Read Online The Heir Hunter by Chris Larsgaard - Free Book Online Page A

mint condition was parked in the driveway of the home, and a well-kept bed of flowers along the front perimeter of the house shimmied in the breeze. Alex half expected to see a woman in a bonnet in the middle of it, snipping roses. She looked around. This was the kind of neighborhood she wanted for her mother—a quiet community with a police force that had trouble keeping busy.
    She glanced at her watch. It was 8:30 A.M. ; she could see her mother on the subway en route to work—eight hours of drudgery to earn a check that would have put her on the street years ago were it not for her daughter’s support. She closed her eyes. Ten years ago, her mother had regularly sent a portion of her minuscule weekly paycheck to help pay her daughter’s college tuition. She had wanted that degree even more than her daughter did.
    She stared at Bonnie’s house and gave a determined frown. They needed to find these heirs.
    She approached the front door and gathered her thoughts momentarily before pressing the bell. Instantly she could hear a hysterical little dog yapping and scratching behind the door. Several seconds passed, but there were no other signs of life. She pressed the bell again, further inciting the dog. Suddenly there was a rattling of chains and dead bolts from inside. The door opened several inches, and an old woman—her thin white hair a scraggly mess—peered out. Alex could see several chain lengths still attached to the inside of the door. They stood staring at each other momentarily before the woman spoke.
    “Yes?”
    “I’m sorry to disturb you this morning, ma’am. Are you Bonnie Schliegel?”
    “Yes, that’s me.”
    The door was open barely five inches. Alex reached for her business card and extended it toward the gap.
    “Miss Schliegel, my name is Alex Moreno. I’m a private investigator from Albany. I was hoping—”
    “One moment,” the woman said, turning abruptly to the howling little beast at her feet. Alex heard her scolding the frenzied animal as she led it away. The woman had not taken her card, so Alex put it back in her pocket.
    “Now, what were you saying?” the woman asked, her face framed in the five-inch gap once again.
    “Yes, ma’am, I was saying that I’m a private investigator from Albany. I’m here researching Gerald Jacobs’s family. The reason I’m visiting you is because your name was mentioned in Mr. Jacobs’s obituary and I was hoping that you might know something about him.”
    Bonnie squinted. “Are you with the IRS?”
    “Uh . . . no, ma’am. I’m not with anyone. I work alone.”
    The woman eyed her as Alex pondered the significance of her question. Something in the eyes told Alex that there were at least a few screws rattling around upstairs.
    “What do you want to know about him?” Bonnie asked, a bit harshly.
    “Did you know Mr. Jacobs?”
    “As well as anyone did.”
    “Would you mind sitting down with me for a few minutes to answer a few questions about him?”
    Alex held her breath. Bonnie looked her over warily and abruptly closed the door. Alex’s heart sank momentarily until she heard the chains being unlatched. The door swung open.
    “I suppose it’s okay, but if it turns out you’re with the IRS, I’ll have nothing to say to you.”
    Alex thanked her and stepped inside. Bonnie led herinto a musty living room and motioned her to a chair. Several cats lounged about a worn couch, unimpressed with Alex’s appearance. Bonnie guided the annoying little dog away to another room and returned, sitting across from Alex on the sunken, hair-coated couch.
    “I don’t normally let strangers in my house, but you say you’re here about Gerald. That makes you . . . interesting to me.”
    Gerald
, thought Alex, folding her hands in her lap. The fact that she was on a first-name basis with him was a very promising sign.
    “I appreciate this.”
    Bonnie lit a cigarette and held it back over her shoulder. A striped tabby leapt into her lap and curled