maria took a deep breath. “And he almost got away with it.”
“Sure,” Jenny commented. “White boys commit murder and get away with it. While others can’t even put on a dress without being harassed.”
“How did he cut off the head?”
“I think he tried several things, and eventually used a bread knife he found in the kitchen. Must’ve been damn sharp. Turns out the woman at the airport who found the head, Lydia Blankenship, is a seasoned chef and recognized the striation pattern of the bread knife on the bone.”
“He cut off a head with a bread knife?”
“I think he started that way. Killed Leiber, but couldn’t get all the way through the bone. Finished the job with an axe.” He shrugged. “I noted how strong Ernie looked. Told us he lifts weights, remember? And we know he liked hunting. I’m guessing he’s gutted deer and other animals. This wouldn’t’ve been pleasant, but he could do it. In the bathtub.”
“I can’t believe he could clean the tub so well the police couldn’t find traces with luminol.”
“Why would they examine Ernie’s bathtub? He was never considered a suspect.”
“And then he dropped the head off at the Lost Luggage office?”
“I guess. I would’ve buried it ten feet underground. But maybe Ernie didn’t think he had time for that. By that point, he was probably anxious to be rid of it. And he didn’t think it could be identified. Remember, he didn’t ditch the body until much later.”
Dan saw the light dawn in Maria’s eyes. “Ohmigod. This is so . . . disgusting.”
“Yeah.” Dan jumped back into the discussion. “He thought he’d wiped the slate clean. Except then he came to the first settlement meeting and heard me talk about how our investigators were digging up the truth. He feared we’d learn he wasn’t Joe’s son. And panicked.”
“And that’s why he tried to shoot you!”
“Probably. Jake is running ballistics tests on the bullets to confirm that. While Ernie was going after about me, Elliott Gomez learned about the hidden message on the covers. Probably from Megan Sanderson, who got it from Curtis Swart at Sidekick. She’d been in touch with O’Neill. Remember, she had a secret stake in the Kaiju battle and wanted to make sure it paid off. Gomez contacted Joe to make a deal, cutting himself in for a huge share of the profits. Joe didn’t care about the money, but he didn’t want his son to lose everything. So he shot Gomez. Making it look as if Lydek was the target.”
