Read Last Puzzle & Testament for Free Online

out at Philip Hurley. “You putting up or not?”
    “He’s not,” Arthur Kincaid said firmly. “Jeff, I can’t have you harassing the heirs. I’ll buy you one more drink, but then you’re on your own.” He signaled to the bartender, pointed to Beasley’s glass. “One more on my tab.”
    “Now see here,” Philip said. “That better not come out of the estate.” He jerked his thumb at his chest. “Because that money is coming to me.”
    “That’s right.” Ethel Hurley’s piercing whine cut through the squabble. “What about the inheritance? How much is it?”
    “ Honey, ” Philip Hurley snapped. “You can’t ask that. It’s an improper question. It’s vulgar .” He rolled K1D; his eyes and shook his head, inviting the lawyer to share in his contempt for his moron of a wife. “ You’re not the heir, I am.” He narrowed his eyes. “So, how much is it?”
    “Mr. Hurley—”
    “I heard fifteen million. Is that right?”
    “Where did you hear that?”
    “What’s the difference? The point is, is it true?”
    “It’s a large fortune. Fifteen million is an approximation. But probably not an unfair one.”
    Philip Hurley smiled like he’d just sold four hundred acres of Florida swampland. “And that money is mine,” he declared. “I’m entitled to it. I don’t care what that old biddy says in the will, the money belongs to me.”
    Arthur Kincaid raised his eyebrows. “You plan to contest the will?”
    “Of course not,” Philip Hurley said. “I plan to inherit under it. I’m just saying, if I don’t, be ready for trouble.”
    “I’m not looking for any trouble,” Arthur Kincaid said.
    “Oh?” Ethel Hurley exclaimed. “Are you trying to tell us something? That sounds like you’re trying to tell us something.”
    “There’s nothing to tell,” Arthur Kincaid replied with dignity. “As I said on the phone, my instructions are to read the will after I’ve assembled the heirs. And not before. So you see, there’s nothing I can tell you.”
    “Yes, there is,” Philip said. “Who are the heirs?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Who have you been instructed to assemble?” Philip said. “Just who did Emma want present at the reading of this will?”
    “All of her relatives.”
    “ All of her relatives?”
    “That’s right.”
    Philip Hurley frowned. “Surely not Jason.”
    Arthur Kincaid said nothing.
    Philip Hurley set his bulldog jaw. “Are you telling me my brother’s included?”
    “No one is excluded, Mr. Hurley,” Arthur Kincaid answered.
    “But that’s absurd. Surely Emma wouldn’t think of leaving anything to him.”
    “She must if she asked for him,” Ethel interjected. “Isn’t that right? If a person is summone Kon 1em"d, it’s to share in the money?”
    “Shut up, Ethel. Don’t talk stupid.” Philip Hurley wheeled on the lawyer. “Is that how it works, Mr. Kincaid? If he’s invited, he inherits?”
    “Not necessarily. A person could be mentioned in the will for the specific purpose of disinheriting that person.”
    “That’s more like it.” Philip nodded. “That’s what old Emma would do. Get Jason here just to disinherit him. Tell me, Mr. Kincaid, did you specifically invite Jason?”
    “I left messages at his last known address. Whether he got them, I couldn’t say.”
    “And what was his last known address?”
    “Denver, Colorado.”
    “Ah.” Philip Hurley’s look was knowing and eloquent, dismissing anyone who chose to live in the Rockies as having far too frivolous a nature to be taken seriously.
    Cora Felton, at the bar, lit a cigarette, and watched with interest. No one had thought to introduce her, and she was glad, preferring to sit back and watch the scene unfold. Arthur Kincaid hadn’t introduced Becky Baldwin either, and Cora was pleased to note the young woman was looking somewhat put out. Becky kept hovering near the lawyer’s shoulder, looking to edge her way in.
    Cora smiled, took a drag on her cigarette.
    “The