Hard Row

“Was there a will?” Deborah asked.

Dwight frowned at her and she grinned unrepen-

tantly. “It’s going to be a matter of public record sooner

or later. So cui bono, Reid? Or weren’t you the one who

drew it up?”

“Oh, I did one. It was about a week after he initi-

ated divorce proceedings over here. Both the Harrises

decided to hire personal attorneys instead of using the

New Bern firm that handles their combined business

interests.”

“Does Flame inherit anything?”

“Goodbye, Deborah,” Dwight said, sounding out

every syllable of her name.

She laughed and turned to go. “See you for lunch?”

“Probably not.” He motioned for Reid to follow him

into his office.

“I really ought not to tell you anything till I put the

will in for probate,” the younger man said.

Dwight took his seat behind the desk and asked,

“Who’s his executor?”

“His daughter up in New York.” Reid pulled up a

chair and set his coffee on the edge of the desk. “She

was pretty upset when I called her yesterday, but she

called back this morning and she’s flying in this after-

noon.”

“Whether or not the divorce was final won’t affect

the terms of the will, will it?”

177

MARGARET MARON

“Actually, it probably will. From the documents he

gave me—and you might want to check with their com-

pany attorneys—their LLC was set for shared ownership

with rights of survival.”

“If one of them dies, the other gets full ownership?”

“That’s my understanding. I’m sure Mrs. Harris’s at-

torney will argue that the divorce doesn’t really matter

because there had been no formal division of property

yet so the terms of the LLC will still be in effect. On the

other hand, if the divorce was finalized before he died,

then the ED could go forward, with his estate taking

whatever he was awarded. It could be a pretty little legal

problem. Of course, he did own property and money in

his own name and his will should stand as to the dispo-

sition of that part of his estate.”

“How much are we talking?”

“His personal estate? Maybe three million, give or

take a few thousand.”

“So answer me Deb’rah’s question. Who inherits?”

“I can’t tell you that, Dwight.”