Willie laughed. “You can argue all you like, woman. It’s not going to change anything. I wrote those books, and I have proof. I have a contract with Godfrey.”

“You can produce this contract?” Miles Burton frowned. “This is a serious allegation, you understand. I’m not certain what the ramifications will be, because Godfrey assigned his copyrights to his son.”

Willie howled in rage and made a move toward the lawyer. Kanesha, who was still standing between Willie and Burton, held a hand up in front of Willie’s face. “Calm down. Now. Or I will have you taken out of here. You understand?”

Faced with Kanesha’s commanding tone and stance, Willie backed down. He resumed his seat, and I could feel the tension in the room drop a little.

“I can and will produce the contract,” Willie said. “We will discuss it later, you can be damn sure.”

Kanesha stepped to one side of the lawyer, but her gaze remained fixed on Willie.

For a moment there was silence, and in that brief interval I heard a car pull up in front of my house. I got up and went to the window. The curtains were open, but I had to pull aside the sheers in order to see clearly.

There were two sheriff’s department cars in front of my house. I glanced toward Kanesha, and she was watching me. She inclined her head a fraction, and I went back to my chair, thinking hard. She was going to arrest someone in my house. My heart started beating faster. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea.

Burton resumed announcing the contents of Godfrey’s will. “There is a bequest of five million dollars to Athena College, and of that amount two hundred and fifty-thousand dollars is to be used for the processing and preservation of the papers he is donating to the school.” Burton glanced at me.

“I’m sure our president and trustees will be delighted,” I said. Godfrey had obviously made his plans for the archive before he ever consulted me. He came to me simply to talk about Justin, and I could understand that.

“There are bequests to a few charities,” Burton said. “And that is it.”

“How soon will my son actually be able to receive his bequest?” Julia leaned forward on the sofa, watching Burton like a proverbial hawk.

“The will must go through probate, naturally. There is also the investigation into Godfrey’s death,” Burton said. “Until that is concluded, nothing much can happen. And now there is an additional issue to consider, the true authorship of the novels that bear my client’s name. I really cannot say how that will affect the disposition of Godfrey’s estate.”

“What does the investigation have to do with it?” Rick Tackett asked. “I’m not sure I understand.”