but remember these hearings are secret. There’s no telling what may come out of it this time.”
Cliff and Laurel mulled over the problem for some time and then decided the only sensible course was to get a good night’s sleep and deal with whatever happened as it came along. They walked down the long corridor to their bedroom, arms around one another, each endeavoring to draw strength and encouragement from the other.
**********
Marilyn Wallberg’s older brother, Richard Spehn, of Chicago, drove out to Barrington Woods to be with her and offer whatever assistance he could provide in her bereavement. He was a businessman and investor who had a number of business interests including a string of Subway sandwich franchises in and around the city. A high energy level and an astute business sense had allowed him considerable financial success at a relatively early age. A native of Chicago and a product of the Catholic school system, at age forty-five Spehn retained much of the physique of the defensive back that had earned him a year at Marquette University. There he found the college’s requirement that he actually attend classes while performing on the football field conflicted with the demands of the sandwich delivery service he established and the temporary loan business with ten percent interest per week that he personally conducted. After a number of admonitions went unheeded, Spehn was dropped from the school’s roster of accredited and enrolled students. Spehn was then free to devote his full attention to building his little business empire and soon added a coin laundry near the school and eventually opened a small take-out hamburger stand. At the age of twenty-five, he sold out his business interests in Milwaukee and returned to Chicago where he bought his first Subway sandwich shop, eventually owning eleven more. He saw business as a game and he competed in it as fiercely as he did on the handball court or the golf course. He was devoted to his family and to his only sister, Marilyn Wallberg. Spehn accompanied his sister to the Fenster Funeral Home in Barrington Woods where the funeral director expressed his sympathy for her loss and then proceeded to guide her through the process of funeral selection. In a business-like manner Marilyn said, “My husband’s desire was for cremation, so if I assume correctly that you have only one way of doing that, then we’ve not much to talk about. He will be cremated.”
“It’s not a problem,” said the funeral director. We can arrange that easily.”
With her brother offering little comment, Mrs. Wallberg and the funeral director soon came to an understanding as to how the services and the cremation were to be handled. They left the funeral parlor and returned to the Wallberg home where the two children awaited them. Both the older boy, a senior in high school, and the fourteen-year-old daughter were disconsolate at the loss of their father and fearful of what the future held for them. Victor Wallberg had been a difficult and demanding father, insisting that they excel in school and at whatever other activity they might engage in, but they knew he loved them and wanted the best for them. With tears in their eyes they hugged their mother upon her return, sitting next to her on the sofa and holding her hands.
Her brother said, “Kids, do you mind if I talk to your mother privately for a little while.” With some urging from their mother, the two children retired to their rooms.
“What is it, Richard?”
“I was wondering about your finances. I know Victor made a lot of money but now that will stop. What’s your situation?”
Marilyn said woefully, “It’s not good. Victor didn’t leave me with much. I know he had an insurance policy at work but I don’t think it amounted to much; he always said life insurance was a scam. Victor acted as if he were going to live forever; he drank and smoked and didn’t bother to take care of himself. You know how he was, he never believed that the rules other people lived by applied to him. I suppose we have enough in the bank to live on for another six months or so. I really don’t know. Victor handled all that. I doubt if I’ll even be able to stay in the house. I’ll have to go back to work but I’m sure my income won’t come close to the mortgage payments and upkeep on this house. I’d hate to move and take the kids out of school but I don’t think I have any choice”
Richard said incredulously, “He was a CEO of a good-sized company. He must have made a good salary.”
Marilyn responded, “He did, but what did he do with it? I saw enough to run the house. That was about it.”
Spehn said, “We need to look into this very carefully. If necessary, I might be able to help out. My businesses are doing pretty well and I wouldn’t want to see my sister out on the street.”
She gave a weak smile and said, “That’s good of you, Richard, but I’m sure it won’t come to that. We’ll get along somehow.”
Later that afternoon as Marilyn and Richard were preparing to go to a florist and order some flowers for the wake, the phone rang. Marilyn picked it up. “Hello.”
An unfamiliar voice said, “Is this Mrs. Wallberg?”
“Yes,”
“Mrs. Wallberg, this is Walter Orleans. I’m the attorney for Technical Dynamics.”
“Oh yes, I remember now.”
“Then you know I’m the executor of your husband’s will.”
“No.” She cupped the phone and motioned for her brother to pick up the other phone. “No, I didn’t know. He never told me about a will.”
“Oh…Well then we need to talk. Can you be at my office tomorrow morning at ten? I’m in the office tower at the corner of County Line Road and Route 59.”
“Yes. Sure. I’ll be there.”
“Fine, I’ll see you then.”
She slammed down the phone. “You see what I mean. Wouldn’t you think that a husband would tell his wife that he made a will?”
Spehn shook his head in rueful agreement.
“Richard, I want you to come with me. I haven’t dealt with legal or financial matters since Victor and I got married.”
“No problem, Sis.”
The next day Marilyn Wallberg, dressed in a simple black dress, and her brother arrived on time and were ushered in to Orlean’s office. Richard Spehn’s impression of Orleans was that he seemed to be working hard to give the appearance of a corporate lawyer. He was well dressed in an expensive dark blue suit and a dazzling white shirt. He wore a subdued red tie with a subtle blue stripe, very elegant. He was a medium-sized man in his early sixties with an abundance of thick silvery hair. He exuded confidence as he directed his two visitors to seats next to his mahogany desk. “Thank you for coming, Mrs. Wallberg,” he said in cultivated tones.
“This is my brother, Richard Spehn,” she replied. “He’s been holding me together during this terrible time.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Orleans said with a smile that had a hint of condescension in it. They shook hands
He turned to Marilyn. “From our phone conversation it appears that my news has come as a surprise to you.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” said Marilyn.
“Top executives sometimes have only business affairs on their minds,” said Orleans in explanation of Wallberg’s behavior. Orleans cleared his throat and said, “I have his will here.”
