San Tian Liang Jiao

Chapter 1376 The Mystery of the Will (Part 2)

Chapter 140 Doubts

Zuo Yan thought for a moment and looked at Victor, "However... there's still something I don't quite understand."

"You feel there's still a question about the motive, right?" Victor responded.

"Yes." Zuo Yan nodded. "According to you, John is a well-known promising young man, while Sam is just a spoiled rich kid... In this situation, old Herbert would have been very likely to leave the inheritance to John. Even if old Herbert didn't want to treat his two sons differently, the inheritance should have been split equally between the two brothers. There's no way Sam would get the lion's share." He paused. "Furthermore... John, who has already established himself in the business world, can live very well even if he doesn't inherit a single penny. On the other hand, Sam, who spends his days indulging in pleasure and knows nothing but spending money... he probably wouldn't survive without the family's financial support."

"From this perspective, what reason does John have to risk forging a will? Is it because he hates his brother so much... that he must leave him penniless?" As he said this, Zuo Yan frowned and pondered for two seconds. "But... if that's really the case, why did he offer to give Sam 100,000 pounds?"

"Think about your 'first step back' again, and then tell me yourself where the crux of the matter lies." Victor didn't answer Zuo Yan's question, but instead gave him half a hint and half a request.

"Oh?" Zuo Yan heard this and immediately obediently rethought the matter, then recited, "You mean... the situation of 'splitting the inheritance equally' is unacceptable to John?"

"It is not." Victor said.

"Why?" Zuo Yan questioned.

"Because he's short of money." Victor gave a simple, unexpected, but very reasonable answer.

"John is short of money?" Zuo Yan was indeed surprised by this answer.

"Heh..." Victor smiled. "Which of the following types of people do you think is more likely to incur huge debts? First, an ambitious young entrepreneur who sees himself as an elite and does big business; second, a rich young master who attends various social parties all day, indulging in eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping with models, and never considers the so-called 'future'."

Although the two types of people described in this sentence are completely opposite, one is a "money maker" and the other is a "money spender," the interesting thing is that the former is often the one who is driven to desperation by debt.

"Hey, hey..." Zuo Yan also realized that Victor's understanding of this case far exceeded the level of an average bystander, so he asked, "You know a little too much, don't you? This isn't something you can grasp just by looking at the news in the newspaper, is it?"

"Half a month after John inherited all of Herbert's property..." Victor thought as he spoke, "I saw a news report on television about 'Herbert Group financing.' This report... was the real reason I became interested in the previous inheritance lawsuit; that afternoon, I went online (yes, Victor knows how to use a computer to go online. Of course, he won't let anyone find out about this except for Zuo Yan) to check some information about that financing. That information isn't confidential; it can be easily found on some business-related websites... Although this financing seems to be just a routine merger between a family business and the entrepreneur's own company by someone who inherited the family business, if you take the time to look through the accounts of his own company and many of the trends in the previous year, you'll find many interesting things."

"So..." Hearing this, Zuo Yan naturally guessed John's motive, "The person who can't accept 'equal inheritance' is actually John... The deficit in his business has become so large that even 'half of Herbert's assets' can't fill it. Only by inheriting all of the property can he solve his crisis."

"No, no, no..." Victor replied in a rather relaxed tone, "Herbert's family is wealthy and powerful. To solve John's difficulties, 'half of the property' should be enough. But the problem is... the half that John can inherit is definitely related to the company, such as real estate and shares; while the half that Sam gets is the real 'money' that can be spent at will."

"Not to mention their father, even outsiders know that this is how it should be allocated, because Sam has no ability to manage and operate the Herbert Company."

"However, if things develop according to this situation, John will have to 'liquidate' some things after inheriting his share of the property to solve his predicament, which would look very bad... It would be tantamount to announcing his failure to the world in a high-profile manner."

"John is obviously a person who is unwilling to admit his failure in front of others. If he were willing to do so, he wouldn't need to engage in any inheritance conspiracy. While his father is still alive, he can just ask his father directly... As long as old Herbert nods, John's predicament can definitely be solved."

"So, he carefully designed such a good show of a 'fake will'..." Zuo Yan continued along Victor's words, "And deliberately left loopholes when forging the will, step by step leading his brother into the trap. Finally, he used the stereotype of him and his brother by outsiders to make everything seem logical."

"We must admit that as a criminal... John is quite clever." Victor continued, "If he wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult to forge a fake will that would benefit himself and be flawless. Even if his brother sued him in court because of this, he might not lose." As he spoke, he stroked the fur on his head with his little paw. "But John didn't do that. He chose a more complicated method... Only in this way can Sam be labeled as a 'liar and rogue' to prevent future trouble."

"As for his behavior of taking out 100,000 pounds afterward, it is indeed, as Sam said, using money that already belonged to the other party to give alms to the other party... For John, who has already received the entire inheritance, the 100,000 pounds is of course insignificant, but his behavior of 'being mindful of brotherly feelings and giving money to his brother even though he knew his brother was forging a will' is undoubtedly an excellent public relations move for himself."

"Hmm... the motive and the case make sense." Zuo Yan said thoughtfully, "But don't you think there's a flaw in your reasoning?"

"Tell me, let me hear it." Victor knew very well what Zuo Yan wanted to say, but he didn't point it out, but waited for Zuo Yan to bring it up himself.

"Old Herbert died of illness." Zuo Yan said, "John can forge a will to set up a scheme, but he can't possibly..."

At this point, Zuo Yan seemed to have thought of something, his expression suddenly changed, and his words stopped abruptly.

"Can't possibly what?" Victor smiled. "Can't possibly make old Herbert's death come sooner?"

"Are there still some things you haven't told me?" Zuo Yan squinted his eyes and looked down at Victor.

"I said that Sam only spends one or two months at home each year, but I didn't say that John only spends so little time there..." Victor said, "Although John's business is mainly in the UK, he himself lives on this island for the vast majority of the year... This hasn't changed even now; this can be regarded as one of the benefits of the information age. People can handle most things in front of a computer, and even handwritten signatures can be transmitted through digital technology."

Hearing these words, Zuo Yan also had a good idea of the nature of this case, and then he murmured, "If you are in the same house as the deceased for a long time... chronic poisoning is more convenient, and it is not easy to trace."

"The specific method may not be chronic poisoning, it may be some other method..." Victor said, "Old Herbert died at home, not in the hospital. Therefore, the person who announced his death was also Herbert's family doctor; as far as I know... this doctor is about the same age as old Herbert. Perhaps John's method deceived the old man, or perhaps he was bought off... In short, no one questioned the conclusion of 'death by illness' at the time."

"A few years later, the doctor himself had also passed away, and old Herbert's body had long been 'buried at sea' by John."

"Both died with no proof..." Zuo Yan said.

"Hmph..." Victor snorted coldly. "A person like John will not leave obvious handles." He turned over on the bed. "I have a friend who can be said to be the 'world's most outstanding armchair detective.' Over the years, he has only recognized a large number of criminals like John who are at large through newspapers and news."

"Uh... your 'friend'... wouldn't also be a cat, would he?" Zuo Yan asked.

"Of course it's a cat, what did you think?" Victor replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"It's nothing... you continue." The corners of Zuo Yan's mouth twitched twice, and he didn't say anything else. After all, he wasn't Jue Ge, and his desire to complain wasn't that strong.

"After understanding these things, we can almost start talking about the main topic..." Victor continued, "Previously, the one we met in front of the elevator door, namely Sam Herbert, who has disappeared for many years... According to my observations in those few seconds, he may have been involved in some illegal event."