Carl finished his lunch and set his plate back on the coffee table. "I bet that made Nick furious."
"It did at first," said Austin, "but then he decided it was an easy way to keep track of Mathew too. Nick put a limit of $5,000.00 a week on the card, but it didn't slow Mathew down much. It was still enough to gamble, pay for hotels, dinners and lots of women's jewelry he didn't give his wife."
"He's probably my ex-wife's brother," Carl mumbled. "They run in packs, you know."
Michael ignored Carl and asked, "Anything else interesting in the credit card statements?"
"Neither one of them bought anything for a baby, or Nick would have spotted it. Mathew is a gambler and goes all over the world to indulge his habit. What he can't get from the card, he gets from Laura."
"So when she got pregnant, Nick didn't find out," Jackie said.
*
"No," Austin answered. "Laura must have paid cash for her initial doctor's visits." Austin paused to take the last bite of his sandwich. "I need to eat here more often, this is good." He used the napkin to wipe his hands and mouth, and washed his food down with more coffee. "My office is in the Gladstone Building right across the plaza."
"On the other side of the fountain?" Carl asked.
"That's the one. I live in the suite on the top floor," Austin answered.
"How did Nick find out about his granddaughter?" Jackie asked.
"A week before Nick died, Adelaide Bertrand came to see him. She claimed to be his granddaughter's nanny in France."
"France?" asked Carl.
"I checked it against the old expense records and it is true; the Connellys spent six months there the year the nanny claims Georgia was born."
"So we have the granddaughter's name at least," said Jackie.
Austin nodded. "Georgia Marie James."
"James?" asked Carl. "They didn't even give her their last name?"
"That's the name the nanny was given. Nick didn't get a phone number or an address for Miss Bertrand. He didn't believe her at first, and neither did I, but two things convinced us otherwise. First, the Connellys were in France that year and second, Miss Bertrand didn't want money. She just wanted to clear her conscience. Compared to the long lost relatives that have come out of the woodwork since Nick died, Miss Bertrand is a breath of fresh air. Fortunately, none of them have filed to contest the will."
"What did the nanny have to feel guilty about?" Jackie asked.
"She felt bad that she didn't come to him sooner. I guess she didn't know Georgia had a grandfather until she read something in one of the tabloids. The tabloids still talk about Nick sometimes. Even after she found out, she still didn't contact him. She was too scared."