Truth and Justice - Fern Michaels Page 0,66

nothing, which just about convinces me that he used an alias. Again, I cannot tell you why. The sister might know. Or maybe it was his own private secret. I don’t have the answer, but I think my people may have found it. They should be here in about ten minutes,” Avery said, looking down at his watch. He held his cup up for Annie to refill.

“Anyone care to speculate?” Kathryn asked.

“I wouldn’t know where to start. This whole case has been a mindblower from the get-go,” Maggie growled.

“The sister is the key. I know it. I feel it,” Annie said. “We just have to find her and take back all the money she claimed fraudulently and give it to Bella.”

Alexis slapped at her forehead in exasperation. “Here we go again! It’s not fraud if the major left his estate to Sara Windsor and also gave her his power of attorney. His parents died first. As I understand it, their estate, aside from a $5,000 bequest to Sara, all went to the major. That’s all legal. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. The major died after the parents passed away, so his inheritance from his parents goes into his estate, which then goes to Sara because of his will and the POA. Unless the major made a new will or appointed someone else to hold a new POA. We all need to accept that all of that is legal even though we don’t like it. This all rests on the major’s shoulders for doing things the way he did. Of course, probably back then, he wasn’t planning on getting married. And for sure he wasn’t planning on dying. What that means is we have nothing. There is no case here.”

“Then why impersonate Bella and steal her eggs?” Maggie mumbled. She hated it when something didn’t make sense, and this did not even pass the sniff test of rationality as far as she was concerned. “The sister has money literally coming out her ears, so she doesn’t need the money she could make by selling the eggs.

“Damn, I hate when I can’t figure something out. And for sure, I want to know where the major’s sperm is. I think that’s paramount right now. I wonder if the sister knows where he stashed it. I think he shared that with her for some reason.”

Nikki reared up, both arms shooting high in the air. “Hold on! Hold on!” she shrieked. “We’re smarter than this! We’re going about this all wrong! We’re thinking about this all wrong, too! We need to stop right now, fall back, and regroup. Now, all of you, think about what I just said. Sister! Sara is not the major’s blood sister. She’s not any kind of relative of his. She’s not even his stepsister. She’s just a person like a neighbor. You following me here?” Nikki’s excitement was at an all-time high as she paced and waved her arms about. “C’mon, girls, get with it here!”

“Are we talking unrequited love here?” Annie asked, excitement edging into her voice. “On the sister’s part, not the major’s. Can we start calling him Andy? I think that would be easier.”

“I think so,” Myra said, her eyes sparking with excitement. “Yes on calling him Andy. She, Sara, was infatuated or in love with Andy. He did not share her feelings, would be my guess. She’s devastated and does everything possible to be around wherever he is. In order to do that, she needs lots of money, so she goes after men, marries them, lives with them, cleans out their bank accounts. All so she can be at Andy’s beck and call.”

“Meaning she’ll take him any way she can as long as she can be near him. From what we’ve been able to figure out, the two of them were close and had a bond, different for each of them though it was, and that was good enough for Sara. I guess,” Maggie said.

“The major had no clue. He didn’t see her that way,” Isabelle said. “Yes, yes, now it’s starting to make sense. Over the years, Sara probably put the kibosh on any relationships he might have had. She’d find something wrong with them; they weren’t good enough, trouble, baggage, that kind of thing. Andy was like a babe in the woods, would be my opinion. He’d go with his sis’s worldly opinions and probably thanked her in the bargain for saving him from making a mistake. Until he met