Three of a Kind Pt. 05

The office of Grainger, Luis & Bayonne was everything you'd expect a lawyer's firm to be: Big, spacious and full of the most recent comfortable furnishings. But, underneath it all, there were lots of closed-off cubbies where people could work all day without seeing or talking to another human being. And the furnishings might have been nice, but it was still somehow austere; like someone was giving the impression of comfort, but not quite getting it right. It had a plastic quality to it that had nothing to do with the expensive lighting, or the plumpness of the pillows on the couches. There was a small reception area that we stopped at to present our names

Jen, Cassie and I were greeted only moments later by a handsome young guy with a crisp suit and a sharp smile.

"Hey there!" he said, extending his hand to each of us in a very business-like manner as he showed us into the interior of the office. Jennifer's smile was tight, Cassie's was broad and honest, just like I knew it would be. I don't know if I even smiled at all. The man ("Mark, but you may as well call me the waterboy in here! Everyone does!") threaded us past numerous busy desks where young men and women wore telephone headsets, or let their fingers dance over expensive new computer keyboards.

"Mr Grainger himself wanted to meet you." Mark said, as though that should impress us. "I've heard a lot about this will. Wish I was senior enough to play a role in it!"

"What have you heard?" asked Jennifer, striding elegantly behind Mark.

"Oh, you know" said Mark, dismissively, "just stuff. Anyhoo, here we are!"

He brought us to a large, oak-panelled door and turned the handle without knocking. Jen stepped inside first, but I saw her hesitate mid-step. I followed, and Cassie came in behind me. Mark shut the door as we crossed the threshold.

Mr Bayonne's office was more than the word 'plush' could describe. It seemed the entire office, from floor to walls to ceiling, was decorated in only the very finest things money could buy. The blue carpet beneath our feet was thick and soft. The walls were panelled in oak or mahogany from floor to ceiling. The chairs and couches had a Queen Anne look to them that oozed expensive antique. Bayonne's desk - a gigantic mahogany construction - dominated the room at one end in front of a set of curving bay windows that were sashed in net curtains. Even the drinks cabinet to the side of the room had a very stocked feel to it.

And standing behind the desk, alongside an older man with wispy grey hair and dark pinstripe suit covering his spare frame, was the immaculately dressed blonde siren Barbara Chaykin. She smiled softly, reserving the cool glare of her blue eyes for Jennifer, and Jennifer only. I could feel my older sister's discomfort from where I stood and fought the urge to hug her closely.

"Ladies, good morning." said the older man, extending his right hand palm-up, like a benediction. "Please, sit down. Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, something a little more stiff?"

The three of us sat onto the wide couch set at an angle in front of Bayonne's desk. Cassie sat to my right, Jen to my left. Jen had her eyes downcast, away from the withering gaze Barbara was directing at her. Barbara and Bayonne sat down in their own plush chairs.

"Ms Jennifer would like coffee. Cream, but no sugar." said Barbara, twisting her smile a little. "Right?"

Jennifer looked up at last, stung by the intimacy the blonde woman dared to show.

"Water actually." Jen said, staring defiantly at Barbara's cool smile.

"Feeling sweet enough today?" asked Barbara, eyebrow raised.

"Any more and I might be sick." muttered Jennifer, cheeks beginning to glow red. There was a short, awkward silence.

"I'll have coffee, thank you. Black. No sugar." I said, trying to break the ice. Bayonne nodded, his cool smile mirroring Barbara's. I felt a tightening in my chest and felt that already; even before the preliminary introductions were out of the way, the law firm had got the upper hand. Beside me, Cassie drew a finger up to the corner of her mouth.

"Hmm. Let's see" she said. "Well, since you asked, I would absolutely love a cup of camomile and eucalyptus tea. That would be lovely!" she added, smiling broadly. Bayonne's smile faltered a little.

"Camomile and eucalyptus?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Ah, we don't- I don't know if we've got-"

Cassie waved a hand dismissively. "Oh that's a shame. Well, if you haven't got that, then just peppermint tea, thank you."

Bayonne reached for his intercom. "Mark, have we got any Camomile and-" He turned to Barabara, "What was it?" he whispered, urgently.

"Menthol." said Barbara, her smile slipping.

"-and menthol tea?" Bayonne finished.

Cassie raised her hand, smiling. "Eucalyptus, actually. Camomile and eucalyptus. But never mind. Peppermint will do just fine. I keep forgetting, silly me, that not everyone can offer these kinds of things."

Bayonne kept his finger on the intercom.

"A peppermint tea" he said, overriding his last comments. "Coffee, black, twice, and some water." He let the buzzer register a "Yes, Mr Bay-" before he cut it off. He set his hands palm-down on his desk and looked at us in turn, smiling. Obviously a practised technique. I felt a smile begin to grow on my lips. I reached out a hand and took Cassie's; squeezing gently. Oh, my sister Cassie was wonderful sometimes. Ditzy, messy and a little bit shy, but utterly, utterly wonderful. Only she could do that; rescue us from a bad hand by asking for tea.

"While we, um, wait for the drinks" Bayonne said, raising his hands in that almost-benediction once again, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Zachary Bayonne, one of the partners in this fine company. My colleague is Ms Barbara Chaykin, one of our rising stars."

Bayonne adopted an academic's frown. "And you must be Ms Jennifer, Ms Cassandra and Ms Kimberly" he said, directing his gaze correctly to each of us in turn.

"It gives me great pleasure to conduct the matter of your parent's last will and testament. Not that there's great pleasure in the manner of it" he said hastily, "but just in meeting you lovely young ladies. I must say, right at the start, how sorry I am about your loss. We in the legal industry are often described of as cold, calculating or manipulative. I can assure you, that is far from the truth."

I thought of Barbara, and spared a glance her way, only to see her looking right at me.

"Please," said Bayonne, smiling in a grandfatherly fashion, "accept my condolences, and those of my colleagues."

"The letter we received, Mr Bayonne-" started Jennifer.

"Please! Call me Zack."

"-the letter said that your other partners, Mr Grainger and Ms Ruiz, would also be here. Is there a problem?"

"A problem?" said Bayonne, raising his eyebrows, "Yes. I won't lie to you. But not concerning yourselves. Martha - Ms Ruiz - has a child who is unwell and is staying at home to be with her. Mr Grainger has - unfortunately - left this practice."

"But he only sent us the letter last week." said Cassie, sitting forward a little.

"Yes, yes. It's regrettable. But there are , of course, internal issues that can move things very quickly when they happen. Mr Grainger's departure is a sad loss to the company but, as I said, should have no bearing on your parent's will. I hope you understand."

Something about Bayonne cried out for him to be listened to, believed. And what he said seemed so open as to do away with the need for lies. But I did not believe him. And nor, do I think, did Jen or Cassie. Something had happened, and now it was only Bayonne and Barbara Chaykin. Suddenly I wanted to get this whole thing over and done with as quickly as possible.

At that moment, the door behind us opened, and Mark entered the room carrying a tray of drinks.

"Whoo!" he said, bright and merry. "Didn't think I'd get through there without spilling a drop!"

He approached Bayonne's desk and went to set down the tray, but Barbara motioned him to the side, where the drinks cabinet was. He set the tray down, distributed the drinks, then left without further word.

Bayonne attempted pleasantries while we sipped at our drinks, until Jennifer set hers down onto the small table next to the couch where we sat.

"Mr Bayonne, please. My sisters and I have struggled a lot since our parents' death-"

I saw Barbara shift in her seat. Was that a smirk on her face? Her gaze had almost constantly been locked on Jennifer, who either did not notice, or was ignoring it as she carried on speaking.

"-and despite your hospitality, we'd rather just listen to our parents' will and move on with our lives."

Bayonne adopted a sombre, pitying expression and raised one palm face-up. "Of course. Of course. I fully understand. This cannot be easy for you. Barbara, if you would?"

He inclined his head toward the blonde woman and Barbara rose from her seat. She was dressed in a lilac suit, her skirt cut high up her thigh. Her blouse was fitted and her blonde hair was perfectly arranged around a perfectly made-up face. To the common guy (or girl) she looked pretty stunning. Unless you knew what a Grade-A freaky bitch she was.

She went to a combination safe set into the wall to the left, opened it and returned with a large envelope wrapped in a red ribbon. But, rather than going to Bayonne, Barbara walked over to where we sat.

"You will notice that the envelope has been sealed prior to your parents' death" she said, without even the trace of sympathy Bayonne showed. "Their signatures have been made over the red seal, and you can see there's been no tampering."

She sounded like a magician, convincing her audience of the facts before she pulled the trick. As she handed the envelope to Jennifer, she deliberately brushed her fingers against Jen's hand. When Jen looked up, Barbara smiled and winked at her. Jennifer flushed red again, and looked down. She passed the envelope to me, and then I passed it to Cassie, who held it up to the light as though she expected to sneak a peek at the contents inside. Eventually, satisfied that the envelope was properly secured, she handed it back to Barbara.

"Thank you" said Bayonne, finally accepting the envelope. "I shall now break the seal and read out the last will and testament."

He did so; slowly, deliberately, and, once he had, he took out a pair of half-moon glasses from his jacket breast pocket and fixed them on. He cleared his throat.

"I Martin Caspian Jones, and I Georgina Kimberly Jones, being of sound mind and good health, do here delcare our last will and testament, made jointly on 3rd of June 2006. In the event of either the death of aforesaid Martin Caspian Jones, or Georgina Kimberly Jones, the worldly possessions and articles of one shall automatically become the property of the other. In the event that both of us should die together, our last wishes are as follows:

To the family of Mr Inushi Kyamoto, we leave the sum of five thousand dollars."

I saw Cassie nod her head beside me, approving. Mr Kyamoto had been mom and dad's gardener for many, many years; watching and seeing each of us girls grow up as we played around him and his lawn mowers, hoes, spades and rakes in our garden. He was a very kind and sweet man, and we all missed him when he died four years ago. Bayonne continued.

"-to the Cancer Foundation, we leave the sum of twenty thousand dollars."

Again, this was no surprise. Mom's sister, who dad was very close to as well, suffered for a long time with breast cancer, eventually losing her battle, but fighting all the way.

"-And to the Supporter's association of the New Zealand rugby team, the Auckland Blues, we leave the sum of one thousand U.S. dollars."

I looked at Jennifer and she at me, eyebrows raised in mock annoyance. Trust dad to pledge some money to a sports team half way across the world that he only visited once in his life. Bayonne paused to look up, smiling. "My dad left half his will to the Boston Red Sox" he said. "It's a guy thing, I guess."

Cassie barked a short laugh and Bayonne drank it up like it was milk and honey. Then he re-fixed his glasses and carried on reading.

"To our daughters; Jennifer, Cassandra and Kimberly, God hope that they are alive and well, we leave the remainder of our estate; our finances, property equity and articles, an equal share to do with what they will."

I let out a sigh of relief. I had been waiting, dreading, some kind of hiccup or problem like the one Barbara had alluded to in her text. And it hadn't come. Reached for my sister's hands and took them, letting my hands rest in each of their laps.

"However-" Bayonne continued, "There are some provisions. If there are disputes surrounding possession regarding any sums or articles, it is our will that such articles or sums be held in a frozen account until arbitration can resolve this matter. I leave arbitration to Mr Timothy Grainger of Bayonne, Grainger and Ruiz."

Bayonne set down the will, and picked up another piece of paper on his desk.

"The articles are set out in this inventory, including property portfolio and accounts. An even three-way split of the money left by your parents currently stands at $855,432 each. This includes bonds and long-term asset accounts, to which each of you will have equal access."

Bayonne paused for a moment, to catch his breath. Jennifer sat forward, her hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Wait a minute, did you say we were entitled to a third share each of $855,432?"

"No, Ms Jones. The total calculation of your late parents' assets, not including property portfolio, amounts to $2,566,296. There is a separate footnote saying that details of how to access all the accounts have been lodged with the various bank and asset managers."

I felt Cassie squeeze my hand. "I had no idea.." she murmured, trailing off.

"I'm sorry, Mr Bayonne. Please continue."

"That really is all there is. There are some personal notes to each of you from your parents, which I will pass on, but the last will and testament is, I must say, refreshingly brief."

"That's it?" said Cassie, looking from me and Jen to Bayonne.

"Not quite." said Barbara, sitting upright in her chair. She did not say the words quietly, but they cut through the air like a knife. Jennifer's face began to darken. "What do you mean?" I heard myself say.

"There is a, well, how should I put it? There is a legal problem with your parents' will."

"And that is?"

"It is null and void. Your parents' cannot offer you anything beyond the grave, as assets made by them are rendered unlawful through an illegal marriage."

Jennifer's voice could have cut ice. "What?"

"Your parents accumulated their wealth during a marriage that was both illegal and improper and, according to statute, such assets acquired are subject to a judiciary process and will be frozen. They can offer you nothing."

"You bitch. You fucking bitch, I-"

"Please, " interjected Bayonne, his confessional hand raised. "Please, excuse my colleague's rather brusque tone. This is, of course, an extremely distressing time for you. However, what Ms Chaykin has to say is entirely true. Unfortunately, under statute, the assets your parents made during their illegal marriage cannot be accorded to you as part of their last will and testament. There is a judicial process that could take many, many months to look into this. In the interim, the assets will be managed by the executors - this company - until a full review has taken place."

"I can't believe this." said Jennifer.

"How can their marriage have been illegal?" said Cassie, looking very fragile.

"It was incestuous." said Barbara, a hint of a smile on her lips. "They were, in fact, siblings."

*****

There was the kind of pause that all movie directors love to introduce into a shocking scene of their film. It was a stunned silence that rested heavily over the room. Bayonne was holding his hands together lightly, staring intently at his desk. Barbara and Jennifer glowered at each other, unspoken enmity flying between them. Cassie was shaking her head beside me.

"That's ridiculous!" she said, suddenly laughing. "That's- that's just ridiculous! Surely this is some kind of joke?" she added, staring from Bayonne to Barbara. The blonde woman shook her head, still glaring at Jennifer.

"No joke, Ms Jones. Your parents were brother and sister, albeit raised in different families and brought together in later life as adults. They suffered something known as 'Genetic Sexual Attraction' after they realised their shared parentage, but chose - decided - to do nothing about it. Chose, in fact, to conceal the fact throughout their courtship and marriage. The marriage was, of course, illegal and, according to legal statute, renders their union null and void alone with any assets or articles gained as a result of that marriage."

"They could have got such assets separately." I heard myself say.

"All accounts and articles of value, property, etc, were in joint names." said Barbara, forcing herself not to smile.

"But this is ridiculous!" said Cassie, sounding like a broken CD. "How can they have been brother and sister? If they were, surely we - their children - would have been deformed or disabled due to the gene correlation?"

"I can't answer that." said Barbara, airily. "I'm not an expert in genetics nor am I a scientist. Clearly you ladies are extremely fortunate that there aren't any apparent disabilities. But the fact remains that your parents were brother and sister, and their will - made in union - is null as a result."

"And what?" said Jennifer, stiff as a board beside me on the couch, "You get to keep all the money?"

"I'm truly, truly sorry," said Bayonne, interjecting once again. "This must come as a horrible blow so soon after losing your parents. But the law is the law, ladies. All we can do is kick-start the judicial process-"

"Where is your evidence?" I said, hearing the tightness of my own voice.

"Beg pardon?"

"Where is your evidence that mom and dad knew they were siblings when they got married?"

"It's documented in accounts subsequently recovered from the house fire in which they died." said Barbara, flatly.

"You, what, went through the ashes looking for documents?"

"They were... recovered."

"Show them to me."

"Unfortunately, Ms Kimberly, they are now lodged as evidence in the judicial process."

"You don't have copies?"

"Certainly. I can send them to your lawyer. Who would that be?"

"What about evidence that they were siblings at all?" said Cassie.

"Again, documentation."

"That's a lot of fucking bull." said Jennifer, standing up. I, then Cassie followed suit.

"Ladies, ladies, please!" said Bayonne, on the seeming verge of panic. "There is no need for this. The judicial process in already in place. Ms Chaykin can provide you with all the necessary details. I-"

"I don't want to see or talk to this bitch ever again in my life." said Jennifer, raising a finger to point across at Barbara.

"Then, ah, then perhaps one of our junior partners can provide you with the necessary details. I know this is distressing. But please, we will do all we can to ensure that the judicial process is fair and-"

"You'll keep the process going as long as you can, charging our parent's posthumously for your inflated charges, until there is nothing left." I said. Bayonne reddened, and looked away.

"It might be a long process." said Barbara, smiling at me. "We don't employ cheap."

Jennifer closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's get out of this place." she said. "The smell here is making me want to puke."

She turned away from Barbara and Bayonne, and made for the door.

"Ladies please! There are the matters of non-union assets to discuss, and-"

"Go put your fucking head down a toilet" said Cassie, turning away and following our sister.