Page 81 of The Aura Answer
He watched Nick squeeze Gracie’s hand and figured something was in the air there. But at least this news should allow everyone to relax and enjoy the holidays.
“Block’s spirit is hanging around because he’s afraid Toby will give his inheritance away. He wants the money returned to the community, although I don’t know how that’s possible.” Evie proved she listened even though she was teasing the puppy with a nacho.
“I don’t know what money Toby could give away,” Jax said. “All I’m seeing is the interest the mortgages earn, and almost all that goes to pay Layman. I think anyone with one of these mortgages should probably be talking to a more stable source about refinancing. Gracie, you should qualify and might even end up paying less.”
She shook her head. “On a teacher’s salary? I didn’t qualify before. And banks want cash to refinance. I don’t have any.”
“If we collect a reward, you should share in it. You and Nick have done more than most of us.” Evie gave up on the nachosand turned to the stack of junk they’d been removing from Sammy’s ledgers. “Any of this making sense?”
The need for the reward was concrete and all the more personal with Gracie’s plight. The desire to save the town... Jax itched for justice. From everyone’s tense expressions, they all felt the same. Even Pris was thumbing through old newspapers Sammy collected for reasons known only to him.
Toby sat down to study his father’s black book, but he was a do-gooder who knew as much about finance as Evie. Jax left him to it and crouched down to work through the pile of trash.
“Mrs. S, you taught back when Rhodes and Bertie and Larraine went to school, didn’t you?” Evie asked, holding up an ancient photo. “Was Sammy in any of your classes? I know he was a little older than Bertie.”
Mrs. Satterwhite took the faded school photo. “I retired about that time. Bertie was several years behind his brother because he kept failing, but there was only a year or two difference in them. It was a mistake offering that scholarship. Teenagers can be cruel, and they were crueler those years than any time I can remember.”
“So why would Sammy keep this photo? I don’t see Bertie or Larraine in it. Do you recognize any of them?” Evie leaned over to sort through the various documents and photos in the stack.
Jax had no idea what she searched for. It all looked like useless memorabilia to him.
Evie’s elderly neighbor donned her spectacles and studied the photo under the bright work lights. “As I told you, there were only about a hundred students in the school and only twenty-five in that class. That’s Sammy in the back left corner. He was always larger than any of the others. Ralphie is the slender young man kneeling in center front.”
RalphRhodes, the angry judge, Jax assumed.
“Judging by the insignia on their shirts, I’d say this was the rifle team. Theodore sponsored it, and I believed he coached it, but I don’t see him in this photo.”
“Theodore? As in Theodore Turlock Sr., the lawyer?” Jax asked.
“Yes, he was never good at sports like football, but he was an excellent shot. I believe he thought he was aiding less athletic students, although I would have preferred he sponsor a debate team for the bright ones.” Mrs. S handed the photo to her son.
Turlock Sr., Block’s lawyer, was a trained shooter...
But if Larraine had been his target, he wouldn’t have missed.
Judge Satterwhite studied the photo. “Turlock attended a private school. That’s where he picked up the rifle team notion. Arthur Block’s parents were land rich, cash poor.” He gave a nod of acknowledgement to Block’s son, Toby, who shrugged at old news. “Arthur had to attend public school. Got a football scholarship. So he sponsored the football team.”
Jax hated indulging in gossip, but apparently gossip was the grease that kept the town functioning. “What about Rhodes’ family?”
Mrs. S waved her frail hand. “They were very competitive. I remember once when I gave Ralphie a failing grade on an essay, his father stormed in and told me I was senile and threatened to have the school board take my job if I didn’t raise his son’s grade.”
Jax realized the room had silenced. Parental antics were old hat in his formerly privileged world, but he tuned in anyway.
Getting into her story, Mrs. S smiled in satisfaction. “I pointed out that the essay was about heroes of the Civil War, and Ralphie’s essay only included Confederate generals. In class, I had them study both sides, and not merely soldiers, but the abolitionists, statesmen, and women like Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman. Then I told him, it was as if someone whohadn’t been in my classroom in nearly thirty years had written that essay, and that’s why his son failed. That shut him up. I had Ralphie’s father in one of my classes, you see, and I recognized almost the exact same essay he’d turned in.”
“Did Judge Rhodes’ father get an A for his efforts the first time around?” Evie asked with interest.
“That was half a century ago, dear, so yes, he received an A for his grammar and spelling and the accuracy of his research. But by the time Ralphie went to school, the Civil Rights movement had changed our curriculum completely. We do occasionally move with the times, even if belatedly.”
“So Judge Rhodes plagiarized his essay, and Larraine claims he cheated by copying her exam. That’s a pattern, but not evidence of anything except ethical issues that ought to disqualify him as a judge if they’d happened at university. Not sure high school counts. Hardly blackmail material.” Jax didn’t like the notion of an ethically-challenged judge, but there was no reason Rhodes couldn’t have learned his lesson. He neededevidenceto present to the sheriff.
Nick held up one of the ledger books. “I will admit that I have not led a life of purest intention, so I make no judgment. But I’m familiar with the very many ways cash can be laundered, and there is an interesting pattern in Sammy’s account books related to your Judge Rhodes.”
Nick hadno problem with all the attention abruptly focusing on him. Hedidhave a problem with raising hopes. But if the old lady’s tales held their interest, maybe his discovery could be useful in some way.
“Old fashioned cash and pencil,” Roark said mournfully, picking up one of the ledgers. “Where did all the modern computer crooks go?”
Reuben punched his arm and gestured for Nick to continue.
