by Una Tiers
The days passed slower and faster than usual. I think I accomplished little but sent letters every day and was in court once a week.
When Meghan came in to pick up her final check, her hair was almost a normal color, dishwater gray, however she flipped it up and exposed a blue and green stripe.
On a Friday only two weeks after my professional court torment, I talked myself into moving on. Yes, maybe it was because I received two checks for the same fee. One was from the Estate of Eddy Szem, by the Department of Senior Services. The other was from Parker law firm, client trust account. I deposited the first and returned the second. Yes, it crossed my mind to cash both and see if anyone noticed.
After going to the bank, I walked over to the courthouse and pulled Sue Ulnar’s guardianship file. There was nothing current or about her disappearance. The next court date was five months away. Were there documents at microfiche? You would think if a person went missing, that the office of senior services would alert the court. Still I didn’t represent her. I didn’t have an obligation.
No one was charged or confessed to the murder of Judge R. Etapage and David said the investigation was closed or being transferred to what were commonly called cold cases on television. He didn’t call much and didn’t stop by the office. Was he holding back information or just not interested? How would a relationship last if I had to wait for another murder?
After another week passed, I pulled Eddy’s file in court. There were several new inches of papers filed after I was booted. Mary applied to be Eddy’s guardian. Her petition was denied. Parker petitioned to be appointed as Eddy’s counsel, that was denied based on the basis of conflict and the GAL was re-appointed as Eddy’s attorney. I wonder if I stood my ground if I would still have the case and a client.
There were more motions for conflict and several I couldn’t understand.
An order dismissing the guardianship was signed by the judge, reciting a letter from a doctor with the opinion that Eddy Szem did not need a guardian at this time. He was restored to all his rights. There was a transcript of the hearing that was two hundred pages long. I didn’t have enough quarters to make a copy.
I was really happy that justice seemed to have prevailed.
As a gesture of no hard feelings, I called Eddy at his home, prepared to hang up if awful Mary answered the phone. I put the receiver down thinking maybe they were already married.
I dialed again and Eddy answered. He was in a hurry with last minute preparations. Eddy was throwing an ice cream social Saturday to celebrate being home. He invited me to join the party.
Chapter Thirty Three
David accepted my invitation to go to the party ‘with me,’ although I felt like I was bringing the fox into the chicken coop. This felt like an extension of business, it did not feel like a date.
Driving over, we replayed the events of the case.
“Fiona, we did clear one small issue up,” David offered.
“What?”
“We found that a neighbor identified the judge’s body.”
“But he marked that he was her husband, didn’t he?”
“We asked him about that and he said he dropped and broke his glasses and was trying to complete the form without them. He checked the wrong box about the relation to the deceased.”
After David parked, next to a fire hydrant, we heard music and went around the side of the house to the backyard. Eddy had a group of teenagers trying to play rock and roll. It was loud and the beat seemed off.
Scanning the crowd I didn’t see Mary although I was certain she would jump out at me like a spider, a poisonous, ugly one. I didn’t see the hot shot lawyers from downtown.
Eddy was part of a Barber Shop Quartet in full regalia. They wore striped vests, garters, straw hats and bow ties. Eddy was laughing and having a great time. It mollified my bad mood quite a bit. Although I hated Mary, she seemed to make him rather happy.
David was called away on an emergency before we could sample the ice cream. In a way it was a relief. I didn’t want him to get any ideas about Eddy and the murder. The headlines flashed in my humor browser: ‘Fox called away from scene of chicken coop, film at eleven.’
The barber shop quartet was made up of two ladies and two gentlemen. They sang acapella.
They were all winking and singing at the same time. Although there wasn’t liquor, I thought they were winking at me. When they finished, Eddy pulled up a chair and joined me. He was a little out of breath and his face was flushed. He pulled a flask from his pocket and offered to top off my ice cream sundae with mint liquor.
I declined.
“Where did the big guy go?” Eddy looked around.
”Emergency. Eddy, I didn’t see Mary, is she inside the house?”
“Well, you see, it’s like this, we’re history. Mary said she wanted to get to know me. Then she said we could get married. She kept promising to help me. So, you know, I went along.
Did you know her name was Mary Merry?”
“I did not.” I smirked, happy for many reasons.
“Well, she told me one thing and then the lawyer did something different. I couldn’t tell whose interest he was serving. The judge said there was a constrict of interest…”
“Conflict,” I corrected Eddy.
“Oh, conflict, that makes more sense.” He laughed throwing his head back and almost falling off the chair.
“Well, anyway, we were in court and the lawyer told the judge that Mary wanted to be my guardian. Can you imagine that? We never talked about that point. The lawyer was filing papers, lots of papers and we were in court a lot.”
He shook his head, “All I could hear was the cash register adding up and up and up in fees for the attorney.”
“Why did she do that?”
“Money, my dear, money makes the world go around.
The next surprise I had was when Mary told me she paid your fees. Did she?”
“Eddy, I got two checks, one from your money and one from her attorney, but I only cashed yours.”
“You should have cashed both of them. Mary insisted that she paid and the attorney, that one that has a face like a horse saddle?”
“Wrigley?”
“Thanks, Wrigley.”
I laughed.
“She promised me she could get a lawyer who would pound Wrigley into dust. All I wanted was to be free of the nursing homes and able to live my life again. I wanted to live in my own house and come and go as I please.
The next thing that happened was the lawyer, Mary’s lawyer, came to court asking for nine thousand dollars from my estate before I got my bank accounts back.
And that judge, oh, Judge Wizard, told the lawyer to get his money from Mary. That’s when the fog lifted and I realized I had my head in the clouds.
When the judge said that I was restored to my rights, I almost ran up to kiss her. She said I could make arrangements to go home.
“That must be a wonderful feeling.”
“You have no idea what I had to do to get home.
After court Mary’s daughter drove us home. I asked them to drop me a block away from the nursing home because I wanted to walk. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be free.
Mary didn’t like the idea and said she would call me later in the day and help pack so that after the house was cleaned, I could leave.”
“You headed home right away, right?” I laughed.
“Yes, as soon as they drove away, I found a cab and gave him my home address.”
“Did you already have your house keys back?”
“Nope, I broke a window. That attracted my neighbor John. Long story short, he took me to the bank and I got into my safe deposit box by telling them I was robbed and had been in the hospital.
“What was in the box?”
“Money, an extra set of car keys, you know, in case of emergency.”
I marveled at his planning.
“You know that nursing home just wanted another patient who would p
ay the full fare, just like Sue.”
Cautiously I asked, “Did you hear from them?”
“From who, Sue? Liam? Mr. and Mrs. Ulnar?” Eddy laughed gently. Then his laugh escalated.
A car horn sounded and two of the quartet were waving frantically out the car window. “Bye Fiona, thanks for your help,” they shouted out the window as they roared away.
“GMO GMO.”
“Am I the only Fiona here?”
“I would think you are,” he smiled ending in a chuckle.
“What’s GTO, that old sports car the band was singing about?”
“Ha ha ha ha not GTO, but GMO, Get Me Out, a phrase we learned at Know Acres.”
Eddy excused himself to get more ice cream sprinkles but assured me, “Fiona these sprinkles are safe and sound, nothing in them but sugar and chocolate.”
I stayed for a dish of plain white ice cream. I got a lift home and checked on my office messages with the remote code.
Peep, “Fiona, did you lose another probate judge? Call me we should look at the file, I’m downtown next week.” I don’t think Lou keeps up with Cook County too much.
Peep, “Tim Venal here, if you call I know who got the R. Etapage estate.”
Peep, “Fiona, this is Steve, call me, I am considering opening my office and want to talk about a sharing arrangement if you’re interested.”
Peep, “This is Tessie, remember me, your favorite aunt? I want to know what or who is keeping you so busy that we don’t see each other.”
I answered my cell phone but heard some commotion out in the hall. Opening the door, I saw a familiar face.
Peep, “Fiona, I want to talk to you about a will,” David laughed gently as he closed his cell phone and the door to my apartment.
The end.
Wait, there’s more.
Una Tiers has a few other books available:
Dorothy Daisy http://amzn.to/1nRN91k
Fiona Gavelle has a new client who likes to meet in the yard. But when the client calls for help, Fiona drives all over trying to find her. After being accused of kidnapping her own client, she learns that a nun was involved.
Her client, Dorothy is eventually located. The bitter truth comes out at the cemetery. You need to read the story to find out what was in the house, and in the mashed potatoes.
Not Safe for the Bank(er) http://amzn.to/1bg2obk
Fiona Gavelle wanted to cash a check and ended up with a closed door humorcide with a cast of amusing, if well meaning characters. Does she represent a murderer?How did Carole get into the vault? Stop by and be amused by this fun read. Take a closer look at Father Gizzle, Mike the pizza guy, Mary Ann the pet store owner and more. Watch her as she tries to unravel what happened in the vault. The answer will make you worry.
Author Bio
Una Tiers (nom de plume) is an avid reader and attorney in the Chicago area. Her early reading enthusiasm exhausted her school library and she was introduced to the magnificence of the downtown Chicago Public Library. Years later, she had the honor to take writing classes with Harry Mark Petrakis, downing a bowl of cheddar chowder after class.
Over the years, creative writing took a backseat to drafting legal documents. After one particularly brutal day in court, Una wrote a story murdering the problem judge (on paper). Feeling better, she returned to work. Adding additional victims proved to be a stress reliever making Una smile. The story grew into Judge vs Nuts. This debut novel was released in 2012.
JUDGE vs NUTS is currently being revised and will be released in early 2015.
You can contact Una at [email protected]
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