It had to be You

remember who might have worked briefly for them after so many years had passed.
    Jack Summer was getting into the habit of dropping in at the police station to catch up with what Howard had found out.
    Howard told him about his Sunday morning venture to Beacon, and when he came to the bear story, Jack almost fell out of his chair laughing.
    When he finally recovered, he asked, “Did you find out anything about the Connor family while you were there?“
    “Not a thing. I was just helping out a friend. It was his case, not mine.”
    It came as something of a relief to be called to the nursing home to hear what Mrs. Connor had told Miss Twibell. It must have been something Miss Twibell didn’t want the snoopy telephone girls to know. This time he didn’t allow Jack to come along.
    “I felt sorry for that woman until she was gone,“ Miss Twibell said. “Now I’m not at all sure she was telling the truth about any of it.“
    “Tell me, to the best of your recall, what she said,“ Walker requested.
    Miss Twibell did so.
    “She turned the farm she inherited over to her husband because she was so happy to have had a baby?“ Walker said with astonishment. “The few women I’ve known who had a first baby wanted most for someone to take it away so they could get a little sleep.”
    Miss Twibell smiled. “That’s often the case. And sometimes they really resent their husbands for putting them through it.“
    “Is that the part you didn’t believe?“
    “Not especially. The whole of what she said was highly emotional, and I sort of fell for it. But when she had left, I was sorry I’d advised her to get a lawyer to fight the provision in the will. Something about what she’d said suddenly seemed phony. It wasn’t one thing. It was the whole story. From what I’ve heard about the family—and it’s all pure gossip—neither of the grandchildren liked either of their grandparents. And the feeling was mutual.“
    “But didn’t the younger boy, the one with the truck, visit his grandfather and leave samples of his wares?“
    “Yes, that’s true. But never when his grandmother might be around. And Mr. Connor didn’t seem to give a fig for the boy or his samples. He’d tell me to throw them away or give them to someone else when the boy left.“
    “Are you sure it was his will that you and Betty witnessed?“ Walker asked.
    “Not at all. The lawyer had covered up the document and said all we had to do was watch him sign whatever it was, saying we’d seen him sign it.“
    “So it could have been a deed or a power of attorney or some other kind of document?”
    “It could have been anything.“
    “Was he, in your view, competent to sign anything at that time?“
    “Yes, I believe so. He wasn’t all that ill when he first came here. The infection started deep in the knee only a month ago. And even then, he wasn’t failing mentally, just physically.“
    “But he was always mean?“
    “Mean, yes. But not stupid or incompetent—except socially. And he may have been mean and rude for many years before his injury, for all I know. I’d only seen him once before he came here, and that was when I was a child attending their wedding with my parents.“
    “Mrs. Connor didn’t consider this conversation she had with you confidential, did she?“
    “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she didn’t write it up and try to get her story in the Beacon newspaper.“
    “Then I’ll go speak with her,“ Walker said. “Chief Walker, this is probably a silly idea but...“
    “Nothing you could say would seem silly to me at this point.“
    “I’m wondering if the will might have been forged. Maybe it wasn’t a will Betty and I witnessed. Maybe our signatures were collected to be copied to something else?“
    “That’s an interesting idea. Except that a good attorney probably wouldn’t be fooled by it.“
    “What if the man who came here wasn’t really an attorney? He didn’t mention his name. And even if he had, all attorneys aren’t reputable, you know.”

    After getting directions from Chief Simpson, Howard drove to the Connor home, which was a big farmhouse, built for a big family. There was a huge kitchen with an enormous oak table, five chairs on each side and one at each end. Without a big family to feed, what did they need this for? Feeding workers, possibly. He couldn’t quite imagine Mrs. Connor cooking big meals for them; perhaps there was a full-time cook. Perhaps when the