One Fearful Yellow Eye Read Online Free PDF

out of the car with a bag of groceries about two minutes after the woman had phoned the police about hearing the shots. When I told Mrs. Trumbill about that, she gave me a strange little smile and said perhaps if we kept on digging we'd probably find something sufficiently nasty in Gloria's background to account for where the money went. And, if not, it was obvious that she had talked the Doctor into putting his estate into cash and turning it over to her. How could we be sure, she asked, that Mrs. Geis hadn't already taken it out of the country?" He sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't let it bother me. Estate work gives you a chance to see people at their worst."
    "How much would Heidi have gotten?"
    "The way it was set up, and you must understand that there were insurance policies cashed which would have built the estate up to over seven hundred thousand. Once the estimated taxes and expenses were paid, Gloria would have gotten three hundred thousand, and his children a hundred and fifty thousand each. Three trust funds. Heidi's was the most restrictive. She was limited to the income only, say seventy-five hundred a year, and at the time of her death the principal amount was to be divided equally among her children, if any, and her brother's children. Roger was to be given the right to withdraw in any year up to ten per cent of the amount originally placed in trust for him. Gloria was to have the house and all physical property, and the right to withdraw all or any part of the monies in trust at any time. When he learned of this provision, Roger said it proved that his father was not of sound mind at the time the instruments were drawn up, because it did not make sense to give a woman untrained in the handling of money complete freedom of access to three hundred thousand dollars, while restricting the son, who was in the business of handling money, access to not more than fifteen thousand a year of the principal amount."
    "Great kids, those two."
    "Unfortunately I'd say they're about average."
    "If nobody ever finds out where the money went, what happens? Can Gloria lose that insurance Page 14

    money?"
    "No. There'll be no estate taxes at all. The governrnent can't merely assume she has the money, and procede against her on that basis. I imagine they'll keep careful track of her, and if she seems to be spending more than her income, they would ask awkward questions."
    "She thinks she's being watched now."
    "She might be. If it bothered her too much, I'd arrange to find out who is behind it. Oh, there was something else I discovered when I was asking Mrs. Geis about the possibility of blackmail.
    She said that there was a clumsy attempt to blackmail the Doctor over two years ago, nearly three years ago in fact."
    "On what basis?"
    He looked uncomfortable. "I think it would be more proper if Gloria told you about it."
    "Sure. I understand."
    "Mr. McGee, I think it would make sense if you would advise Mrs. Geis to close this house and let us put it on the market. I think we might be able to clear fifteen out of it, possibly a little more. I hate to see her run through what she has in her own checking account so quickly."
    "She said Fort's attorney, Mr. Waldren, advised her to stay put."
    "It was my impression he meant she should stay in the Chicago area. Well... I have other reports here, but they don't help us much. He died on October seventh. It wasn't until early November we began to realize most of the capital asset value had disappeared. By then the trail was cold.
    He'd wound it all up four months earlier, in July. If he was turning the money over to someone, we have no way of telling when or how or who."
    "Gloria said he seemed happy that last year-as happy as you could expect a man to be under those circumstances."
    "That's puzzling, Mr. McGee. He would have had to be under strain no matter what the reason behind it was."
    "Strain," I said. "I guess it's relative. I remember a story about him in Time magazine. I can't