Murder At The Mansion: A Blackwell-McKay Mystery, Book 1 (The Blackwell-McKay Mystery Series) by Kenrick D. Turlock

Author:Kenrick D. Turlock [Turlock, Kenrick D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teiwaz Publishing
Published: 2023-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

A lthea left the next morning after breakfast, and Colton insisted on driving her to the airport. She demanded he drop her off at the departure area and not take the time to park or come in with her. Colton balked about that but gave in to Althea. He knew when he complained about anything to her, it was an exercise in futility. Still, he felt it was his obligation to at least try to put up a fuss. As usual, Althea didn’t change her mind. Curbside drop-off it was!

On the way back to the estate, he noticed the brakes on his father’s car seemed a tad light. It took a while to stop at one of the lights; pumping them helped. Fortunately, he wasn’t one to tailgate, so neither he nor anyone else was in danger.

Madisyn was at the mansion when he returned. They spent the rest of the morning going over the mail; then she showed him the spreadsheet Abby had created for him. Together, they covered the corporation along with his other smaller, private business interests. The next part was reviewing the various charities supported by the Foundation.

“I remember all these charities. Mom and Dad worked on many together, but some of the organizations were ones Mom chose and ran herself. Ummm… there is one I don’t see, though. Do you have anything on the Channel Islands Restoration Collective?”

Madisyn put down her tea, took off her glasses, and folded them, then sighed. “That one was a decision Samuel agonized about for months. He finally decided to stop all funding. Marguerite adored that project and was quite close to the late director of the group.” Colton furrowed his brow. “Okay, I never got too involved with the group, though I saw the results of what Samuel was dealing with. The director your mother worked with passed away. There was some gossip—nothing concrete, and mostly suspicions—that he was murdered. Without much, if anything to go on, no one was ever arrested, let alone tried. It’s a cold case for the Santa Barbara Police Department, but from what I understand, it’s expected to stay that way.”

Colton nodded, refilling his coffee, and pouring more tea for Madisyn. “The new director, Harry Tooley, never met your mother. She passed right around the same time as the previous director, so it was up to Samuel to continue the arrangements Marguerite had set up. The first year or two, the Foundation kept its annual contribution up. Then Tooley met with your father, asking for more money. He came out to the estate, and your father eventually agreed to an increase.”

“So how much did he want?”

“The collective received an annually gift of one million dollars. Tooley wanted three million. After a long discussion, Samuel reluctantly agreed to two. Tooley wasn’t happy, but he was gracious about it, and proceeded on his merry way. The two mil continued for another year. Before we granted the agreed-upon amount for the third year, something didn’t sit right with me.

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