Her expression changed. “Sure,” she said quickly. “I can impersonate anyone. Who did you have in mind?”
Tyler leaned forward and began to talk.
Tyler had Margo Posner released into his custody.
As he explained to Keith Percy, the chief judge, “I learned that she’s a very talented artist, and she’s eager to live a normal, decent life. I think it’s important that we rehabilitate that type of person whenever we can, don’t you?”
Keith was impressed and surprised. “Absolutely, Tyler. That’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.”
Tyler moved Margo into his home and spent five full days briefing her on the Stanford family.
“What are the names of your brothers?”
“Tyler and Woodruff.”
“Woodrow.”
“That’s right—Woodrow.”
“What do we call him?”
“Woody.”
“Do you have a sister?”
“Yes. Kendall. She’s a designer.”
“Is she married?”
“She’s married to a Frenchman. His name is…Marc Renoir.”
“Renaud.”
“Renaud.”
“What was your mother’s name?”
“Rosemary Nelson. She was a governess to the Stanford children.”
“Why did she leave?”
“She got knocked up by…”
“Margo!” Tyler admonished her.
“I mean, she became pregnant by Harry Stanford.”
“What happened to Mrs. Stanford?”
“She committed suicide.”
“What did your mother tell you about the Stanford children?”
Margo stopped to think for a minute.
“Well?”
“There was the time you fell out of the swan boat.”
“I didn’t fall out!” Tyler said. “I almost fell out.”
“Right. Woody almost got arrested for picking flowers in the Public Garden.”
“That was Kendall…”
He was ruthless. They went over the scenario again and again, late into the nights, until Margo was exhausted.
“Kendall was bitten by a dog.”
“I was bitten by the dog.”
She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t think straight anymore. I’m so tired. I need some sleep.”
“You can sleep later!”
“How long is this going to go on?” she asked defiantly.
“Until I think you’re ready. Now let’s go through it again.”
And on it went, over and over, until Margo became letter perfect. When the day finally arrived that she knew the answer to every question Tyler asked, he was satisfied.
“You’re ready,” he said. He handed her some legal documents.
“What’s this?”
“It’s just a technicality,” Tyler said casually.
What he had her sign was a paper giving her share of the Stanford estate to a corporation controlled by a second corporation, which in turn was controlled by an offshore subsidiary of which Tyler Stanford was the sole owner. There was no way they could trace the transaction back to Tyler.
Tyler handed Margo five thousand dollars in cash. “You’ll get the balance when the job is done,” he told her. “If you convince them that you’re Julia Stanford.”
From the moment Margo had appeared at Rose Hill, Tyler had played the devil’s advocate. It was the classic antipositional chess move.
“I’m sure you can understand our position, Miss…er…Without some positive proof, there’s no way…
“…I think the lady is a fraud….
“…How many servants worked in this house when we were children?…Dozens, right? And some of them would have known everything this young lady told us…Any one of them could have given her that photograph…Let’s not forget that there’s an enormous amount of money involved.”
His crowning move had been when he had demanded a DNA test. He had called Hal Baker and given him his new instructions: “Dig up Harry Stanford’s body and dispose of it.”
And then his inspiration of calling in a private detective. With the family present, he had telephoned the district attorney’s office in Chicago.
“This is Judge Tyler Stanford. I understand that your office retains a private detective from time to time who does excellent work for you. His name is something like Simmons or—”
“Oh, you must mean Frank Timmons.”
“Timmons! Yes, that’s it. I wonder if you could give me his telephone number so I can contact him directly?”
Instead, he had summoned Hal Baker and introduced him as Frank Timmons.
At first Tyler had planned for Hal Baker merely to pretend to go through the motions of checking on Julia Stanford, but then he decided it would make a more impressive report if Baker really pursued it. The family had accepted Baker’s findings without question.