Chapter 3 Emotional Assessor
Cook was in his sixties, with a head full of white hair. His temporary office was in the side hall on the first floor of the main residence. Seven lawyers sat at the table working, with computers on the table and a large amount of paper materials in front of them. Cook was much more polite than his assistant. After shaking hands with Liang Xi, he asked about John's health in a friendly manner.
Cook invited Liang Xi to enter the inner room, and told Liang Xi that the lawyers outside were taking inventory of the estate's property, preparing documents for the title heir, and applying for a seat in the Senate. British families used the primogeniture system to inherit titles and fiefdoms. This situation lasted until the 1920s. The new law retains the primogeniture system, but allows fiefdoms to be distributed as limited inheritance property through wills. If there is no will distribution, the eldest son will inherit. As for private property, such as money, stocks, etc., it is not affected by the title inheritance system.
Cook asked Liang Xi to sit down. "Jack has explained the situation to you. Time is limited. I must produce the will before eight o'clock tomorrow night. If you need any help, please ask."
Liang Xi asked: "Theoretically, everything in the manor, including the children's residence, is also an inheritance?"
Cook nodded: "Yes."
Liang Xi said: "I need to investigate the case as your assistant, and I can enter and exit various places as I please."
Cook said: "This is a must. Your duty is to evaluate and record the assets in the manor. With this identity, you can enter and exit all places. But I believe you are polite and know that there are some places that you should ask for permission before entering."
Liang Xi asked: "What if I don't know how to be polite? You know, sometimes you can't be polite."
Cook looked at Liang Xi and said, "As long as we find the will, everything will be easy."
Liang Xi nodded, knowing what was going on. Cook looked calm on the surface, but he was almost broken inside, so he used himself as a lifeline. Liang Xi asked, "Can you introduce the four heirs?" To find the will, we must first identify the suspect of the theft.
Earl Davis and his family did not directly participate in the operation. Davis handed over his assets to the trust fund company for supervision, investment and management. There are many investment projects and businesses all over the world. Davis' children can receive 20,000 pounds of trust funds every month.
Dai Da is fifty years old and is an assistant program director at Reading TV station.
Dai Er is 48 years old and is a retired military officer who has served for 12 years. He currently works as a ground engineer at an airport in London.
Dai San is 45 years old and is a pastor who works in a church in Reading Town. His daily work is mostly related to charity.
Ms. Dai is 44 years old and is an associate professor at the University of Reading. She is an academic professor who mainly studies and improves the history of the Renaissance.
All four of them had good backgrounds, and it was unclear from their resumes who was likely to have committed the crime. Liang Xi directly passed over the four suspected main residence staff because they had no interest in stealing the will.
…
The fifty-something housekeeper led Liang Xi up to the second floor and into the Earl's master bedroom. The master bedroom was large and had its own separate living room. Strictly speaking, it wasn't beautiful, and Liang Xi really couldn't appreciate the half-length portrait hanging on the wall. The carvings on the stairs and the marble-colored walls didn't bring beauty. Liang Xi also knew his taste, and he really praised it in front of the housekeeper.
The butler helped to open all the doors and stood at the door of the master bedroom. As a butler, he treated the earl's descendants politely and respectfully, but he was not loyal to any of his children. He was loyal to the earl and the manor. If the new earl was willing, he could stay and continue to manage the manor and be loyal to the new earl. If the new earl was not satisfied, he would not have too many memories .
The large bed in the bedroom finally brought a bit of modern atmosphere. On the wall next to it hung an oil painting of the earl's wife when she was young. Liang Xi carefully took down the painting and placed it against the wall, looking at the built-in safe hidden behind the portrait.
Liang Xi was speechless after taking a look at the safe. This was the simplest safe with a six-digit password. Liang Xi thought about it and thought, how can I open this safe if I don't know the password? Liang Xi looked at the Earl's family information sent to him by Cook Assistant on his mobile phone and randomly entered the birthday of the Earl's wife: 590402. The safe just popped open.
These rich people are so bad. They are so rich, but they still use such simple safes, which is simply encouraging others to commit crimes.
The safe is divided into two layers, the upper layer is larger and the lower layer is smaller. The lower layer has many compartments, which contain various jewelry. Liang Xi picked up a gem necklace and squinted at it for a while under the light. The necklace is worth more than 500,000 pounds. Liang Xi turned his head to face the bedroom door and looked at the hall. There was no one in the main room.
After all, gemstone necklaces are counted by the piece, so it is risky to take them. The diamonds in the grid on one side are counted by the piece, and basically no one will notice if you take one away. Liang Xi picked up a diamond and squinted at the light. It was basically certain that it was a diamond without a laser number. Such a big one would cost tens of thousands of pounds.
Liang Xi put the diamond back and pushed the lower drawer of the safe back. The upper drawer was mostly filled with documents, such as the power of attorney contract. According to Cook, when the new will was sealed, Cook, the butler and a maid were present. They were all witnesses to the legitimacy of the new will and signed the seal.
Liang Xi called Cook: "Lawyer Cook, is the old will still there?"
Cook replied: "Yes."
Liang Xi asked: "Is it also a sealed will?"
Cook replied: "Yes."
Liang Xi said: "I need to add another identity: the heir's emotional assessor."
Cook was stunned: "This is the first time I've heard of this profession."
Liang Xi said, "There's always a first time. My job is to talk to the prospective heirs individually to assess their acceptance of the estate distribution. What if someone can't accept the result of not getting a penny and dies of anger on the spot? In order to be responsible to our clients, Cook Law Firm provides emotional assessment services for heirs."
Cook held the phone and thought for a long time: "As long as it helps find the will, of course."
Liang Xi said: "Lawyer Cook, you'd better be prepared for the worst."
Cook's heart skipped a beat and he asked, "What do you mean?"
Liang Xi explained: "If the thief was the beneficiary in the will, he would definitely choose to put the will back in the safe. Now there is no will in the safe, which means that the thief is at a disadvantage in the new will. Assuming that the new will is not found, the four children will share the assets equally. This means that the thief's share of the will is lower than the average."
Liang Xi said: "If I were a thief, I would destroy the will."
Cook: “Oh, yeah.”
Liang Xi said: "But this is only the worst possible scenario."
Cook sighed: "I understand, please do your best."
Liang Xi: “No problem.”
Don't give people too much expectation, because you don't know how much hope they have. Give a bad possibility, good result, people will thank you. Give a good possibility, bad result, people will resent you. This is the experience John has gained from 30 years of detective work.
Liang Xi first talked to the butler and maid who signed the seal alone for a while, and then visited the four heirs one by one.
