Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“I can keep my mouth shut, Harry.”
Harry looked to Rus, so Hutch turned to Rus.
“I’ll start by sharing we got roadblocks. Not easy to get warrants on stuff we want to see, bank accounts, utility bills, IRS filings, without giving some reason to have them.”
This wasn’t starting out great.
“So we went back to the beginning,” Rus said. “Lars Enstrom was born Amish. Pennsylvania. Rumspringa came around for him, and Cade did some research into this, and he shared it isn’t the wild free-for-all people think it is.”
Cade was Cade Bohannan, the retired FBI profiler Ray Andrews matched wits with several years ago, a game Cade didn’t want to play, but Ray ultimately lost.
Even so, everyone lost, particularly a couple of people, because Ray and his bud killed two girls during this bullshit.
One of them was eight years old.
“That said, Lars took it that way,” Rus continued. “Off the rails, off the hook and off the legal path.”
“Christ,” Hutch muttered.
“He was young, it wasn’t too serious, no priors, got off with a hand slap from the authorities. But that wasn’t what his community decided for him,” Rus said.
“He was shunned,” Hutch guessed.
Rus nodded.
“I thought Rumspringa was a no-questions-asked type of thing,” Hutch remarked.
“We’ve only got what Cade gave us. Though, Cade tends to be thorough.”
Hutch had no doubt.
“In this case, it’s that each community has their own rules,” Rus continued. “Some don’t even let the kids do it. But Cade thinks that what he got caught doing by the police was not what his fellow Rumspringa buds saw him doing. Whatever that was, it was reported. And whatever that was could not be countenanced by that community.”
“You’re thinking…bad,” Hutch said low.
“Cade thinks…yes,” Rus replied.
Shit.
Harry butted in. “After that, Enstrom bounced around, pretty much everywhere. Did odd jobs. Had brushes with the law. Can’t say entirely how he got hooked up being Mr. Flannery’s caretaker, but Mr. Flannery’s niece has a few ideas.”
“Those are?”
“Con artist is one. But she says her uncle had all his mental faculties until the day he died at eighty-three, and he might’ve gotten preliminarily hoodwinked, but he would’ve sniffed out a long con.”
“So?” Hutch prompted Harry.
“She thinks Enstrom scared the absolute crap out of her uncle.”
Hutch sat straighter in his chair.
“Threats,” Rus put in. “Intimidation. Even brainwashing. Lacey Diever said her uncle was one man before he met Enstrom, and he was another after he let Enstrom stay on the property, so he was around all the time. Lacey says it only took months for her uncle to fold in on himself, let go parts of his personality that she’d known all her lifetime, and eventually do everything Enstrom said, and finally, leave everything to Enstrom.”
“Sounds like a teething cult leader,” Hutch remarked.
“Exactly like it,” Rus said. “And Cade agrees.”
“Did this Lacey ever meet Enstrom?” Hutch asked. “Before the court dates, that is.”
Both Rus and Harry nodded, but it was Harry who answered.
“A couple of times, before her uncle kicked her off the property and told her never to come back. She said that was entirely out of character, and from it, she got the feeling he was doing it for her own safety.”
“She said Enstrom gave her the skeeves,” Rus added.
Hutch looked to Harry. “You said you’ve dealt directly with this guy?”
Harry lifted both hands, palms facing up, from his desk. “Soul of amiability. Friendly. Helpful. ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘No, sir.’ If there’s a wildfire it was, ‘We’ll be gettin’ right on that evacuatin’ if we gotta leave our land. You need any help spreadin’ the word?’ That kind of shit.”
“You ever see any of the women when you were there?” Hutch queried.
Harry nodded. “Almost like they were trotted out so I could witness they were well fed, clothed, warm, had shoes on their feet. But it was all just glimpses and they went about their business nowhere near me.”
“This Lacey got a case, or is it lost?” Hutch asked.
“It’s Flannery’s signature on the will, that’s been established,” Rus answered. “That said, the family’s worked with one law firm for as long as anyone can remember, and this will wasn’t written up by someone in that firm.”
“Who was it written by?”
“Someone whose driver’s license states his address is The Lion and The Lamb,” Harry said.
“Fuck,” Hutch muttered.
“He’s got a law degree, passed the bar, licensed to practice in Washington, but transcripts show every judge they’ve gone in front of thinks that’s sketchy. It smacks of conflict of interest. There’ve been a lot of continuances, but this is on Enstrom’s side. Lacey thinks he’s dragging it out so she and her cousins will run out of money and give up.”
“How long has this been going on?” Hutch asked.
“Since Flannery died,” Harry told him. “Six years.”
“Jesus,” Hutch said.
Harry nodded.
“She close to giving up?” Hutch inquired.
“That woman would wheel herself into a courtroom on her deathbed before she’d let go of that land without a court ordering her to do it,” Harry replied. “From what she says, the cousins feel the same.”