MURDER TO GO (Food Truck Mysteries Book 1) by Chloe Kendrick Page B
Authors: Chloe Kendrick
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but she agreed that she wanted to see her sister’s wishes carried out. She gave me some more soup, and I finished my novel.
Chapter 5
The next morning, I felt better. I’d already talked to Land and told him that I wouldn’t be in for the morning shift, but I would try to be there for lunch. I didn’t tell him that I might not be in for lunch, if it meant working for him. There were limits to my altruism, and working for Land Mendoza went way beyond what I would do for Alice.
I called Alice’s lawyer. I’d met him once at the reading of the will, but I’d saved his business card and called him for an appointment that morning. There was no way that I could possibly ask him about a new will over the phone.
Fortunately, he was available first thing, and I managed to get a shower without bothering the lump on the back of my head. It had stopped throbbing and didn’t bother me unless I rested my head on something. It didn’t happen often, but each time was enough to make me swear that I wouldn’t do it again.
He met me at the door to his office. He was a wizened little man who had a slight hunch to his posture. Mr. Huff was far beyond his prime, and I wondered if he’d known Alice growing up, since she remained a client even though he had semi-retired by the time he read the will to the family.
“What can I do for you?” the little lawyer asked as he made his way to his desk chair. He sat down with a squeak, and I blamed it on the chair out of courtesy.
I stammered for a few seconds, not sure how to begin. Finally, I just took the paper out of my pocket and handed it to him.
He read the paper through at least three times before he spoke. “This is quite a problem. This is why I always encouraged your aunt to tell me about the changes she made to her will.”
“Did she make many?” I blurted out, finally speaking.
“I wouldn’t say many, but regularly, yes. Some of the charities changed, and some of the people to whom she left bequests passed away, so she removed them from the will. You were always the primary beneficiary. However, this is a major alteration from the last will that I drew up for her, and this will cause some issues.” His face looked pained, as if he’d found a bug in his coffee. I couldn’t blame him.
“What’s the first step in this?” I asked, wondering how long I’d get to draw an income from the food truck.
He cleared his throat. “The first step will be to determine the authenticity of the will. It was handwritten and signed by two witnesses, which is fine, but without the testator to confirm the contents of the will, I will need to speak with the witnesses and perhaps go as far as to conduct a handwriting analysis. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it’s a possibility.”
“But it was found in her book,” I said, realizing after the words were out how silly that sounded. I flashed back to the scene in my own house where someone had broken in and apparently not taken anything. Perhaps something similar had happened at my parents’ home so that the will could be planted.
“Nevertheless, it will need to be checked out. It will be in your favor that you turned this in. You will materially lose money based on this new will, so you have little motive to forge it or turn it in to me. It speaks to your honesty that you brought it to me so quickly.” He gave me a smile that was the equivalent of a pat on the head. It was equal parts benevolence and patronizing.
“So what’s to be done with the truck until this is straightened out?” I asked. I wondered if Land would be my boss at lunch, in which case, I’d quit immediately and get some lunch. I had no desire to work for him.
“I would just maintain the status quo until I get back to you with an answer,” he said. “I don’t know how exactly this will play out, so we need to take a cautious approach.”
“Thank you,” I said, standing up.
“While you’re here, I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest
Chapter 5
The next morning, I felt better. I’d already talked to Land and told him that I wouldn’t be in for the morning shift, but I would try to be there for lunch. I didn’t tell him that I might not be in for lunch, if it meant working for him. There were limits to my altruism, and working for Land Mendoza went way beyond what I would do for Alice.
I called Alice’s lawyer. I’d met him once at the reading of the will, but I’d saved his business card and called him for an appointment that morning. There was no way that I could possibly ask him about a new will over the phone.
Fortunately, he was available first thing, and I managed to get a shower without bothering the lump on the back of my head. It had stopped throbbing and didn’t bother me unless I rested my head on something. It didn’t happen often, but each time was enough to make me swear that I wouldn’t do it again.
He met me at the door to his office. He was a wizened little man who had a slight hunch to his posture. Mr. Huff was far beyond his prime, and I wondered if he’d known Alice growing up, since she remained a client even though he had semi-retired by the time he read the will to the family.
“What can I do for you?” the little lawyer asked as he made his way to his desk chair. He sat down with a squeak, and I blamed it on the chair out of courtesy.
I stammered for a few seconds, not sure how to begin. Finally, I just took the paper out of my pocket and handed it to him.
He read the paper through at least three times before he spoke. “This is quite a problem. This is why I always encouraged your aunt to tell me about the changes she made to her will.”
“Did she make many?” I blurted out, finally speaking.
“I wouldn’t say many, but regularly, yes. Some of the charities changed, and some of the people to whom she left bequests passed away, so she removed them from the will. You were always the primary beneficiary. However, this is a major alteration from the last will that I drew up for her, and this will cause some issues.” His face looked pained, as if he’d found a bug in his coffee. I couldn’t blame him.
“What’s the first step in this?” I asked, wondering how long I’d get to draw an income from the food truck.
He cleared his throat. “The first step will be to determine the authenticity of the will. It was handwritten and signed by two witnesses, which is fine, but without the testator to confirm the contents of the will, I will need to speak with the witnesses and perhaps go as far as to conduct a handwriting analysis. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it’s a possibility.”
“But it was found in her book,” I said, realizing after the words were out how silly that sounded. I flashed back to the scene in my own house where someone had broken in and apparently not taken anything. Perhaps something similar had happened at my parents’ home so that the will could be planted.
“Nevertheless, it will need to be checked out. It will be in your favor that you turned this in. You will materially lose money based on this new will, so you have little motive to forge it or turn it in to me. It speaks to your honesty that you brought it to me so quickly.” He gave me a smile that was the equivalent of a pat on the head. It was equal parts benevolence and patronizing.
“So what’s to be done with the truck until this is straightened out?” I asked. I wondered if Land would be my boss at lunch, in which case, I’d quit immediately and get some lunch. I had no desire to work for him.
“I would just maintain the status quo until I get back to you with an answer,” he said. “I don’t know how exactly this will play out, so we need to take a cautious approach.”
“Thank you,” I said, standing up.
“While you’re here, I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest
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