***
Ashley, the receptionist at Bream and Associates, did not look overjoyed to see Donna appear from the elevator again. “Hello, Ashley. I need to see Ms. Freeman again please.”
“I’m sorry; I’ve forgotten your name.”
“Donna Zimmer. Please tell her I have the form, and I will just need a few minutes of her time.”
“I’ll tell her. Would you like…?”
“Nothing to drink, thank you. Just a few minutes with Ms. Freeman. I’ll wait right over there.”
Ashley nodded and scurried off down the hall. Donna settled back into the chair near the window, prepared for a long wait. However, when Ashley came back into the lobby area, she came straight over. “Ms. Freeman can see you now.”
She must have made her point about her valuable time this morning, Donna thought. Now she just wants to get me out of her hair. Donna arranged her face into a pleasant, professional mask and stepped into Ms. Freeman’s office.
“Hello, Ms. Freeman. Here is the form you requested. Do you have Kristen’s information available?”
Ms. Freeman glanced over the form before replying. “Yes I have her files here.” She opened the top folder and handed Donna a paper. “This is the memo we sent Ms. Meredith about the late payments.”
“Yes, I’ve already seen that. What is the longer record of payments for this account?”
“It looks like everything was coming in on time and in full until a few months ago.”
“Have you contacted the party involved?” Donna asked.
“We send an automatically generated letter to any late payers. Other than that, Ms. Meredith has specifically requested that we not contact the late payer.”
“I see.”
Ms. Freeman cleared her throat and looked at a spot somewhere over Donna’s left shoulder. “It occurs to me that someone who was unhappy with management of a certain asset might use non-communication as a way to provoke a foreclosure in order to regain control of the property. If asked my opinion on such a strategy, I would advise against it, as property values have fallen somewhat in the recent past.”
Donna tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. After a moment she asked, “What would give you the idea that this hypothetical person would behave in this way? Is that something her father would have done?”
“Ross?” Ms. Freeman’s face softened, becoming almost human for an instant. “Oh no. Mr. Meredith was very straightforward. He would have contacted the debtor immediately and worked out some sort of payment plan.”
“Well, I don’t think foreclosure is what Kristen has in mind, either. In fact, I doubt she would foreclose even if several payments were missed.”
“I’m not sure that is her decision,” Ms. Freeman said.
Donna looked up from the papers. “What do you mean?”
“I am not a lawyer, Ms. Zimmer, and I don’t give legal advice…”
Donna nodded. “Go on.”
“The estate of Ross Meredith has not yet cleared probate and, as executrix, Ms. Meredith is required to pursue collection of all debts.”
“Surely if she is the sole beneficiary…”
“I’m afraid she is not. While the bulk of the estate goes to her, there were several charities mentioned in the will. If Ms. Meredith does not meet her fiduciary responsibilities, the boards of those charities could possibly decide on legal action in order to collect the maximum amount possible.”
Donna nodded. “I see. Thank you for your time, Ms. Freeman.” Donna stood and handed her a business card. “I would appreciate it if you could forward those files to me in encrypted form at the email address on this card.”
“All right. It might take a day or two.”
“As soon as possible, please. In the meantime, I have the basics here in the memo. Goodbye Ms. Freeman. Enjoy your evening.” At the other woman’s nod, Donna turned and retraced her steps down the hallway to the receptionist desk. Ashley was focused on her computer, intensely studying the Facebook page of someone named Jason. She almost jumped out of the chair when Donna spoke behind her. “Good afternoon Ashley. Thank you for your help.”
“Uh, you’re welcome,” Ashley squeaked.
Donna smiled and continued onto the elevator. Ah, the corporate world. The careful fencing with words and trying to portray meaning without actually saying anything that could later be quoted.
Ms. Freeman was right, though, about Kristen’s duties in executing the will. If any more payments were missed, this situation could get ugly. Kristen had endured enough heartache in her life, losing both of her parents in less than two years, and Donna certainly didn’t want to add to her troubles by pointing a finger at her fiancé, but it didn’t look good.
Donna’s phone beeped. A text from Kristen: Won’t be home for dinner – eating with Matt. Help yourself to anything in frig. Donna decided that Matt was the next person she needed to see.
Four-thirty. Probably still time to catch him at his office, which, according to the documents, was across the street from the apartment complex. Donna found a parking place nearby on the street, which she considered a small miracle this close to a large apartment complex.
A bell jingled as she opened the door. The office was a medium-sized room with a small couch, two chairs, and a water cooler. They were arranged around a coffee table piled with magazines on one end. A tiny barrel cactus in a clay pot perched on the windowsill. The other end of the room was partially concealed by a divider screen. Donna could see Matt leaning in his desk chair to peer around the screen at whoever had just come in.
“Donna!” He jumped out of the chair and came to meet her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Hello Matt. Good to see you again so soon. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Of course.” Matt looked puzzled, but politely ushered Donna to a chair in front of the battered desk. A Sotheby’s catalog was lying open on the desk, displaying the image of a stone statue, arms folded, expression fierce. The statue was colorfully decorated in red, black, and yellow. Reading upside down, Donna saw that the estimated price was $80,000 to $100,000.
Matt pulled over another visitor chair, turned it to face her and sat down. “Now what can I do for you?”
“Well, Matt, as you know, Kristen has asked me to check over some of her business accounting. How is the apartment business going? Any problems recently, with the economic downturn and all?”
“No, it has been going pretty well. We’re completely occupied, mostly with college students. We have a great location near the campus and we purposely rent the apartments for just under the going rate. That means we have at least five applications for every opening, and we can afford to be picky. When I select tenants, I lean toward upper classmen and check references and credit carefully. So far, we haven’t had many problems with collection. At least not serious problems, occasionally some of the renters are late and I have to keep after them to get the payment, but they hardly ever skip out.”
“That sounds promising,” Donna said. “So do you keep all the records yourself?”
Matt laughed. “No, math isn’t my thing. Most of the rent checks go directly to the bookkeeper, Heather. I just collect the rents that pay directly in cash or that Heather informs me are late. Then I drop those off at her office to process. I handle the rental agreements and maintenance and things like that.”
“Who signs the checks?”
“I do. Heather gets everything ready and I go by and sign the checks every week or two. Actually my uncle is a signer on the account too, but he doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day business.”
Matt frowned. “Wait a minute.” He cocked his head at Donna. “This place belongs to my uncle, not Kristen. As long as we make the payments, none of this ends up on Kristen’s books.” He looked directly into Donna’s face. “Why are you really here, Donna? It’s not just a general look-over, is it?”
Donna shook her head. “No, Matt. I’m here about the missing and late payments.?
??
“What payments?”
“The monthly payments that Arlyn and Russell are supposed to be making to Meredith Enterprises.”
Matt’s eyes widened. “Supposed to be making? You mean we’ve missed some payments? This is the first I’ve heard about it. Are you sure?”
“That is what her accountants tell me.”
Matt stood and began pacing. “But this is serious. How could I not know about this?” He ran his hand through his thick blond hair. “I need to talk to Heather. Darn, it is after five. She will have gone home. How far behind are we?”
Donna pulled out the memo and showed Matt the missing, late, and partial payments.
Matt nodded decisively. “Okay first thing tomorrow I’ll talk to Heather and give you a ring, okay? We need to get to the bottom of this, the sooner the better.”
“I’d like to talk to Heather too and get a look at your books, if that would be okay,” Donna said, writing her cell number on a business card and handing it to Matt.
“All right. In fact, that is actually a good idea. I don’t know much about accounting.” Matt shook his head. “I thought Heather was on top of this stuff. Maybe the payment got lost in the mail or something?”
“Maybe. We’ll see. I’ll expect a call on my cell phone tomorrow then?”
Matt nodded, his head obviously somewhere else.
Donna let herself out of the office and walked across the street to the apartment complex. Three long two-story apartment buildings surrounded a central courtyard area. The courtyard had a sand volleyball court, a horseshoe pit, and a small children’s playground with swings and a slide. The rest of the courtyard had pathways winding through trees and flowerbeds, with benches and tables scattered throughout. A paved area with several BBQ grills was in heavy use already, a dozen or so young adults cooking burgers and hot dogs. Everything looked to be in good repair.
Donna counted the apartments and then walked into the parking lots. There were multiple parking spaces for each apartment. As Donna knew from her daughter's experiences, this luxury was hard to find in college rentals. This was a well-run business. There was no good reason that it shouldn’t be generating enough money to pay the bills. Something was up.
Donna felt the tension of the day in her neck and shoulders. She needed to get away from offices and work out some of the kinks. According to the map the car rental place had provided, there was a park nearby. Donna considered going back to Kristen’s house to change, but decided not to take the time. Fortunately, she had thrown a pair of sneakers into the jeep this morning just in case. She would take advantage of this beautiful setting and go for a walk.