Page 172 of Buried Too Deep

“I don’t remember that,” Cora whispered.

“You were there and gone again with Tandy, off to do some mischief. I remember saying to Patrick that he must have gotten his inheritance settled and he said that he had.”

Cora clenched her eyes closed for a few seconds. They were full of confusion when she opened them again. Confusion and hope. The hope was back again.

“Then the inheritance is real,” she said to the table at large. “Burke, did you hear that?”

“I did, Cora,” Burke confirmed. “But Antoine wasn’t able to find any legal relatives of Patrick. He tried all night. Patrick’s father was an only child and his mother had one brother. There’s no mention of an aunt anywhere. Antoine went back a generation and there was no great-aunt, either.”

“It could have been a family friend he called aunt,” Cora said, her desperation clear. “Why would he mention it to Harry if there was no inheritance?”

“Maybe,” Phin murmured, hating to hurt her even more, “to give his story credence should anyone ever ask.”

“But if Harry had taken him on,” Cora argued, “Patrick would have had to show him the will and he would have known he was a liar.”

Harry shook his head sadly, as if he didn’t want to hurt Cora, either. “It was a well-known fact around town that I wasn’t taking new clients. My partner had just retired abruptly due to a health issue, and I was drowning in work. My receptionist told Patrick that I wasn’t taking new clients. He insisted on speaking to me anyway. I gave him referrals to other attorneys.”

“Maybe he went to one of them,” Cora insisted. Then her eyes filled. “I’m grasping at straws, aren’t I?”

“I think so,” Phin said as gently as he could. “But maybe Harry can ask around. Find out if Patrick did end up talking to any of those other attorneys. Harry?”

“I will,” Harry promised. “I promise.”

“When did he contact you, Harry?” Stone asked.

“It was sometime after Mardi Gras, I remember that. I had to work the whole week and missed all the parades. I’d promised Priscilla that I’d take her and I was irritated that I’d broken that promise. I told my assistant to turn away all new clients. Patrick called a few months after that.”

“So maybe five months after Jack disappeared,” Burke clarified.

“Yes. But it took another two years for Patrick to move here,” Harry said. “Why?”

Cora covered her mouth with her hand, a little whimper escaping her. Phin wrapped his arm around her. “What?” he asked urgently.

“Jillian, Tandy’s mom. She told me once that Patrick had had his heart set on St. Charles School for Girls for Tandy and that they’d been on a waiting list for two and a half years before they moved to New Orleans. Two and a half years. I don’t want this to be true, dammit.”

Hurting for her, Phin rested his cheek against her head, holding her closer. “I’m sorry.”

She turned into his embrace, burying her face against his chest. That she’d had a moment of hope made the truth so much harder to accept.

He understood that, too.

Phin wrapped both arms around her and let her grieve that loss of hope. Delores had tears in her eyes. Stone, Val, and Molly wore matching looks of pity.

Phin felt helpless.

Harry sighed. “I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to help.”

“You’ve helped us a lot,” Phin said. “Thank you.”

Harry stood and rounded the table, going down on one knee next to Cora. “Do you need me to stay? I will if you need me.”

Cora pulled out of Phin’s embrace, shaking her head. “It’s okay. You can go. I’ll call you in a little bit. Thank you, Harry.”

Harry rubbed her back, meeting Phin’s eyes. “Call me if she needs me, okay?”

Phin nodded. “I will. I promise.”

Molly rose. “I’ll walk you out.” She did so, then went to the bottom of the stairs. “You can come down now, Antoine,” she called up. “He’s been texting me,” she explained when they all stared at her. “I wanted him to wait until Harry was gone.”

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