The Counterfeit Will on Maple Street

The library at 44 Maple Street was lined with floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves and smelled of aged paper and old pipe tobacco. Outside, an October rain beat relentlessly against the bay windows. For seventy years, Walter Sterling had ruled his commercial real estate empire with quiet discipline. Now, forty-eight hours after his funeral, the wolves gathered around the hearth.

Julian Sterling, forty-two, sat with his legs crossed in an Italian wool suit, checking the gold Rolex his father had given him for his MBA graduation. Beside him sat his wife, Vanessa, whose diamond solitaire sparkled under the chandelier.

Across from them sat Sarah Sterling. She wore a simple dark wool coat and sensible leather shoes. For the last six years, while Julian was building luxury condos in Miami, Sarah had lived in the carriage house behind the manor, bathing their father, managing his dialysis appointments, and reading him historical novels when his eyesight began to fail.

"Let's not prolong the inevitable, Mr. Thornton," Julian said, checking his watch with thinly veiled irritation. "We all know Father's state of mind deteriorated in his final months. Fortunately, three months ago, while he was staying with us in Palm Beach, he drafted and signed an updated holographic will."

Julian reached into his leather briefcase and slid a notarized document across the desk to the family attorney, Donald Thornton.

Sarah's hands tightened in her lap. "Palm Beach? Julian, Dad was only in Florida for four days for a medical consultation. He couldn't even walk without assistance."

"He was lucid enough to understand that leaving half of an eighteen-million-dollar real estate trust to a part-time high school art teacher was financial suicide," Vanessa chimed in with a patronizing smile. "Don't worry, Sarah. Julian and I have agreed to give you a seventy-five-thousand-dollar living allowance and six months to find an apartment in town."

Attorney Thornton, who had represented Walter Sterling since the Carter administration, adjusted his spectacles and picked up the paper. The document stated in clear terms that Julian Sterling was named sole executor and heir to all commercial properties, the Maple Street manor, and three private investment funds.