Fog City Detective

Chapter 4: Emotional Assessment Specialist

Cooke, in his sixties with a full head of white hair, had set up a temporary office in the side hall of his main residence. Seven lawyers were seated at the table, working on their computers with a plethora of paper materials scattered around. Cooke was much more polite than his assistant, and after shaking hands with Liang Xi, he warmly inquired about John's health.

Cooke invited Liang Xi into the inner room, briefing him that the lawyers outside were taking inventory of the estate, preparing documents for the inheritance of the title, and applying for a seat in the House of Lords. The British aristocracy traditionally followed primogeniture for inheriting titles and estates, a practice that continued until the 1920s. While the new laws retained primogeniture for titles, they allowed for the bequeathing of estates as restricted inheritance through wills. In cases without a will, the eldest son would inherit. However, private property such as money, stocks, etc., was not affected by the system of inheriting titles.

Seated, Cooke informed Liang Xi, "Jack has already explained the situation to you. Time is limited, and I must produce the will by tomorrow evening. You need to provide any assistance necessary."

Liang Xi inquired, "In theory, everything on the estate, including the residence of the children, is part of the inheritance?"

Cooke nodded, "Yes."

Liang Xi continued, "I need to investigate as your assistant and have unrestricted access to various places."

Cooke said, "That's necessary. Your responsibility is to assess and document the assets on the estate. With this role, you'll have access to all areas. But I trust you understand courtesy and know that there are places you should enter only with permission."

Liang Xi asked, "What if I'm not familiar with courtesy? You know, sometimes I can't afford to be polite."

Cooke looked at Liang Xi and said, "As long as you find the will, everything will be fine."

Liang Xi nodded, understanding the situation. While Cooke appeared calm on the surface, internally, he was on the verge of collapsing, having clutched at this straw as a lifeline. Liang Xi asked, "Could you introduce the four heirs?"

To find the will, they first needed to identify the suspects of the theft.

The Earl of Davis and his family were not directly involved in managing the estate. Davis entrusted his assets to a trust fund company for supervision, and they handled investments and management. With numerous global business ventures, as the Earl's children, each of them received a monthly allowance of £20,000 from the trust fund.

Davis Senior, at fifty, worked as an assistant director for Reading Television.

Davis Junior, at forty-eight, was a retired military officer of twelve years and currently serving as a ground engineering technician at an airport in London.

Davis III, at forty-five, was a pastor working at the church in Reading Town, with his daily tasks revolving around charity work.

The only daughter, at forty-four, was an associate professor at Reading University, specializing in researching and refining history from the Renaissance period.

All four individuals had impressive backgrounds, and their resumes didn't reveal any potential motives for the crime. Liang Xi skipped over the four suspects among the estate's main staff as they had no interest in stealing the will.

The flight attendant, in his fifties, led Liang Xi upstairs to the Earl's master bedroom. The bedroom was quite spacious, featuring a separate living area. Strictly speaking, it wasn't particularly elegant, with half-length portraits on the walls that Liang Xi found difficult to appreciate. The staircase carvings and the marble-colored walls failed to bring any aesthetic appeal. Liang Xi acknowledged his taste, praising the flight attendant for the décor.

The flight attendant helped open all the doors and stationed himself at the entrance of the master bedroom. As a flight attendant, he treated the Earl's descendants with courtesy and respect, but his loyalty was to the Earl and the estate. If the new Earl was willing, he could stay on to manage the estate, pledging allegiance to the new Earl. If the new Earl was dissatisfied, he wouldn't harbor much sentiment.

The bedroom had a large bed that brought a touch of modernity, and on the adjacent wall hung an oil painting of the Earl's wife in her youth. Liang Xi carefully took down the painting and placed it against the wall, examining the built-in safe hidden behind the portrait.

Liang Xi looked at the safe in disbelief; it was a simple six-digit password safe. Liang Xi, thinking from the perspective of someone who didn't know the password, wondered how to open it. Looking at the information on the Earl's family provided by Cooke's assistant on his phone, Liang Xi randomly entered the birthday of the Earl's wife: 590402. The safe popped open.

These wealthy people were truly incorrigible; with so much money, they used such a simple safe, practically encouraging others to commit crimes.

The safe had two layers, with the upper layer being larger and the lower layer smaller. The lower layer had numerous compartments containing various pieces of jewelry. Liang Xi picked up a gemstone necklace, squinting at it under the light. This necklace was worth over £500,000. Liang Xi turned to face the bedroom door, looking towards the hallway and the main living area, where no one was present.

A gemstone necklace was calculated by the piece and carried risks when taken. On the other hand, diamonds inside the compartments were counted individually; taking one wouldn't likely be noticed. Liang Xi picked up a diamond, scrutinizing it under the light. This large diamond was worth several thousand pounds.

Liang Xi put the diamond back and pushed the drawer of the lower layer of the safe back in. The upper layer contained mostly documents, including commission contracts, among other things. According to Cooke, when the new will was sealed, Cooke, the flight attendant, and a maid were present. They all served as legal witnesses to the validity of the new will and signed on the seal.

Liang Xi called Cooke, "Lawyer Cooke, is the old will still there?"

Cooke replied, "Yes."

Liang Xi asked, "Is it also sealed?"

Cooke replied, "Yes."

Liang Xi said, "I need to add another role: Inheritor Emotional Evaluator."

Cooke was puzzled, "I've never heard of such a profession."

Liang Xi explained, "There's always a first time. My job is to have individual conversations with potential heirs to assess their acceptance of the inheritance distribution. In case someone can't accept receiving anything on the spot and dies of anger, what should we do? In a responsible attitude toward the client, Lawyer Cooke has specially provided the service of an Inheritor Emotional Evaluator."

Cooke took a while holding his phone, "As long as it helps find the will, of course."

Liang Xi said, "Lawyer Cooke, you had better be prepared for the worst."

Cooke's heart skipped a beat as he asked, "What do you mean?"

Liang Xi explained, "If the thief is a beneficiary in the will, he will definitely choose to return the will to the safe. The fact that the safe doesn't contain the will now indicates that the thief is at a disadvantage in the new will. Assuming the new will isn't found, and the estate is split equally among the four children, it could mean that the thief's share in the will is below the average."

Liang Xi added, "If I were the thief, I would destroy the will."

Cooke said, "I see."

Liang Xi said, "But that's just the worst-case scenario."

Cooke sighed, "I understand. Please do your best."

Liang Xi replied, "No problem."

Don't give people too much hope, because you never know how high their expectations are. Offering a bad opportunity and a good outcome makes people grateful. Presenting a good possibility and a bad outcome makes people resentful. This was the experience John gained from thirty years of detective work.

Liang Xi first had separate conversations with the flight attendant and maid who had signed the seal and then visited each of the four heirs.