by Curry, Edna
When Roscoe hadn’t answered the door, Henrietta had let herself in with her key and found he’d hung himself in the garage. His partner had claimed Roscoe was depressed over their financial troubles in the firm. Shortly afterward, Harold had closed the firm and moved out here to start a small private business with his son, Rolly.
Henrietta had never wanted to talk about it afterward. Agnes was sure her mother had felt guilty about his death, feeling that their divorce was part of the reason for his giving up on life.
Now Agnes carried the box of files downstairs. She’d sort through them to see if she should keep any of it, or if it was time to close the door on that part of her life.
She made some tea and sat at her desk and began sorting stuff out. Old bills went into the waste basket, of course. No one cared about twenty year old electric and water bills. Old cases her lawyer father had dealt with went into another pile. She might want to look at those later.
Then she found a file with photo stat copies of their financial records from the last couple of years they’d been in business. Whoa. Look at these dollar amounts!
Roscoe had not been in any kind of financial problem, whatever he and Harold had claimed. Had her father only pretended that to get a better divorce settlement from her mother? If so, why was he depressed? Why had he hung himself? Guilt, maybe? But that was silly. If he’d felt guilty about the divorce settlement, he could have afforded to simply give Henrietta more money.
Digging through more stuff, Agnes found a copy of an angry letter Roscoe had written. Apparently he had left the financial work to their accountants. He’d believed their claims of problems. Now he’d discovered the lies and threatened to expose them. He wanted his share of the true profits and even said he was ashamed of the small divorce settlement.
The letter was dated three days before Roscoe’s death.
Agnes heart thudded with anxiety and then with anger. She sipped some of her now cold tea to try to ease the dryness of her throat, pondering what to do about this. Obviously, her father felt he’d been cheated. Had he sent that letter? Had the accused men known he’d found out about their thievery?
Her father’s letter didn’t sound like a man about to commit suicide. It sounded more like a man about to hire some lawyers of his own and go after the men he was sure had wronged him.
Tears streaming down her face, Agnes made copies of the letter and the financial statements. She’d loved her father so much, and had been forever grateful that he’d left her this house and a trust fund. Thankfully, his will had been in order before his death. He’d apparently updated it at the time of his divorce.
But Agnes had also harbored anger with him for killing himself and leaving her behind. While Henrietta had gotten over it and married again, no doubt because of dealing with their painful divorce already, Agnes had remained alone and emotionally reticent, afraid to open herself up to love outside her family. She’d never really moved on from the shock of her father’s death.
Now furious and ready for revenge, Agnes drove to the next town and got a new safety deposit box in a bank where she’d never banked before. She put the copies of the letter in it, then hired a new Minneapolis lawyer, one highly recommended who she’d never used before. It was time to make some changes in her will as insurance, just in case. She wouldn’t take chances like her father had.
Then she’d confront the perps and get justice for her father. It was long past time for them to pay for his death.