[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
out.
"Her father and I-Colonel Radcliffe and I -supported them for sixteen,
seventeen, eighteen years. Right, honey? She got nothing out of the
divorce. . . . She's got fine children too, I'll tell you that."
It had been quite a day. A lineup with a positive ID of Tom
Allanson.
A double funeral. And a long, long interview with Mrs. Clifford
Radcliffe. According to her, the late Walter Allanson had been a
monstrous, fearful man with a heart as cold as death.
And "Tommy," like herself, saw only the good in everyone. He had been
a dutiful son, a fine son-in-law, and had alibis for every incident his
father accused him of.
For all but that very last, fatal encounter.
In the weeks that followed, the investigators learned that Tom would
inherit nothing from his parents. Tom had known that for months. He
knew that both his father and mother had cut him out of their wills the
previous Valentine's Day. In fact, Tom was specifically eliminated in
codicils to their existing wills.
He had tried to explain that to Pat, but she never seemed to
understand; she thought that he would, of course, be declared their
natural heir. Each of his parents' wills had designated Carolyn's
brother, Seaborn Lawrence, as their executor. Walter and Carolyn were
each other's heirs and then they stipulated that, should they die
together, their estate would go to Tom's children.
Item Eight of Walter Allanson's will read: The provisions of this Will
are made for the purpose of omitting my son, Seaborn Walter Thomas
Allanson, completely, due to his disowning of the family and his
failure to support his children, and I figure that his part of my
estate was [already] used [by me] for the purpose of supporting his
children. The trustee and executors are specifically instructed that,
under no circumstances, is he to receive anything from my estate, and
they are to oppose his appointment as Guardian of these children by any
Court whatsoever, and in the event that he should succeed in being
appointed as Guardian, then the trustee is not to pay any funds
whatsoever to the grandchildren or to him as Guardian, but shall retain
the funds until the payment age of twenty five (25) is reached by the
grandchildren.
Page 60
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
It was a slap from beyond the grave. Tom had been paying five hundred
dollars a month toward his children's support, and he would dearly have
loved to have them back with him. He had had high hopes that one day
soon he would be able to raise them on the grounds of Kentwood. He had
left their mother in desperation-sick at heart in a loveless
marriage.
Clearly, his father had never forgiven him. The only thing that Walter
had forgotten about was an insurance policy in which Tom was still
named as beneficiary-but Tom wouldn't know about that until months
after his parents had died.
The house on Norman Berry Drive was cleaned and put up for sale.
Despite the horror that had exploded there, it sold rather quickly.
Paul and Harriett Duckett, right next door-and eyewitnesses to the
fleeing gunman-bought it.
None of the financial mopping up mattered to Tom; all he had ever
dreamed of had come true when he married Pat and they lived together at
Kentwood. As it turned out, he had lived with her on that wonderful
spread of land for less than a year; their time as man and wife had
ended in less than two months. Tom would celebrate their two-month
anniversary in court . .
......
... .
being arraigned for double murder.
Their love had burned as white hot as any iron ingot, and now their
lives were as cold and gray as the steel such an ingot might become.
The glory was all gone, and he could not, for the life of him, fathom
why.
part 2.
Seaborn Walter Thomas Allanson.
Tom was born out of time, if not place. He would have made a far more
satisfactory son for his grandfather than he ever had for his own
father. Paw Allanson had never known quite what to make of his son,
the austere and ambitious Walter O'Neal Allanson, and Walter always
seemed to look at his Tommy as an impediment and an irritant.
Actually, Carolyn and Walter had been reluctant parents to begin with,
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]