Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(51)

“It was awful, awful about Julia. What a nightmare.” His voice was thin and reedy and only carried a foot or so before fading away. Decker actually had to hunch forward to hear him. He could see, with that voice, why the man was not a trial lawyer.

“Yes, it was tragic,” said White. “And we need to find out who did it. That’s why we’re here.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I know Barry took it hard.” He lifted his rimless specs to his forehead and gave them a knowing look. “He’s never gotten over Julia, you know. Still in love with her.”

“So the divorce was her idea?” said White.

“Oh, without a doubt. I’m not telling stories out of school, you understand. Common knowledge among our set.”

“So you socialized with them?” said Decker.

“Yes. It’s how you get clients. X refers you to Y and Y refers you to Z.”

“Do you know Tyler?”

“Fine young man. Amazing athlete. He adored his mother.”

“And his father?”

Trotter slid his glasses back into place. “Let’s just say that in that relationship Tyler is the father and Barry is the child. Again, no tales out of school. Indeed, I have to wonder why Julia ever married him in the first place.”

“Love makes you do crazy things,” said Decker.

“So was that the reason for the divorce? Barry never grew up?” asked White. “A lot of women don’t want to raise kids all their lives.”

“I think that was one very significant reason. And when Barry hit forty-five, he had an early midlife crisis. Bought expensive cars, dressed like he was still in college, wanted himself and Julia to hang out with a far younger crowd.”

“We were told that the judge might have recently had her own midlife crisis,” said Decker. “Dressing hipper, going out more, dancing, clubbing?”

“Um, yes, I had noticed that, too. The hemlines got a little shorter and the heels a little higher. It was no business of mine and I’m in no way judging her choices,” he added quickly.

“Did Barry ever cheat on her?” asked Decker. “We understand he dates very young women now.”

“No, I actually think he loved Julia more than anything,” said Trotter. “But Julia finally got tired of his ‘new ways,’ and then they had a tax issue that nearly landed Barry in jail. That was apparently the last straw for Julia. She filed for divorce shortly thereafter.”

“Did you handle that?” asked White.

“Me? No, no, no. I don’t handle divorce cases. Don’t have the stomach for it.”

“Did you find what you’re looking for?” asked Decker in a prompting manner as he eyed the man’s computer.

“Yes, yes I did. Now, Julia was a very wealthy woman.”

“How wealthy?”

“Not counting her home, Julia’s estate is worth over twenty million dollars, all of it in liquid assets, stocks, bonds. Just the income from the portfolio alone is over a million a year.”

“And who gets it?” asked Decker.

“There are some charitable bequests and a few small gifts to various people, but the vast bulk of the estate is to be held in trust for Tyler Davidson.”

“In trust. So who’s the trustee?”

“Barry Davidson. He’s also the executor. After the divorce, Julia talked about changing that, but never got around to doing so.”

“What are the terms of the trust?” asked White.

“Pretty standard. The principal will be disbursed in three tranches. When Tyler is twenty-five, twenty-eight, and thirty-one. Until that time he can apply to the trustee for funds for education, starting a business, purchasing a home, that sort of thing. Pretty standard. Oh, and the home goes to Tyler as well, unless Barry decides to sell it instead. If he does, the proceeds will go into the trust.”

“So Tyler is rich then?”

“Well, he certainly will be when the funds are disbursed, even after applicable taxes.”

“And what does the trustee get out of it?”

“Reasonable compensation. And control over the trust funds until they are disbursed.”

“Funny that Cummins would have kept her ex as trustee,” said Decker.

“Yes, but as I said, she was going to change that.”

“She actually told you that?”

“Yes. But she just didn’t get around to it.”

“That doesn’t seem like the woman I’ve been learning about. She sounded efficient, organized, someone who executes on something promptly.”

Trotter leaned back in his chair. “You know, you’re exactly right about that.”

“But she actually talked to you about changing trustees and the executor?” said White.

“She did, several times. And I reminded her once.”

“What was her response?”

“That the time just wasn’t right.”

“What did she mean by that?” asked Decker.

“I don’t really know. Maybe she thought Tyler would be upset if she cut his dad out as trustee. But the last time we spoke about it was six weeks ago.”

“Res ipsa loquitor,” said Decker.

“Excuse me?”

“The phrase. It’s connected to Cummins’s death. Did she ever use that phrase with you?”