Page 112 of Deception

He checked his watch. “That’s a lot to cram into two hours. Why do you have to be there at noon?”

The look she gave him indicated the reason should be obvious. “This is the only visitation and there will be a lot of people coming to pay their respects. Nadine isn’t coming until one, so that leaves me to be there early to greet them.”

Clayton shook his head. “Can I at least help by chauffeuring you to the hospital and back?”

She hesitated, then gave him a warm smile. “That would be nice.”

A few minutes later he pulled into the judge’s driveway. As they walked to the front door, Clayton asked, “What will you do with the house?”

“Nothing for a while. Grandfather left Nadine the apartment as a lifetime dowry. I can’t very well sell the house with that kind of string attached.”

Again, he wasn’t sorry. The house would keep her tied to Natchez.

“There is a problem, though. The attorney has an unsigned copy of the will, and he has to have the signed one. I don’t have a clue where it is.”

Clayton considered where the will might be. “If Hugh had found it in his study, he would’ve given it to you. Do you know if the judge had a safe?”

“I’ve never seen one if he did.” She unlocked the door, and they entered the hallway. “I hate that I’m wondering if that’s what Dad was looking for instead of the Hargrove file.”

“Why would he want it?”

“He may have thought the will was written before Mom’s death and that he would receive her part of Grandfather’s estate. He would have if Grandfather hadn’t updated his will a month ago.” She massaged her temples. “Sometimes I wish my job didn’t make me think the worst in people. Since reading the will, I’ve even wondered if Buddy and Joe hired someone to find and destroy it. Grandfather left them a generous bequest, but if there’s no will, they’ll receive a third of the estate, which is considerably more.”

“I don’t think whoever was here found what they were looking for,” he said.

“Why do you say that?”

“All the files had been emptied from the cabinet. I doubt that the very last file in the drawer would’ve been what they were looking for, so it stands to reason, if they’d found their prize, they would’ve stopped searching, and there would have been files left in the drawers.”

She turned to face him, and a smile tugged at her lips. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a convoluted way of looking at things?”

“A few times.” He thought a minute. “Did the judge have a safe-deposit box?”

She tapped her forehead with her open palm. “I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, he has one, and a few years ago he added me to the account.”

“Then that’s probably where the will is. Do you have a key and know which bank?”

“First Natchez was the bank, and I’m sure he gave me a key, but it was right after what happened in Texas. I don’t remember a lot from that time, and I certainly don’t remember what I did with the safe-deposit key.”

“Your grandfather would’ve had one, and it’s probably in the house. You want to look for it now?”

“I’ve seen a silver box on his dresser with all kinds of keys. Maybe it’s there.” She was already walking to her grandfather’s bedroom. “I’ll call Dani and tell her we’ll be a few minutes late,” she said over her shoulder.

“I’ll call her—you go look for the key.”

When he made the call, Dani told him she was going down to radiology for a CT scan in the next hour. If nothing showed up, she’d be discharged midafternoon, and she suggested they come then so they could pick her up from the hospital.

After Clayton hung up, he joined Madison in the judge’s bedroom. “Find the key?”

“No, and if we’re going to the hospital, I’ll have to wait until after the funeral to look for it,” she said.

“Oh, Dani said not to come this morning, that the doctor is discharging her this afternoon.”

“Good! That’ll give me more time to look for the key.” Then she scanned the bedroom and frowned. “Oh dear. I should have stripped the bed yesterday.”

“Maybe Bri could do it?”

“I hate to ask her...”

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