Three months after Frederick and Ivy were married, Frederick received a letter from a lawyer he had never heard of. The lawyer represented the estate of Charles Ashford, Frederick's father, and he was writing to inform Frederick that there was a portion of his father's estate that had been held in trust and was now becoming available to him.
The letter explained that Charles Ashford had died with several hundred million dollars in his bank accounts, most of which had been divided among Frederick, his mother, and various charitable organizations that Charles had designated in his will. But there was also a private collection of documents and research that Charles had kept hidden, locked in a safe deposit box that only Frederick could access.
Frederick went to the bank with the lawyer and
