Chapter XII - Case Files
2011, Sligo, Office, Early Morning
Jed is fully dressed and raring to go. He is sipping coffee and reorganizing his office desk. Sue hates filing, so this is one job which Jed knows he must undertake on a regular basis; otherwise, the mass of photocopied vital records and scribbled notes of crucial dates will overwhelm any chance of methodical research.
Sue appears in the doorway in semi-revealing night clothes. Jed briefly admires the sight, then says, somewhat irritated, “I should have spotted that on the 1900 census. Adolph and Mame got married a few years after Madeline was born—it‘s in black and white— but Mame said that all three kids were her own. I thought that the marriage year data was a clerical error by the enumerator.”
Sue teases,“You’re losing your touch, dear. It must be your obsession with Merrill ... or all the flirting you do with court archivists!”
Sue reaches across her desk, “Here’s the stuff I found last night when you were out discussing the merits of Brendan Marren‘s inclusion in the county football team, and raising the Guinness Brewery share price. Here’s the birth record of Madeline Forster ... and her dad Adolph’s first marriage license. He married ‘Mary’ or ‘Mame’ McFarlane in 1890. Then he’s back up the aisle just a few years later with Mary Novak, nicknamed Mame again; the one you call ‘the Black Widow’. I’ve corrected your Family Tree chart on the whiteboard here, because I’ve got to admit that one man marrying two women known as Mame is a bit confusing for your tiny brain.”
Jed stares at the board, then chases Sue down the corridor, laughing. He catches her in the kitchen and they kiss and start to get intimate.
Their moment of closeness is rudely interrupted by the doorbell. Postman Pat’s distinctive outline can be seen through the stained-glass panel of the front door.
“Top of the morning, Jed, and a grand morning it is too. No overnight deaths in the parish so far.”
“Cheery as ever Pat. Bad for the removals business though, eh? What’ve ye got for me?”
“A large package from the U. S. of A.—too big for the mailbox. So I drove up the drive.” He opens the back of his van to expose a large cardboard archive box. Pat hands Jed a delivery docket to sign and cannot help displaying his harmless nosiness. “More documents from Iowa. Court papers, I reckon.”
Jed takes a step back to emphasize sarcastic amazement. “Wow! You’re some sort of celebrity psychic postie - but it does say Mason City Court Archives on the side, Pat.”
The smirking postman asks, “Is our Merrill in trouble?”
“Mmm. It’s looking that way,”
Pat revs the van and prepares to drive off. “Try looking in San Quentin. That’s where most of them Yank gangsters ended up!” Jed can still hear Pat’s manic laugh as he disappears over the bridge.
Jed carries the heavy-ish box through the house and into the office. “You’d better get dressed while I sort out this lot.” Sue is wistful on the stairway, trying to attract Jed’s attention with a blatant flash of healthily-tanned upper thigh. Jed never even notices.
When Sue rejoins her partner in more appropriately sober office attire, Jed has all the contents of the Iowa archive box laid out neatly on the office table. “Looks like my chat-up lines are still working. A whole box of bulging case folders—every case file involving Merrill in one way or another. And couriered over in less than a week - and, even better, the girl only charged us standard post. She must know that Ireland’s still in economic meltdown. She must’ve thought that 50 dollars would tip us over the edge. What a rebel.”
Sue is scanning the folder titles when she spots a bright green Post-It note inside the empty box. “Oh, look here you randy leprechaun. A little note, signed ‘Fran’ - with a big kiss!”
For his troubles, Jed gets playfully slapped on the head by the first case folder Sue picks up from her line of two on the table. The file is titled “Appraisement Bill - Harrison Minors (father Merrill).” Rather selfishly, Jed grabs up the more enticing divorce files. He wants to get inside the head of Merrill, this cruel and inhumane man, father of two daughters and a long-lost illegitimate child. A protracted day of reading kicks off with a slug of extra-strong coffee.
1912, St Paul, Horace’s New Second Story Office, Two Weeks After Madeline’s Wedding
The Black Widow, Mame, pays Horace an unexpected visit. “This is a lovely place, Horace. For a failed actor, you now look every inch the city businessman.” It is a barbed compliment, which sets Horace on the back foot—a negotiating position from which he will never recover.
Horace looks nervous, twitching, “What do you want, Mary?”
“Well, I heard about that rat, Mr. Hammer. Pity someone let the cat out of the bag about his sordid affair with his secretary. Poor Mrs. Hammer, the shame of it. She goes to my Bridge Club—or used to. I don‘t suppose I‘ll be seeing much of her now”
“Yeah, they’re moving out of town, upstate somewhere, I heard.”
Mame gets down to business, “So—you’ll need help with the management of Edith’s estate. I’ve had a word with a friend of mine at the courthouse, and he says that I could be appointed as a temporary co-guardian, just until someone of your choice steps forward.”
“All that will take time. There’ll be lots of legal stuff to sort out. I should freeze Edith’s accounts.”
Mame instantly raises a crooked eyebrow, but presses on. “No, no. Don’t be crazy. You’ll miss out on some great investment opportunities. This will just be a temporary arrangement—so that you can keep trading on Edith’s behalf. It’s ideal, because I could get you some buyers for those rundown plots which your father bought years ago on First Street. The sites are prime locations, but the maintenance costs must be astronomical, eating up Edith’s money.”
“You’re not wrong there, Mary.”
“Well then? I know some developers who would like to demolish and re-build, and I’ll let you take all the credit. We’ll just take expenses 50/50.”
Horace weakly expresses more reservations. Every excuse is shot down by the overpowering Black Widow. Then Horace mutters, “I will definitely have to consult with Madeline and Merrill.”
“Oh Horace, dear, we shouldn’t be bothering the newlyweds. They’re busy decorating their new home.”
Horace is not convinced, saying, “But I promised to act for Madeline too.”
Mame will not be halted. “Horace, you kindly gave them a massive loan from Edith’s account to let them buy that big house in Mason City. They wouldn’t object to any temporary decision you made now, would they?”
“S’pose not, when you put it like that.”
“Well, we’re agreed then. I’ll get my driver to stop by the courthouse on the way home. Then I’ll send a messenger round to get you to sign the new guardianship forms later this week.”
Before the inexperienced young guardian can change his mind, Mame is up and heading for the door. With a rotating swirl of her long black skirt, she turns to utter her parting words: “Goodbye, Horace. We’re going to make a great team. Your father would have been very proud of you”.