“Right. Someone very smart set her up.” He grinned, his bushy white eyebrows reminding Louisa of Maggie’s. Didn’t anybody over the age of sixty own a pair of tweezers? He shuffled through more papers. “Oh, well, look here, son. Wasn’t your father’s name Daniel?”

Cody nodded.

“Then we have him to thank for this. He made sure Miss Fisher was well taken care of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now that Maggie is gone, I’ve been given access to her accounts. She dealt mostly with another man—” he scanned the paper in his hand—“Ted Kauffmann?”

“Right, he took over her investments from my father,” Louisa said.

“True!” Mr. Holbrook said it as if she’d given the correct answer on a game show. “But he wasn’t the one who invested her money for her.”

“How do you know this? We scoured Maggie’s accounts—we found nothing linking them to Cody’s dad,” Louisa said.

“I spoke with Mr. Kauffmann earlier this week,” Mr. Holbrook said. “I congratulated him on this fine portfolio he put together for Maggie, but he said he couldn’t take the credit.” He looked at Cody. “Said it was your father who set the whole thing up. Apparently he wanted to remain anonymous, but he was a brilliant financial planner. A real shame he was taken so soon.”

Finally Cody dared a look in Louisa’s direction. It was as if the last piece of the puzzle had just been placed and they now had a complete picture. But how did that picture make Cody feel? Was he proud of his father for taking care of Maggie so well, or did it only remind him that his own family had been sacrificed in the process? She wished she could ask him. Did he at least feel her concern through the silence of the room?

“I understand you’re standing in for your mother at this reading?” Mr. Holbrook was on to the next topic, though Louisa’s heart was still lingering on Cody.

“That’s right,” Cody said.

“Well, she will hopefully be pleased with this.” He handed over a business envelope.

“Should I open it now?” Cody asked.

The man’s eyes glimmered with anticipation. “I wish you would.”

Louisa watched as he tore open the envelope, withdrew what appeared to be a handwritten letter and a check. Cody looked at the papers in his hand, but his expression held steady. He would’ve been a worthy adversary at one of her father’s poker games.

The old man smiled as if he were Santa Claus on Christmas Day. “Your mom can retire for certain.”

Cody put the check back in the envelope with a nod. “Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Holbrook seemed disappointed in Cody’s grim reaction. He turned to Louisa. “And for you.”