by Una Tiers
“Did Sue Ulnar have travanex prescribed?” I asked.
“She had other medications prescribed for depression.”
That coincided with what the worm, Bobby said in his threatening call. I prayed she was not at risk. The way Liam loved her could be to her good or he could be oblivious and it would be bad.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
In the morning, I went to the law library. Steve Vorce was playing solitaire on his computer. Not that there is anything wrong with that. He is an unusual friend who was unceremoniously booted from his last job and spends a lot of time working in the library. I don’t think he has an office. A few times I considered talking to him about sharing office space but am not sure either of us can afford it.
“Great picture in the newspaper Fiona,” he laughed, showing me a copy of the picture in a notebook.
“He is not my grandfather,” I answered in exasperation.
“Clearly.”
For some reason it was nice to see Steve. Sometimes friends drift in an out of our lives, and I made a note to think about checking in with my missing friends.
While the death of the judge didn’t particularly bother me, but the chance that the police were looking at those sweet seniors as murderers did.
Back at the office, I stared at the curtains like Eddy stared the day the police were called. I hated to wait for court to tell on the rat faced snakes. While I considered filing an emergency motion, I thought they would claim he was failing medically and could not see me. I’m not sure the judge would agree with me on this issue.
I ran a few errands for Paul since they were mindless.
Annette asked several times if I was okay. I was ready to decapitate her.
At 4 PM I announced a headache, instead of indecision since a headache is more socially acceptable. I headed home.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
David walked in, shut the office door and sat down. His expression was grim. “I wanted you to hear this from me.”
“What?” My mind flashed to Eddy passing away.
“The police in Reno, Nevada, located Sue and Liam Ulnar.”
My heart sank despite not hearing the worst news. “Were they arrested?”
“No, they apparently tried to make a transfer of funds from an account here in Chicago that was frozen and flagged.”
“Are they in jail?”
“No, they were staying in a hotel.”
“What will happen to them?”
“The local police will interview them and call us back.”
“Will they force them to return to Chicago?”
“I don’t know, this is new to me Fiona. However, I don’t think a crime has been committed.”
There wasn’t anything else to say and David left quietly.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Two grueling days crawled by before the Reno, Nevada police called. They told David the couple they interviewed were not Sue and Liam Ulnar. I breathed a sigh of relief.
David stopped by the office and whispered that the police think some seniors switch identification and employ red herrings because they want to avoid their adult children.
I hoped they were far away, safe and happy. Would they get jobs to survive? It was an awkward age to hit the road on an adventure. Then again, why not? It was more attractive than baking cookies, going to the senior center and crocheting.
And they weren’t alone. They had one another. I was jealous.
When I stepped out for a carry out lunch, Chessie called.
Her message said her sister got into a fight with another patient. A doctor found them hitting one another with their canes. Nessie was transferred to the psychiatric unit at the hospital for an evaluation. Chessie was not allowed to see her, but she had an old lab coat and was considering dressing up as a doctor to slip in. She was on her way to the hospital. Silently, I wished her well.
Chapter Thirty
The day before the court status date for Eddy, the senior services office hand delivered a letter (backdated three days) that he was at Nurture Center, in Evanston, Illinois. I bought a cupcake and candle and went to see him immediately.
His door was open and I was more than a little surprised to find Eddy canoodling with a lady. When they didn’t notice me, I knocked on the door frame.
Eddy looked good. He was dressed neatly, with a little lipstick on his face and a Perry Mason beard. His eyes were clear and he was smiling and sticking his chest out a little.
“Oh Fiona! Darling, this is my lawyer. Fiona, I want you to meet my fiancé, Mary,” he laughed into her eyes.
Trying not to judge, I smiled and looked her over. Mary, was about Eddy’s age, well dressed and giggling. Her makeup was flawless.
Mary quickly launched into how they met. Her family lived next door to Eddy for forty years. About the time Eddy had his heart attack, her husband died and she sold her house and moved in with her daughter.
“With all the commotion, I lost track of Eddy. I left a note in his mailbox about six months back but didn’t hear from him. The house looked deserted and no one knew where he was. I even sent him a card to call me, but he didn’t receive the card.” She emphasized every word with wide smiling eyes.
“Until about two weeks ago,” Eddy cut into the conversation. “Mary was visiting a friend here at Nurture Center and I was looking for something to read in the library.”
“We couldn’t believe our luck. We had lunch and the best time. We caught up and laughed.” Mary laughed and tilted her head beaming at Eddy. When she rubbed noses with him, she hit my last nerve.
“I don’t want to hurt my daughter’s feelings, but living with her has been a drag. They treat me like I don’t have a brain cell left working. They drive me everywhere and keep asking me to make cookies. They take my car in the evenings and hide the keys and I’m stranded. I’m never alone. I don’t want to sit around, I want to see Istanbul. I want to ride my bicycle. I want to drink gin and tonic naked on the back porch.”
Eddy froze and ogled Mary with a weak smile.
She laughed like a hyena, “Just checking if you are listening.”
Eddy blushed uncomfortably.
“We’re working on taking better care of you too, “ Mary gushed. “I called Eddy’s old doctor, and we’re going to sneak him out to get a second opinion.”
“I think I can help.” I explained my plan for court in the morning to ask for a new evaluation.
Mary was not exactly pleased.
“Do you want me to go to court Fiona?” Eddy asked, “Mary could come too, she thinks I’m okay. She knows I don’t have dementia.”
“This time let me get the groundwork complete. If the second opinion comes in our favor, I’ll see whether or not we need a trial. Is that okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be in our favor? Whose side are you on?” Mary spoke with suspicion under her smile.“I don’t think we’ll need a trial.”
“It’s the way it works, it’s called a restoration and includes a court hearing.” I gave them a very sketchy idea, since that was all I understood. Restorations end the guardianship because of an improvement in the condition of the respondent.
Eddy agreed whole heartedly and Mary communicated that she didn’t trust me or like my idea with a creepy look.
“We’ll see, okay?” Mary pronounced.
Eddy’s face fell in despair. I promised to see him after court and left quickly.
I hated Mary. Now I would have to figure out how to talk to him alone.
Chapter Thirty One
Court surprised me.
When the clerk called the Estate of Szem, six or seven people rushed and pushed to stand right in front of me. One of them launched the hearing, “Judge, I am Reginald Walker Parker, a partner at Laud, Besus and Mook and we are here today because...”
“Hold it,” the judge interrupted. “Let’s get everyone’s names on the record. I show two attorneys of record in this case, the department of senior services for the guardian and
Ms. Gavelle for the respondent, Eddy Szem.”
“No, they are both out, our client Mary Merry will be substituting in for the guardian and I will be representing Mr. Szem.” Parker puffed his chest out like a pigeon with the last crust of bread.
“Wait a minute,” Attorney Wrigley shouted. “We refuse to allow a substitution. No, it won’t happen. We are in charge of Eddy Szem.”
“I represent Mr. Szem,” I chimed in sweetly although my head was starting to pound.
Attorney Wrigley shouted that the court room should be cleared, a recess called and asked to use the telephone.
The judge ignored his request and asked, “Ms. Gavelle, have you talked to your client since the last court date?”
“Yes, although I wasn’t able to meet with him until yesterday,” I started to explain until Wrigley shouted over me.
“Judge, she was sent that letter several days before it was delivered,” Attorney Wrigley jumped in with both feet in his mouth.
“Hold it folks, the court reporter can only take down one person at a time and I feel the same way. Ms. Gavelle, you were appointed about five or six weeks ago?”
“Yes, shortly after I was appointed, Mr. Szem was moved to a different nursing home and despite nine letters, the Senior Division refused to identify where he was until yesterday with a letter that was backdated three days.”
“No, we never received all her letters, judge, we got maybe four never nine,” Wrigley said before thinking.
The judge paused and mulled over the Wrigley statements and turned to me.
“Ms. Gavelle, when you saw your client yesterday, without violating privilege, did you have a normal attorney client meeting?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you he had retained new counsel?”
“No,” I said with indignation. “Nothing was said about that.”
“Judge we just met with the man a half hour ago,” Parker chirped.
“Judge,” Wrigley whined, “Mr. Szem is not supposed to leave the nursing home. He is old he is fragile and he has dementia.”
“This is troubling. I don’t want Mr. Szem used as a pawn.” The judge shook her head and you could tell she was trying to find diplomatic words.
“Judge, I,” Parker started.
“Counsel Parker, where is Eddy Szem right now?”
“Well I don’t know, on his way back to the nursing home, how would I know?”
“Was there a restriction on Mr. Szem leaving the nursing facility without the permission of his guardian?”
“We had no idea that was necessary. After all we represent the man.”
The judge was not happy. “I kid you not, the court appoints attorneys for people under a guardianship. As of now, Ms. Gavelle is the attorney for Mr. Szem. Is that clear?”
“But I represent the disabled adult, I have a signed contract,” Reginald Parker roared. “I have a deposit.”
“Right now that has not been established.” The judge lost her patience and was nearly shouting.
“Mr. Wrigley, were you aware of any of this?”
“None of it. Mr. Szem is not supposed to leave the facility. No one is allowed to see him without our express permission. We won’t allow anyone to see him.”
“Mr. Parker?”
“Judge this matter was settled this morning, I have a contract signed by Mr. Szem.”
“Is this a plenary guardianship?” The judge sorted through the papers in the court file. “Because if it is, Mr. Szem had all of his rights transferred to the guardian and does not have the legal right to make a contract.”
“He has the right to contract judge,” Parker responded with wavering confidence.
“I kid you not, a disabled adult does not have the right to contract,” the judge fumed.
“This is outrageous, judge,” either Parker or Wrigley shouted.
All I could think of was that Mary turned Eddy against me. While it was true that I didn’t know what to do, I was working hard at it. Did Parker say Mary was going to be Eddy’s guardian? Weren’t we talking about restoration just yesterday? Maybe this was some high powered legal maneuvering.
After everyone stopped shouting, the judge took control.
“This is how we’ll settle this issue,” the judge spoke quietly. “I want Mr. Eddy Szem here in my courtroom at 2 PM this afternoon.”
Parker and Wrigley objected and waved their arms around wildly. I stepped back to get out of range and to add to the drama.
“Counsel!” She said in an even, angry voice.
When things settled down, the judge raised her eyebrows in a judicial scold.
“I can return at 2 PM,” I responded piously in my Minnie Mouse voice.
The clamor of objections started again.
“Where did you meet with Mr. Szem, counsel?” the judge asked.
“Me?” I asked.
“Counsel Parker,” the judge clarified.
“That’s privileged,” he answered.
“Where did you meet with Mr. Szem? Remember you don’t represent him unless I say you do.”
“At my offices,” he said defeated.
“Here in downtown Chicago?”
“Judge you don’t know what is going on.” Parker stopped when he realized how foolish his statement was.
“When this case was before me several weeks back, I appointed Ms. Gavelle for Mr. Szem at his request. Ms. Gavelle said she spoke to her client yesterday and was not told he hired a new attorney. Is that correct Ms. Gavelle?”
“Yes,” I felt like I was being blamed for something, although I didn’t know what she saw that could be construed as wrongdoing.
Michael Wrigley started to argue and Parker did too and the judge had to holler to be heard. The court reporter threw her hands up in the air and turned to the judge for help.
The judge lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “Ms. Gavelle, would you like to have an opportunity to meet with your client?”
“Yes.”
“Can you go out today?”
“Yes,” I answered unsure of what purpose it would serve. I was toast.
“Okay, this is what we will do, I will reappoint the GAL to go out and talk to Mr. Szem, he will need to go out tomorrow so that Ms. Gavelle can go out today. We’ll continue this matter to Friday at two PM. Ms. Gavelle if your client tells you he retained other counsel and you are satisfied that it was his decision, you can call the GAL and he or she will not need to go out. By the way where is the GAL on this matter?”
“He couldn’t be here today, he is still counsel of record,” Michael Wrigley spewed his lies quietly.
“No, I appointed Ms. Gavelle as his counsel. My last order provided that if the GAL was still on board as either GAL or court appointed counsel, he was dismissed. The GAL has not been in court for the last two court dates.”
Judge Dorothy cast a look of contempt in the general direction of the attorneys and left the courtroom.
Eddy looked humiliated when I walked into his room. My ears were red too.
“Fiona, I’m sorry but Mary thinks this is the best way to handle things. Her lawyer is from a big firm and can kick the stuffing out of the Department of Senior services. You got the ball rolling and I appreciate your work Fiona. I wouldn’t be this far along if you hadn’t taken a chance with me. Send me your bill, you’ll get paid.”
Not wanting to make him feel worse, I left, crushed, but ready to prepare my bill in the matter and move on. Of course I would spend some time pouting.
Before I got to the elevator, I remembered a question I had never been able to ask Eddy.
“Eddy, I’m curious, what did you do before you retired?”
“Oh I had different jobs, driving and such, I was with the Chicago Fire Department.”
Chapter Thirty Two
A few days later, I presented my petition for fees to the court and the other attorneys. No one complained that they didn’t get notice, no one objected to the amount. The court approved my fee as th
e first order of business and signed my order. Parker said his client would pay my fee.
Without caring about the finer points, I said thank you and left the hearing.
Maybe I could get work at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I’m not talking about suing fish, but maybe I could be a whale feeder. Or I could start feeding the dolphins and work my way up to whales. Maybe I would be better feeding the sharks with my experience.
The Shedd Aquarium is Chicago’s indoor aquarium. It was built in 1930 and has about five million gallons of water in the exhibits. The saltwater came from Key West, Florida and took eight trips of railroad cars to carry the water to start the exhibits.
I’ve never been fired before. It was especially humiliating to come from a client that I assumed liked me. I fumed and pouted and couldn’t concentrate. It was more a blow to my psyche that I could mange. I wasn’t able to do much work, so I dusted the office and then cleaned and organized files. Then I threw in the towel and went home to wash, well, towels.
It’s hard to say how many days I lost in that funk. I walked near the lake more than usual and pouted with great skill and vigor.
Meghan initiated a call to me and agreed to pay the nursing home and doctor bill although she also asked if I could settle them. She didn’t have a basis to ask for a reduction, but asked if I would call and ask them to take less.
It didn’t matter to me.
To my surprise, the nursing home agreed to take seventy-five percent of the bill in full payment. The doctor’s office promised to get back to me in a few days.
I prepared the paperwork to close the estate. My usual thrill I feel when I close a case was missing. Even Meghan asked if I was feeling okay.
The nursing home prepared the settlement papers and we sent a check with a restrictive endorsement. The doctor followed although he wanted ninety percent. Meghan was happy with that too.