“P” Is For the Peeping Pat
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 13  

Millionaire Travis

Pat dropped Tommy and Shane at the house on the lake at six o’clock in the morning, since the regional commander was coming to perform an inspection of the deputies under Sheriff Patrick’s control. That meant Pat was going to busy with his superiors while they were there.

When we went to town so Reverend Skelley, Mr. Hughes and Travis could meet with Mr. Ritchie,  Mr. Ritchie was well prepared and very thorough. He had collected a lot of information on the so-called Dr. Farr.  First, Farr never graduated from college.  It turns out he had been married three times previously, with no records of any divorces.  Therefore, he was never legally married to Travis’ mother.  His real name was Dexter English

Reverend Skelley asked, “What do we need to do to find out how much money the man usurped from Travis?  We know for a fact that Travis’ mother received a large sum of money after her husband’s death.  She also had money of her own that she had received from the sale of several textbooks that she had written.”

Mr. Ritchie suggested, “Let’s go to Travis’ house and see what records we can find, that might give us a clue as to how much money the man was able to get his hands on.”

When we arrived at the Hughes residence, it was pretty well ransacked. I shook my head, “I thought the Farr person was in jail.”

Mr. Christie answered, “He’s out, on bail.  He obviously knew that there was money or something of value that he hasn’t gotten his hands on.  The first thing we need to do is change the locks, so he can’t get in here, in case he still hasn’t found what he‘s looking for.  Travis, do we have your permission to search the house to see if we can find anything?”

“Be my guest.  What are we looking for?”

Seth went to the phone, “I’ll get a locksmith to change the locks, today.

Martin thought for a short time, “Travis, I’m guessing it will have something to do with a children’s book since that was your mother’s area of expertise.  You’ll probably be the first of us to recognize a clue, since you’re a little younger than the rest of us.”

Mr. Ritchie asked, “Did you have a wall safe in the house?”

“Not that I know of.  The parents were afraid that a wall safe would be too easy to get into, if someone was desperate.  They did have a safe deposit box at the big bank downtown.”

“Do you know where the key to the safe deposit box is?”

Travis had to think, “It’s been a long time since they told me about it.  It seems that Mother had a key for it on a charm bracelet so that it wouldn’t call people’s attention to it.  I’m not sure where she kept her jewelry.”

Martin spoke up, “I know for a fact that she received many family heirlooms which were very valuable when my mother died.  Knowing Kathie like I did, they would rarely be worn and the collection would be well insured.”

Mr. Ritchie gritted his teeth, “If a thief were to find the insurance policy, it would serve as a red flag saying that there was probably valuable jewelry on the premises.”

At lunch time, I went to a deli that was close by and got us some sandwiches and drinks.  When I returned, Travis handed me a charm bracelet, We found the charm bracelet, but most of her jewelry was gone.  We found this funny note that said, Make sure you invite Eeyore.

Later, Travis and Martin were going through the desk when they found a note that read Don’t Forget to Invite Tigger.

Travis was holding the two notes, “These two notes must mean something about Winnie the Pooh.  I have stuffed animals of the characters from Winnie the Pooh.  You don’t suppose Mother stuffed things inside them, do you?”

Mr. Richie asked, “Travis, do you know where the stuffed animals might be?”

“I’m sure that they're in my closet with my other stuffed animals and beanie baby collection.”

When we found the collection of stuffed animals, Tigger and Eeyore had been shredded as well as some of the other animals.  Mr. Christie conjectured, “I’m guessing that whoever did this didn’t find what he or she was looking for, since some of other animals have been torn apart, too.”

Martin asked, “Travis, do you have anything else that has to do with Winnie the Pooh?”

“The only other thing that I have is an old book.  I’m not even sure where it is.  It was pretty well beat up, because I made parents read it to me every night when I was little.  Let’s check the bookcase and see if we can find it.”

Travis started at the bottom and I started at the top.  We were both working on the middle shelf when we came upon a well worn book.  Travis pulled it out and frowned, “This feels funny for a book.  I remember this book being heavy, but I was littler, then.”

Travis sat down on the bed and opened the book and indeed it was different.  The center of the pages had been cut out and the pages had been glued together to make a container.  Inside was a bag of gems and a note.  “I have every reason to believe that the alias Professor Farr is poisoning me, in an attempt to get my jewelry and money.  I’m worried about what will happen to Travis if something happens to me.  I wish we had maintained a better relationship with Martin and Seth, so Travis would have someone to take care of him in the event I die.  I don’t trust Farr around Travis.”

Travis yelled, “If Mother realized that Farr was trying to kill her and didn’t trust him around me, why did she stay married to him?  There has to be a reason.”

Seth asked, “”Travis, have you ever to been to the bank to see the safe deposit box.?”

“My parents took me to the bank one time when they had my name put on the card, authorizing me entry to the box.  They showed me how to open the box, but all I saw was some envelopes.”

Mr. Ritchie had a concerned look on his face, “We need to notify the police about this information.  We’re talking possible murder, here.”

I took the phone, “I’ll call the chief of police, Chief Conklin, since his son has been practically living at my house.”

I finally got through to Chief Conklin, “Chief.  It’s Steve Sloane.”

“Hi Steve.  I just called your house.  We have some news about the supposed Professor Farr.  His name is really Dexter English.  He is no more a doctor than I am.  He is wanted for murder in Kentucky.”

“Chief, that’s why I called you.  Travis’ mother thought Mr. English was trying to kill her.  She left a message to that effect.  The house has been trashed by people looking for something.”

“The alias Mr. Farr has been released from incarceration, since the incident with my son.  He must have an accomplice working with him, or perhaps it is a coincidence that someone would vandalize an empty house.  I hope you haven’t disturbed things too much.”

“Chief Conklin, there have been five of us going through the house.  We never suspected that there might have been a murder here.  We have Travis and his two uncles, Mr. Ritchie, an insurance investigator, and me.”

“I’ll send our lab people to the house right now, and they can get your prints so we don’t waste time checking them out.  Please don’t touch anything else until they arrive.”

“Chief, we’ve found the key to a lock deposit box at the First National Bank.”

“I’ll come with the lab people.  I’ll go with you to the bank, since I’m personally involved with the case because of what Farr was going to do to Teddy.”

It was a very short time before there were police officers at the house.  The first thing they did was to take the fingerprints of all of us, who were already there.  Chief Conklin commented, “We’ll run your prints through the files, to make sure that you are who you say you are.”

Travis asked, “Won’t that be like saying we’re criminals?”

Chief Conklin shook his head, no, “Someday, everyone’s fingerprints will be on file, to safeguard people’s identity and also help law enforcement officials identity the guilty people who committed the crimes.  I’d like to see what you have that says Mrs. Farr thinks the alias Mr. Farr was trying to kill her.  I’ve already requested that her body be exhumed and a complete autopsy be performed.”

Seth asked, “Why wasn’t an autopsy performed previously?”

Chief Conklin frowned, “Mrs. Farr had been diagnosed with incurable cancer, so everyone assumed that was what caused her death.”

Tears started to flow down Travis’ cheek, “I never thought that anything bad was happening to cause Mother to die.  She tried to pretend that there was nothing wrong with her when she found out that she had cancer.  Why would Mr. Farr or whoever try to make her die faster?”

Marty answered, “He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the money.  Your Mother was smart and apparently never signed over the accounts to him, and he probably figured that having her die would ensure that he got his hands on the money and be in control of you.”

Travis jumped up and we heard him heaving in the bathroom.  Reverend Martin looked around, “I think it would be best for us to get Travis out of this house, right now.  Let’s go to the bank and see how smart my sister was, if she realized what the man was doing to her.”

Seth nodded, “I’ll stay here and wait for the locksmith while the rest of you go to the bank.  Chief Conklin, we figured if Mr. Farr or an associate had been ransacking the house, we would make it more difficult for them, by having the locks on the doors changed.”

“That’s probably a smart thing to do under any circumstance, since we don’t know who the actual culprit or culprits might be.  I’ll advise the people in the precinct that the locks have been changed.  Once we finish today, there should be no reason for us to need to get into the house again.  I know how to contact you, if we do.”

It was just Pastor Skelley, Mr. Ritchie, Travis and I who were going to the bank.  Mr. Ritchie announced, “I’ll drive my own car.  I’ll sign the check from the insurance company over to Travis, at the bank, so he can deposit it into an account.  Since it’s such a sizeable sum, he might want to have his Uncle Martin sign the account as a cosigner.”

Marty shook his head, no, “Shouldn’t his temporary guardian, Mr. Sloane, be on the account, instead of me?”

I was confused by Pastor Skelley’s comment, “Now that you are here, I don’t think I would be made Travis’ guardian.  Besides, I‘m going to be responsible for Tommy‘s and my nephews' money after tomorrow.  I won‘t have time to worry about what little money my sons and I have.”

Mr. Ritchie laughed, “Mrs. Hood has been checking on Mr. Skelley and Mr. Hughes, this morning.  She was having trouble getting in touch with people because of the time difference.  I’ll call her and ask her to meet us at the bank, if she can.”

Mr. Ritchie had obviously called ahead and warned the bank that we would be arriving.  We were greeted at the door by a Mr. Dorsey, who, we were to find out, was the executive vice president.  “Good afternoon, Gentlemen,  I’m Irvin Dorsey.  How I help you?”

Mr. Ritchie introduced the rest of us and started, “We have several things that we are going to need your help with.  Travis, do you have a bank account with this bank?”

“Yes, Mr. Ritchie, I do.  I have a savings account.  I have a card with the account number on it.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a statement of what‘s in the account.  Now that I have a job, I should be putting money into it, so I will be able to afford to go to college.”  Travis handed the card to Mr. Dorsey.

Mr. Ritchie laughed, “Travis, I think you’ll have more than enough money to go to college.  There’s Mrs. Hood, now.   Yoo hoo, Norma, we’re over here.”

Mrs. Hood joined us and she obviously knew Mr. Dorsey.  Mr. Ritchie directed the conversation, “Now that Mrs. Hood is here, I can take care of my business, and then let you get on with the business that Travis needs to take care of.  Travis, this is a check for $100,000.00 from the insurance policy that was on your mother’s life.  I’m sure that Mr. English knew about the policy, and thought he would get it when and if anything happened to your mother.  I suggest that you get together with Mr. Dorsey, and make a financial plan so that you have money for you to use, to go to college.”

“Mrs. Hood, do you have any recommendations on who should be Travis’ guardian, since he is still a juvenile?”

“I have finished making all my security checks, and I think that the logical guardians would be Reverend Martin Skelley and or Seth Hughes, since they are the only known relatives that we could find, for Travis.”

Marty spoke up, “Seth, stayed at the house to take care of some business; can we add him at a later date?”

Mr. Dorsey nodded, “Certainly, we’ll be glad to add Mr. Hughes at any time, as long as Travis is with him.  Travis, I‘m concerned that you said you hadn’t received any statements of your savings account.  They are sent out every three months.  We show, however, that someone has tried to access the funds, on several occasions.”

Travis shook his head, “It wasn’t me.  Mr. Farr always had enough money to pay for my needs.”

I was watching the time, “Mr. Dorsey, Travis’ parents had a safe deposit box.  Travis said they had him sign the access authorization.  May we see what’s in the box, since there are some things that are missing at the house?”

Mr. Dorsey took us to a lady at a desk, “Marge, these people would like to have access to a safe deposit box.  Can you help us?”

“Sure can, sir.  What is the number of the box?”

Travis handed the lady the key, “The only number that I see is 1374.  Is that the box number?”

The Marge person nodded her head, “That’s odd.  We had a man in here about three weeks ago, demanding access to that box.  He didn’t have a key, but he kept telling us that he was married to the owner of the contents, but she had since died  He got so belligerent that the security guard had to escort him out.  Young man, what is your name?”

“Travis Hughes.”

The lady looked at the card, “Travis, would you please sign this card?  I somehow don’t think the two signatures are going to match.  How old were you when signed the first time?”

“I think I was in the third grade, because I remember signing it in cursive.”

We finally got the box, and Mr. Dorsey stayed with us the entire time Travis was going through the contents.  The box not only contained some valuable antique jewelry, but there were bonds and stocks.  Mr. Dorsey, as well as everyone else, almost lost his teeth when the last thing that was on the bottom of box was twenty shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock.

Mr. Dorsey laughed, “Travis, I think that you will probably be able to go to the college of your choice on the value of these stocks, alone.”

Marty, like the rest of us, was wide eyed, “We need to pick up Seth and begin to make some plans as to what should be done.”

Travis interrupted, “Mr. Sloane, I need to go to work.  I can’t be gone two nights in a row.  Hopefully, the guys will remember to bring my clothes.”

As we were walking to the car, Marty whispered, “Travis is probably a millionaire, and he’s worried about going to work.  How many young people would respond like that?

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I believe that Travis is a very responsible young man. His integrity is a lot higher than that of most adults. 

I am glad that his mom was smart enough to realize that the nasty man was not any good, and was trying to kill her, and get her money.

She made sure that Travis had a good chance of getting enough money to live comfortably and to have a good life.

I think it is interesting that safety deposit boxes require two keys, one from the person who rents the box and the second from the bank.  Without going through a whole lot of red tape, it would not be possible for anyone who didn't have the key to get access to the contents of that box.  The reasoning seems pretty sound, to me. Even if someone were to find a key to a box, they most likely wouldn't know the name of the person who lost it, and certainly couldn't sign for it.

I do wonder what happens to the contents of boxes which belong to someone who passes away and who's relatives don't have the key to it.

I really want to read the next chapter!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/07/11