Revenge of the Heir

First Hearing

The next morning Eric found himself in the Boston Courthouse, waiting for his attorney to argue the first motion he had filed as soon as the DNA test had come back to a direct match to both Steven and Joanne Heinrich.

He had a video feed in the room he was waiting in, and depending on how the judge ruled this morning would depend on how he entered. The Bailiff called the court to order, as the judge entered from his chambers and sat at the bench.

"Be seated. We are here in the matter of Heinrich v Estate of Heinrich. Who do we have representing the Party of Kevin and Stephanie Heinrich?"

"Frank Lutz for Kevin and Stephanie Heinrich, Petitioners." he said sitting next to who Erik realized was his Aunt and Uncle.

"Melissa Smart for Estate of Steven and Joanne Heinrich, and now Eric Heinrich, heir to that estate. The DNA report collected and submitted to the evidence lab leaves no doubt that my client is in fact Eric Heinrich. Sole Heir to the last will and testament of Steven and Joanne Heinrich." she said standing while she did so before Mr. Lutz stood.

"Your honor, despite their protestation of an Heir, and certified results we see no Heir here standing to make a claim." Lutz said as Kevin and Stephanie looked smug.

"Your honor, as the court can see from the evidence submitted with the motion to protect his identity, there is significant risk to his life if it should be revealed. As such, we ask he be allowed to stand here with his identity withheld to protect him from harm." Monica said as the Judge handed the Bailiff the file to hand to the Petitioner.

"Your motion to protect identity is hereby granted on an emergency basis. Mr. Lutz, you have 10 days to file any arguments, and we will revisit this matter in 15 days." Judge Alexander Carter ordered.

"Your honor, my client is in the Military, and we cannot always ensure he will be able to appear in person. We ask he be allowed to attend hearings via video or telephone conference." Melissa said as he entered wearing a formed ski mask, hat and sunglasses to conceal his identity.

"Very well, Respondent shall be permitted to attend hearings remotely from today forward." Carter ruled as well.

"Your honor, this farce should not be allowed to continue. How is it possible he is the son of Steven and Joanne. Eric Heinrich was declared dead 8 years ago." Lutz said as he stood.

"Your honor, that decision was objected to by the estate, and we even submitted evidence that he has been alive the entire time. The estate has always been aware of his existence, although we could not declare under oath what his identity was." Melissa said. "We will resubmit that evidence now that it is relevant to the case before this Court. However we will submit to any additional testing the court wishes to order at any independent lab. We assure this Court it will return the same results."

"That will not be necessary-" Judge Carter began before Mr. Lutz interrupted him.

"Objection your honor, there is no way for us to know whether this lab is reputable." Lutz said standing.

"Careful Councilor, it is not wise to challenge whether or not the United Imperial Army, Federal Evidence Lab, and Federal Forensic Collectors are reputable." Judge Carter said as Mr. Lutz's eyes went wide. "As I was saying, the statement of Commandant Hunter Greene of West Point Military Academy stating he collected Eric Heinrich for his collegiate studies at 6 years old. He states further that the Respondent has been in his care since that time, under a Witness Protection identity he parents proved was necessary to the Imperial Courts just days before they were killed.

"As such the order that presumes Eric Todd Heinrich dead, is hereby rescinded by DNA evidence. Respondent is affirmed by genetic match to be the Heir of Steven and Joanne Heinrich. You have 30 days to issue any challenges or appeal this ruling. If not are filed within that timeframe, the last will and testament of Steven and Joanne Heinrich will be executed." Judge Carter ordered.

"Your honor, we move to be allowed to review the testing procedure used to determine that the respondent is in fact the legal heir to the Estate of Steven Heinrich." Mr. Lutz said as Kevin and Stephanie looked like they had been fed sour lemons now.

"The details are in the file you were given, and as I have said, you have 10 days to file appropriate challenges if you wish to the genetic testing. You have 30 days to present arguments why the last will of Stephen and Joanne should not be executed. If neither of those occurs Mr. Lutz, that last will will be executed the next morning." Judge Carter said slamming his gavel as Eric stood up.

"Mr. Heinrich, may we have a word?" Mr. Lutz asked as he was about to walk back into the secure wing of the courthouse.

"What Mr. Lutz?" Melissa asked as Eric stood there looking at him through the sunglasses that revealed nothing.

"We would like to settle this matter outside of the courts if possible. We could tie this matter up for years." he said as Kevin and Stephanie saw a glimmer of hope.

"The only settlement I will make with them, is for them to tell me what they did to my parents now, and I will not prosecute. As for the money contained within my parents estate, freeze it for years. Keep it in the control of the executor, to keep growing before I take it. I am going to focus on my career, and pretend you do not exist as I have since the day you had my parents killed." Eric told him with the voice synthisizer making his words sound creepier than they would have been.

"Remember he said that Mr. Lutz, we can sue him for liable slander." Stephanie said making Eric laugh.

"You would have to prove injury in order to sue me, and your feel goods aren't an injury. Now if someone were here to hear it and than cancelled a contract because of it, you might have a chance." Eric said creeped out by the voice changer. "When you think of something worthy of my time, we will see you again." he said before he and Melissa walked into the secure area of the court house to remove the mask and other things they had given him to use.

They quickly left from a different entrance, and Melissa had a car waiting at the nearby curb.

"Thanks for that, the look on their faces when you offered not to destroy them if they admitted it was worth the whole hearing." She said amused by how easily they had argued they had no standing. She had never been able to confirm he lived through it, just able to allude to the fact that it was as she said.

Across town his Aunt and Uncle entered a conference room with their attorneys, as they were demanding an explanation of the evidence they had been provided.

The attorneys looked through the papers for over an hour before they admitted there was absolutely nothing to appeal the Judges rulings that day. The collection had happened at a Military Base, by a Military Tech, and securely transported by the Military to the Federal Labs. The Chain of Custody was intact and above reproach, which would be the same standard they had to satisfy with false results the court would accept. He knew it would be impossible to influence the company in time, as he knew he would argue to have each individual segment isolated under seal until the results were back.

"How do we get that money now?" Stephanie demanded angrily as she slammed the door. "You assured us it was just a matter of time." she yelled at Lutz.

"You assured us all 3 of them were dead. Now they have a bullet proof case saying he is very much alive. I can't even find a way to attack this without accusing the Empire of forging the results." Lutz said genuinely afraid of that implication.

"Who is this Commandant Greene?" Kevin demanded as they pulled up his file on the Army Website.

"An extremely decorated Commandant of West Point Military Academy, and has been for 17 years. Before that he was a highly decorated Combat Colonel with the 501st Airborne." his assistant said displaying a record worthy of all the respect and honor of the Imperial Army. "He is above reproach sir, and in fact may have served with Steven when he was in the Armed Forces."

That news shocked them, as if he had known Steven from that time, he would have known about the times the Heinrich family tried to kill him. It did not bode well for what he would be able to do.

"What name does he use? We know he does not use Heinrich." Kevin asked.

"There are 812 graduated from West Point this year, 214 of them the right age for Eric Heinrich. 35 of them have some variation of the name Eric, assuming of course that he used that name. It easily could have been any number of names. Essentially, we have no idea." the assistant said as that part of the court records were sealed and redacted.