The Conundrum of the Passing of the Guard - The Hugh Kerr Mystery Series Book XX

The Hugh Kerr Mystery Series Book XX

When Captain Robert Andrew, recently retired from forty years active service in the army, walks into the law office of Hugh Kerr and Associate, Ellen Kerr has grave misgivings about him. His legal quest is simple enough: is he legally responsible for his father if the elder Andrew could no longer care for himself? Offered his legal options, Robert states his belief his father, Ian Andrew, is in need of professional care. He asks Hugh to substantiate his opinion and after interviewing Ian, the Kerrs are reluctantly forced to agree. After obtaining a power of attorney for Robert, who promptly had the elder Andrew transferred to a nursing home, they are distressed to learn Mr. Ian had not thrived in his new surroundings and quickly died. Feeling guilty for their part in the tragedy, Hugh reluctantly agrees to be present for the reading of the will.
As Mr. Ian’s lawyer suspected, there is immediate controversy when Robert is informed he is to inherit his father’s property, but not his quarter-of-a-million-dollar bank account. That fortune was bequeathed to Elizabeth Best, a young woman belonging to a community known as the “ghost people,” whom the local townsmen accused of practicing witchcraft and celebrating pagan traditions.
Having no interest in further representing Robert Andrew in any fight over the estate, the Kerrs believed they were through with their client until he calls from jail where he is being questioned as a suspect in the brutal murder of Miss Best. Ellen immediately implores Hugh not to take his case, but despite his belief in Andrew’s guilt and his own guilty conscience, Hugh accepts, as he explains, “in the interest of justice” – a situation leading to personal and professional conflict.