The Erection Set

My hellos to my three female cousins were polite and brief. They couldn’t get the horror out of their eyes so I gave them time to adjust, letting them sit there wondering what the hell was going on. Marvin Gates still wore his silly smile, busying himself making drinks for us without asking what we wanted, his eyes touching Pam’s with wry humor all the while. Somehow he was enjoying the show too and I couldn’t help liking his attitude. He was an incompetent jerk who had gotten his balls in the wringer from a sour swindle and had been paying for it a long time. Pam had laid the clout on him pretty heavy and now he was getting his turn to watch the squirming.

Behind me, the metallic snap of Hunter’s attaché case reminded me we had come for other things and I pulled up an ottoman and sat down beside Sharon. Unconsciously, her hand reached out and touched my shoulder. I could feel her fingers stiff with tension, trembling slightly at the hostility in the air.

It was Hunter’s scene now and he played it well. He had held the stage too many times in this same room and he knew all the lines and all the tricks. He knew the audience too and how to play to them.

For a moment he looked at each one individually, then: “Ordinarily, this would have been a routine meeting. However, with Mr. Kelly’s return we can enter a new dimension that has been necessarily delayed by his absence. Now ...” he looked around once more, “I take it you are all quite satisfied with his identity?”

It was Alfred who said, “Shouldn’t we be?”

Hunter smiled indulgently. “After all, twenty-some years is a long time. If you prefer further documentation...”

Alfred said, “It won’t be necessary.”

“Very good.” He picked several printed sheets from his case and spread them open on his lap. “Most of the details of your grandfather’s will are well known to you. However, there are certain provisos that were to be explained only when all of you were present. Each of you who shared in the estate was given his inheritance immediately after the death of Cameron Barnn. It was only Mr. Kelly’s share that was not awarded. As you are aware, it was to be ten thousand dollars m Barrin Industries stock at the time of Mr. Barrin’s death As you well know, the number of shares representing ten thousand dollars now are quite disproportionate from the gate of Mr. Barrin’s death. I am now prepared to deliver those shares to Mr. Kelly.”

I could feel Alfred’s snide smile from where I was sitting. “Wasn’t there a provision attached to that award, Mr. Hunter?’

“You are referring to the morality clause, I believe?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you intend to investigate Mr. Kelly’s background for a possible breach of that clause?”

“You’re right again.”

Hunter looked at Dennison and he stared a smirking smile too. “I agree completely,” old Dennie said.

I was about to get up, slap them both on their ass and get out of there, but saw the motion of Hunter’s hand and sat down again.

The lawyer said, “In that case, I have been instructed to enforce another proviso which was not known to you.” He paused for a second, his face bland, but his eyes were twinkling. “Before the remainder of the estate can be awarded, Mr. Kelly has the option of conducting a full investigation of your background for a breach of the morality clause. The time limit on such investigation will be limited to three months.”

Dennis and Alfred were on their feet instantly, Dennie’s face flushed and Al’s livid with anger. “That is ridiculous,” Dennie stated.

Hunter shook his head and cut him off. “I’m sorry. It was your grandfather’s request. You both have stated your intentions, I now state his. Had you not bothered, this matter could have been settled immediately.” Hunter turned slowly and looked at me. “It still may be if Mr. Kelly does not care to exercise his prerogative. If he refuses, the bequest will be made as stipulated.”

Alfred stood there, his fists clenched at his sides. Dennie was leaning on the desktop, his face still flushed with the indignity of it all. The three girls hardly breathed and Marvin grinned over the top of his drink.

“A question, Counselor,” I said. “Supposing they get something on me and I get something on them?”

The introspective stare Hunter held on me told me more than he realized. He was evaluating me again and his estimate was going up. I was reading back into a dead mind and reading it right.

Leyland Hunter nodded sagely and said, “In that case, the entire remainder of the estate goes to you.”

Inside my head my mind was laughing because the old boy was paying off for all the times I had gotten the dirty end of the stick. He was saying, “Go get ’em. It isn’t much, but you never wanted much anyway. If they deserve it, stick it up and break it off.”

“Well,” Hunter asked me, “do you choose to exercise your prerogative?”