Chapter 7 - THE LETTERS I NEVER RECEIVED
Drew admitted signing for the trust letters.
Her explanation:
“I thought they were company mail for Andrew.”
All eight?
Some addressed:
MAGGIE BARRYMORE, PARENT OF WILLIAM.
Her attorney advised her to stop answering.
Good advice.
The trust company reopened the file.
A judge appointed Grace Nolan temporary independent fiduciary over William’s disputed block pending full review.
Margaret’s voting authority over those shares was suspended.
No transfer.
No pledge.
No Northcrest vote using them.
The refinancing did not automatically die.
Howerin could seek other capital.
Drew told employees I had frozen the company.
I had not.
The court had frozen disputed votes after seeing withheld notices.
But the distinction did not help workers worried about payroll.
Howerin had enough cash for six weeks.
Northcrest remained interested if collateral issues resolved.
Maya advised me not to celebrate.
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
“I want to know what Silas did with seven million dollars.”
Grace was already tracing it.
Howerin Lifestyle Ventures had bought:
A failed members club.
Luxury vehicles.
Consulting.
A condominium used by Drew and Silas.
Some expenses might qualify as business.
Some obviously personal.
A forensic accountant would separate them.
Meanwhile, my counseling forced me somewhere I did not want to go.
Dr. Helen Morris asked:
“What did you think when Cody stomped again?”
“That I wanted him to fall.”
I stared at her.
There it was.
Ugly.
Specific.
“I didn’t want him injured.”
“Those can both be true.”
“I wanted to erase his smile.”
“And what did William see?”
I looked away.
“His mother becoming dangerous.”
That evening, I apologized to William again.
Not repeatedly enough to make him comfort me.
Once.
“I should have taken your hand and left.”
He asked:
“Would Cody still have ruined my cake?”
“Yes.”
“Then I still would’ve been sad.”
“Yes.”
“But you wouldn’t have kicked him.”
“The table.”
“You kicked him with the table.”
Five-year-old precision.
“Yes.”
He was quiet.
Then:
“Next birthday can we lock the cake?”
I laughed.
“Maybe we guard it.”
He smiled.
A beginning.
Then Grace found the first major financial anomaly.
Andrew’s twenty-four-percent reserve had received no distributions for four years.
Company records said distributions were “retained for tax and reinvestment.”
But Drew’s branch received cash.
Where had William’s branch money gone?
Into a pooled account.
From there:
Debt payments.
Howerin Lifestyle.
Margaret’s estate upkeep.
A family yacht.
The yacht had been sold before Andrew died.
This was bigger than one refinancing.
Still, we did not yet know whether the trust terms allowed pooled reinvestment.
Grace refused to call it theft.
Then she found one line.
ANDREW DISTRIBUTION WAIVER — PERMANENT.
Signed electronically.
May you like
Dated four days after Andrew’s death.
A dead man had waived future distributions.
