Addie and Donnie had joined Ben and Della. “I spent the day visiting with Miss Willy in her room.” Addie answered.
“Can you tell us about the accident?” Cleo asked.
“I can only tell you that Miss Willy and I were out on the balcony to her bedroom when her nephew came out. He tried to hug her I think, but he stumbled into her, and they both went over the balcony railing. I ran down the stairs in front of Miss Willy’s bedroom door. I didn’t see anybody, so I ran out the side door in the dining room, and I fainted. When I came to, my mother and Donnie Whitefield were there holding me. They didn’t know there had been an accident until we were on our way home and I told them.” Addie paused, then said, “They’re dead, aren’t they?”
“The man was dead when we got there. Miss Willy was lying partially on top of him. She’s in the emergency room. She’s in a bad way. I doubt she’ll make it through the night,” Buddy said sadly.
“It – it was horrible,” Addie murmured, her head down. “I thought I was going to be sick.”
“Had you gone to pick her up?” Cleo asked Della.
“Yes. We had just reached her when she fainted. We didn’t know anything had happened. I just wanted to get her to the car and home. When she came to, she was awfully upset. I insisted she calm down and wait until we got home to tell us what was wrong,” Della answered.
“You, Donnie Whitefield?” Cleo asked, nodding to Donnie.
“Yes, sir. I’m Mel Johnson’s nephew.”
“How did you get in and out of Stonegate? You didn’t go through the gates.”
“There’s a small gate on the side fence behind a small cottage,” Donnie answered. “It was unlocked.”
The two officers looked at each other. “Yeah, the old delivery entrance,” Buddy said.
“Now ain’t that just like the rich?” Cleo said. “They keep that big front gate so secure a cat couldn’t get in, and they leave that old side gate open.”
“Is that all you wanted?” Ben asked the officers.
“Well, yeah, for the time being. I guess so,” Cleo said.
“Anytime,” Ben said. “Goodnight, Cleo, Buddy,” he added as he was closing the door. “That was to be expected,” he said to Della, “and you look like you need to call it a day. I know it’s early, but I’m sure you need the rest. We’ll make Donnie a bed here on the couch. Addie and I can do it, and we’ll clean up the kitchen. You get ready for bed.”
Addie just stood there looking miserable.
“Honey,” Della said putting her arm around her daughter.
“Oh, Mama, I feel so sorry for them, and I keep thinking how lucky I am that I didn’t go over that railing too.”
And how fortunate we are that we got there before Julian Dane could take you with him, Della thought. “Baby, we’re so thankful that you’re back safe and sound at home, and just as important, that you are just you now,” she added as she hugged Addie to her. “Now, let’s forget this whole dreadful day, and all of us go to bed early. I’m really beat.” And there was still a lot she had to tell Ben before this night was over.
“I’ll show Donnie where things are in the bathroom and bring back some sheets and a blanket,” Ben offered.
“I sure hate being all this trouble,” Donnie apologized.
“What do you mean trouble?” Ben asked, putting his arm around Donnie’s shoulder. “I’ve not even thanked you or helping Della and rescuing Addie. I owe you a big debt, Son, and we Martins pay our debts. I’ll do everything I can to square it with your aunt and uncle for you,” he promised as they walked to the bathroom. “But don’t you worry. We’ll take care of you until then. If you don’t mind sleeping on the couch?”
Addie stood with her mother at her bedroom door. “You know, Mama, I feel different. It’s a good feeling just being me. Do you think I’ll get used to it?”
“Addie, I’m hoping you’ll soon forget that there ever was anybody but Addie Martin inside you. And I’m so thankful that you’re just you now.”
Addie said, “Me too,” kissing her mother goodnight. “I’m going to straighten up the kitchen now.”
Della went into her room and absolutely collapsed on the bed for a few minutes, until she heard a car turn into their driveway. She got up and went to the window to look out, but all she could see through the blanket of fog was a blurry, blue, flashing light. The police again! Why, she wondered?
Chapter Twenty-seven
Della left the bedroom and met Ben coming into the living room, his arms loaded with bed linens and a pillow. “Ben, the police are back.”
“What? Why? Addie told them everything they wanted to know.”
“Do you think they’re going to cause her any problems? I was proud of the way she answered them. What more could they want?”
“Lord! Della, I don’t know. All of this has me so completely baffled. I just hope she doesn’t have to tell them anymore than she already has. I thought she did a good job of it too.”
“Should I go get her?” Della asked as they heard footsteps on the small porch.
“Wait,” Ben answered. “Let’s see what they want.”
Della went to answer the door, as Ben deposited his load on the couch. It was with surprise that she greeted Grant Cutler and police chief, Harlan Bugg. Although she had never been introduced to either man, she knew who they were. “Mrs. Martin,” Grant Cutler said, “I’m Grant Cutler, the attorney for Wilhelmina Stone and her nephew, Nickelos Dane. And this is Chief Bugg. May we come in? I know it’s a bad time ...”
“Of course,” Della answered, standing back from the door and offering her hand to each man as he came in. “I’m Della Martin.”
Ben joined her. “Evening,” he said somewhat surprised. “What can we do for you?” An attorney and the police chief, he didn’t like this one little bit.
“Good evening, Ben,” Cutler said. “You know Chief Bugg.”
“How are you, Chief?” he said, extending his hand.
“Fine, Ben.” the Chief answered as he took Ben’s hand.
“If we may be seated for a few minutes,” Cutler was saying. I have something to do for you, or for your daughter, Addie.”
Ben wanted to tell him his daughter didn’t need an attorney. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Addie was the one who had been wronged – that Wilhelmina Stone trying to push her over that balcony railing. But Cutler managed the Stonegate rental properties, and he depended on him for a good portion of his income.
“Ben,” Chief Bugg said. “I’m not here in an official capacity. Miss Willy told me how the accident happened.”
“He’s here with me,” Cutler said, “because he was a witness to a legal matter executed by Wilhelmina Stone.”
“Oh,” Ben said wondering how any legal matter that Wilhelmina Stone executed could concern them? “Well, have a seat,” he offered, quickly moving the linens he had deposited on the couch to the carpet beside the television set.
Della offered Chief Bugg, the bigger of the two men, Ben’s recliner and Grant Cutler her chair, as she looked inquisitively at what was obviously a pillowcase that Cutler was carrying. It contained a rather heavy object.
“This has been a rather sad and confusing evening,” Cutler said, as he took his seat. He placed the object on the floor beside him. “Wilhelmina Stone passed away a short while ago.”
A silence fell over the room. Then Ben and Della offered their condolences, and all agreed as to how sad it was and how badly she would be missed.
“She left me with a couple of things to do for her, and she was a woman who wanted everything done right then,” Cutler said, shaking his head. “And I must confess, I don’t understand some of it.” He paused. “You know,” he continued, “she didn’t even keep a cat, not a single animal of any kind, yet she asked me to go to the parsonage and give Reverend Kirkland some cash to be given to a Luke Judkins, a sort of unlicensed vet over in the next county. And then, when I got to the parsonage, the Reverend had left town – bag and baggag
e. Some of the church deacons were there ...”
“What do you mean, he left town,” Ben demanded. And Della took a deep breath of relief and closed her eyes to say a brief prayer of thanks.
“That’s what the deacons said,” Cutler answered, “and that’s all I know. And that’s all any of the deacons knew.”
“Del, do you know anything about this? Didn’t you have an appointment with Brother Morris this afternoon?”
Nervously, Della said, “Let’s not worry about him right now. I want to hear why Mr. Cutler has come to see us, or rather Addie.” She begun to realize it was not going to be easy to tell Ben about the misconduct of the pastor he respected and admired so much.
“Well, the reason I’m here is something else I don’t understand,” Cutler answered. “Although I knew more about Wilhelmina Stone, things I’d gained from my father’s files mostly, than I suppose anyone else in this town knew, apparently, there was still a lot to be learned. And now, I don’t suppose anyone will ever know why she shut herself away in that big, stone mansion like she did.”
Ben and Della looked at each other knowingly.
“Most people will be surprised to know that Nickelos Dane was her nephew,” Chief Bugg put in.
“Well, he was. Julian Dane was Wilhelmina’s half brother, and when he died, she became legal guardian of his retarded son, Nicki, and all his worldly possessions,” Cutler said, and paused. “And that is why I’m here to see your daughter, Adelaide Martin.”
Ben and Della looked at each other in wonder, then at Cutler. “I’ll get her,” Della said, glancing again at the pillowcase beside his chair as she got up from the couch.
Ben excused himself, went to the bedroom to get a pair of pajamas and took them to Donnie in the bathroom. All three returned to the living room together. Ben introduced Addie to the two men, and they took their seats again on the couch, Addie between them.
Cutler reached into his coat pocket and brought out a small pad of paper as he said, “Of course, Hayes, the butler called me right after he called for an ambulance.” He looked at the three of them. “Miss Martin, Mrs. Martin and Ben. This is probably the strangest will ever written – on the back of a doctor’s prescription pad; and the strangest part of it all is, I know Wilhelmina Stone’s handwriting as well as I do my own. There were four of us, Dr. Bradley, his nurse, Chief Bugg, and myself who watched her write every word of this will and sign it.” He looked at the pad for a moment, as he shook his head. “Her signature is the only part of this will that looks like her handwriting. It’s a good thing I don’t believe in ghosts,” he added “for the will is written in a very distinctive handwriting. And it’s very much like that of her half brother, Julian Dane’s which I’ve seen in my father’s files many times. But let me assure you,” he continued, “it’s all very legal, as legal as if it had been written on parchment.”
He took a deep breath. “You see,” he said, “Wilhelmina was the beneficiary of Nickelos Dane’s estate should he die before she did – which he did. So she made this change in her will before she died, leaving her nephew’s estate to you, Adelaide Martin, daughter of Ben and Della Martin.”
There was stunned silence in the small room. Addie looked at her mother with a bewildered, questioning look. Della took Addie’s hand as Ben asked, “Why would she do a thing like that?” All the while, he was wondering just what the woman knew about Julian Dane and Della, and Addie? How could she know anything?
“Strangely enough,” Cutler answered with a frown, “she said it belonged to your daughter. I thought, perhaps you could tell me. Of course, that’s not required. Wilhelmina could leave anything to anybody she wished,” he added hastily. “It’s just another thing that I don’t understand.” He paused and waited.
Ben and Della looked at each other and at Addie, but remained silent.
“Well, be that as it may,” Cutler said when he saw he was not going to get an answer. “There was also a verbal message from Wilhelmina to you, Miss Martin. She said to tell you that she hoped you were mature enough to realize that people were better off not knowing some things.” He looked at Addie for a few moments. Then, “I hope you know what she meant.” He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.
“Yes, Sir. I do,” Addie answered slowly, but looking at the man.
“She also asked me to go out to Stonegate and bring you this,” he said as he picked up the pillowcase wrapped item. “I’m afraid this was all I could find to wrap it in.” He arose and placed the package in Addie’s lap, then took his seat again.
Addie knew before she touched it that it was the portrait of Julian Dane. She thanked Cutler, carefully drew the pillowcase around the frame and held it on her lap. Since she had told her parents about the portrait, she was sure they too knew what the pillowcase contained. Addie did not want the portrait. It was cruel of the woman to leave it to her. Julian Dane, and his daughter, Vicki, were out of her life now, and she didn’t want to be reminded of them. She wanted to get on with her life, Addie Martin’s life – daughter of Ben and Della Martin. She wanted to find out who Addie Martin really is, without Vicki Dane. She would put the thing on the shelf in the laundry room until they could decide what to do with it.
“May I be excused now?” she asked her mother. “I have to go to school tomorrow.”
“Miss Martin! Please!” Grant Cutler exclaimed. “I’m afraid I haven’t made myself clear, or perhaps you don’t realize what is involved here. But of course, you have no way of knowing since I haven’t told you.” He scratched the back of his blond head thoughtfully. “I’d better go back a ways,” he said.
“You see, when Eli Gates died, Victoria Gates Dane Stone was already a very sick woman – to sick to travel, and she must have known that she was dying. So, having come into the Gates fortune, she later brought her son, Julian Dane and his family to America. Then she transferred all the land on the other side of the river, where the shopping center, and all the other businesses are now located, to her son, Julian Dane. She also transferred a sizable amount of cash, all of her bank stock, and most of her real estate. When Dane died it all went to his son, Nickelos, his only heir.
Della was listening with interest, then something like shock, as she began to see the picture unfolding.
“Wilhelmina Stone has managed her nephew’s estate all these years from up there in her stone prison, and done a good job of it.”
“What – what are you saying?” Ben asked Cutler, not believing what he was hearing, while Della sat in stunned silence.
“Ben, I’m telling you that your daughter, Adelaide Martin, is now one of the wealthiest young ladies in this county.”
Ben and Della both gasped, and Addie looked at her mother in disbelief. Della sat there wondering what the woman was actually saying by such actions, or was it Wilhelmina Stone’s doings? Cutler had said it was Julian Dane’s handwriting. Could he have written that will through Wilhelmina, or caused her to write it? Was such a thing possible? At this point, she was beginning to think anything was possible, certainly more than she could understand or believe. The woman couldn’t have known that Addie was Julian Dane’s daughter, but then, she had come to realize that Addie and Vicki were one person. And there was the portrait to be reckoned with. What had she thought with Addie looking exactly like her half brother?
Well, regardless of what the woman’s actions implied, or what Julian Dane’s spirit could do through Wilhelmina Stone, Addie was his daughter and only heir. And such an inheritance was rightfully hers just as Wilhelmina Stone had said, according to Grant Cutler.
Still, it was unbelievable! Money! Apparently, lots of money! So much good could be done with that kind of money – so many people’s lives could be changed, she thought as the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing reached through her thoughts. Donnie Whitefield. He wouldn’t have to go crawling back to the Johnsons, begging for a place to live, and neither would his mother.
Della looked at Ben as she squeezed Addie’s hand, whic
h she held in her lap. Ben was like a person in shock. He was speechless, and right now, she would just as soon he stayed that way. She was afraid of his reactions. She knew her husband. What would she do if he suddenly told Grant Cutler that his Addie didn’t need, or want anything from Wilhelmina Stone or her nephew?
“Mr. Cutler,” she said quickly, “you said this was legal. Do you mean it cannot be revoked – it’s Addie’s?”
“Absolutely, Mrs. Martin.”
“What do we do now?” she asked calmly. She would not let these two men see how unbelievable this was to her. She didn’t want any more questions from Cutler, questions she could not answer, would not answer.
“Well, since your daughter is a minor, we’ll start by having you and Ben made her legal guardians. Why don’t the three of you come to my office – after school?” he added, smiling at Addie. “Let’s say on Friday. I’ll be busy attending to the funeral arrangements and such for the next few days.”
“We’ll be there,” Della assured him quickly, anxious for the two men to be on their way before Ben came to his senses and voiced an objection to Addie accepting what was rightfully hers, as one of the daughters of Julian Dane.
The Daughters of Julian Dane
Part Two
The Dane Legacy
Chapter Twenty-eight
Della drove the old Plymouth slowly into the school’s parking lane. She had purposely been late, not wanting the embarrassment of holding up any school traffic in case the contrary thing stopped on her again. Now where was Addie? She was certain she would be standing at the curb and absolutely chomping-at-the-bit. She had been so anxious for this day to arrive.
She looked at her watch. They still had thirty minutes before their appointment. Looking around at the few stragglers, she finally spotted that strawberry red head at the bicycle rack talking to a tall, dark headed girl who stood straddle of her bike, her head bowed. It seemed to Della that Addie was trying to persuade the girl of something. Strange, she thought. She couldn’t recall having ever seen Addie so friendly with another girl. Della wondered who the girl could be?
The Daughters of Julian Dane Page 25