The Heir Hunter Read Online Free PDF

to—” He stopped as the conference room door suddenly swung open. His chief investigator, Richard Borg, craned his neck around the door.
    “Pardon the interruption, folks. I need to speak with you, Lawrence. It’s urgent.”
    Castleton gave a tight, irritated smile. “Be out shortly, Richard.”
    “Lawrence, you need to come see this now.”
    Castleton glared at his friend. He hated being interrupted midway through a presentation, especially when a three-hundred-thousand-dollar estate was the topic. He rose to his feet and excused himself, meeting Borg in the hallway outside.
    “Hope it’s good, Richard.”
    “It’s better than good. Follow me . . .”
    Castleton stepped quickly to keep up with his second-in-command as he led him down the first-floor hallway of the Sachmann Building, a three-story company-owned structure now perfectly adapted for the business of people-finding. The first floor, consisting of the lobby and twelve suites, was accessible to the public. Clients were entertained and courted in the centralized conference room. The second floor held eight additional offices and a company gym, which included weights, treadmills, and a spa. The third floor was a genealogical library and research center containing over four thousand genealogical texts and manuals and a dozen workstations with hundreds of databases at the ready. Mormon heaven, as Castleton called it.
    They entered the president’s suite at the end of the hall, and Borg quickly shut the door behind them. Borg, the genealogist instrumental in the solving of the million-dollarLuchetti case in 1989, reached for a small collection of papers on the desk and extended them to Castleton.
    “Read, Lawrence.”
    Castleton didn’t need to read every word, the Inventory and Appraisement section being the only part he was interested in. He quickly flipped through the pages until he spotted it. His forehead instantly furrowed.
    “Well, holy . . . shit . . .”
    “Just came through the fax.”
    The president of General Inquiry continued to read as his hand cradled the faxed sheets like a newborn. “Columbia County?” asked Castleton, giving a quick incredulous laugh. “This is a joke, right? We never get anything out of that godforsaken little burg.”
    “No joke,” said Borg. “We’ve got our people moving on it right now. We’ll have the obit and death certificate shortly.”
    “What’s the name of our contact out there?”
    “Lloyd Koenig.”
    “How much did he take us for?”
    “I told him we’d give him a contingent thirty grand
after
we solved it. Based on a fee of thirty percent of the estate, that’s about one half of one percent of the gross.”
    “Good job. Who can we send to New York?”
    “I’ve already spoken to Risso and Lake.”
    “Excellent.” He slammed his fist into his hand. “I want fifty-state searches for marriage, divorce, census, immigr—”
    “Lawrence, before all that, we do have one little problem. Koenig sold it to another firm.”
    Castleton rubbed his chin, hardly surprised. He had been in the business too long to let news of the competition catch him off guard. “So who’re we up against? Hogue and McClain? Vanguard?”
    Borg shook his head. “Alex Moreno.”
    “Who?”
    “She’s with Merchant and Associates. Remember that San Francisco firm?”
    “Them?
What the hell are they doing all the way out in New York?”
    “Moreno lives there, remember? She runs a route through the local counties.”
    “So what other companies?”
    “Koenig swears they’re the only ones. I think he’s on the level.”
    Castleton grunted. He leaned against the edge of his desk and crossed his arms on his barrel chest. “This Koenig character’s a real fucking genius, isn’t he? I would’ve paid him a hundred grand free and clear if he had just had the common sense to deal with us exclusively.” He waved his hand in the air. “What’s done is done. I don’t see a problem going against a rinky-dink