Chapter 7

After a restless night, I woke to William ringing the doorbell the next morning. I let him in and excused myself, so I could get cleaned up and dressed. As I cleaned up, I started recalling that in my dreams I had been talking with Cathy. She had been explaining something about a Third and Fourth Dimension.

Somehow, I knew that I was actually communicating with Cathy, not just dreaming. Our communication was broken and garbled, so I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell me about the two dimensions. I set the matter aside for later consideration; for Cathy was dead, thus it must have been just a very real dream, even though I still felt like I was linked to her.

Our first stop was at Art and Mary’s bank. William introduced me to the bank manager, presented him with documentation that proved Art and Mary were dead, and that he was the executor of their estate. He then explained the situation to him.

William took control of their personal and business accounts. I had to fill out and sign several forms to gain access to the business accounts. William made it clear to me that I would have to account for all deposits and withdrawals made to and from the accounts, so I needed to keep good records.

Our next stop was the accountant’s office. Art and Mary used the same accounting firm, so that made things a little simpler. As he did at the bank, William provided the documentation necessary to prove Art and Mary were deceased, and that he was the executor of their estate. He introduced me as their son-in-law and temporary manager of the two businesses.

The accountant was surprised that such a young person was to manage both firms. William explained that if probate proceeded as he expected, I would become the owner of both firms, so it made sense for me to be the interim manager of the two firms.

William explained that he wanted a clear dividing line between Art and Mary’s control of their respective businesses and his management of the businesses as the executor. He directed the accounting firm to close out the books of both firms effective 8:00 AM of Sunday morning and to create new accounts for subsequent transactions. I was told that this was a commonly used method for delineating responsibility, and that it would be repeated when probate closed and I officially became the owner of the businesses.

The accountant and William proceeded to give me an education in what I would need to do in maintaining the records. At least what I needed to tell and provide the accountant regarding the day-to-day financial transactions of the businesses and how to convey that information to the accountant. It wasn’t that complicated for the two business’s Payroll, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable departments normally passed the information to the accounting firm. I just had to monitor their activities.

Our final stop for the day was at Art’s office where I met Mister Hank Masen, the Vice President that I had spoken to the prior day. We provided the documentation that proved Art was dead and William was his executor.

William said, “I will retain overall responsibility for the business, and I will be available for major decisions. I want the two of you to work together to manage the normal day-to-day activities. For anything out of the ordinary, contact me before taking any action.

“Hank, Ward will be helping you because, if probate goes as I think it will, Ward will inherit Art and Mary’s businesses.

“Ward, I will arrange for Mary’s employees to meet with you and me at my office at 9:00 tomorrow morning for a similar meeting.”

Then William left the two of us to develop a working arrangement. The VP and I sat down and started sounding each other out.

The difference in our ages made things awkward, but we decided on informality. So, it became Hank, which was his nickname, and Ward.

I started our discussion off with, “Hank, I want to make it very clear from the start that I know nothing about investment management. I need to rely on your knowledge and experience. However, I am willing to listen, learn, and take on my portion of the workload to the best of my ability.”

Hank said, “I’m glad to hear that, Ward. When William said you were likely to inherit the company, I thought you might be one of those people who would try to bluster your way through something they knew nothing about. That would probably cause numerous problems for me and the company.”

“Hank, I think you and the other VPs should assume Art’s responsibilities until I know enough to take them on.

“William said something to me earlier today that led me to believe he may have to sell off a number of Art’s investments to pay the estate taxes. I assume those investments are the bulk of what the company manages.”

“No, Art’s investments only amount to about a third of the company’s investments in stocks and bonds, Ward. We also manage real estate and other types of investments. But if William has to sell off a significant portion of Art’s personal stocks and bonds, then we may have a problem. We may have to reorganize the business’s structure. I will need to talk with William about that.”

“Hank, if there is a problem, let’s keep that possibility quiet for now, until we know enough to make an informed decision.”

“I agree, Ward.”

Hank showed me to the reception room of Art’s office and introduced me to his personal assistant, Samantha Johnston. She preferred ‘Sam.’ Hank let her know that from this point on she would be supporting me.

Hank then showed me into Art’s office and said, “I will have Sam clear the office of Art’s personal belongs and store them. Once that is done, the office will be yours to use.”

I said, “I want to speak briefly with Sam and then I’ll need to leave to take care of arranging for the internment of Art, Mary, and Cathy.”

After Hank returned to his office, I spoke with Sam to establish an initial rapport with her and to find out her preferred working relationship.

“I’ve never had a secretary, Sam. What did you normally do for Art?”

“I was more than Art’s secretary, Ward. I was his personal assistant. In addition to my company duties, I handled a lot of his personal affairs, which was primarily running personal errands for him.

I didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot with Sam for she was a very attractive single woman, probably in her early thirties, but I am terrible at estimating women’s ages.

I said, “I will probably want a similar relationship, Sam. Right now, I have nothing to do for the company. Tomorrow, I will start learning about what I need to do to manage the company. Today, I need to arrange for Art, Mary, and Cathy’s funeral. However, I know very little about Art and Mary’s friends, acquaintances, and business associates. I’m thinking of a church service for the people who knew Art, Mary, and Cathy followed by a graveside service for their close personal friends and acquaintances. Can you help me by preparing a preliminary list of people I should invite to the church service and a second list for the gravesite service?”

Sam must have been on the edge of breaking down and my request must have been the trigger to her accepting the reality of Art’s death for she began to cry. As Sam sobbed she said she just couldn’t believe that they were gone. I’m no good at dealing with an upset woman, especially one older than I am. All I could think of was to commiserate with her, and I did so.

In a weepy voice I said, “Sam, I know how you feel. I keep hoping I’ll wake up and find it is just a horrible nightmare. If making the lists of invitees is too much for you at this time, let me know. I can get someone else to take care of that task.”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Sam said, “I’m the only one in the company who knows who should be invited to each service. So you don’t need to get someone else. I can handle it once I stop crying. I will need input for Mary and Cathy’s friends and associates.”

“Take as much time as you need, Sam. There is no rush. Perhaps, you may want to visit the lady’s lounge to refresh yourself. I will be gone when you return.”

The funeral home was a simple stop to take care of, once I provided the manager with the paperwork William had given me. According to William, Art and Mary had purchased a family plot. Therefore, I made arrangements for Cathy to be interred beside her parents. The manager of the funeral home would coordinate the internment with the cemetery’s management. The only thing I had to do was let the funeral home’s manager know if there would be a viewing, church service, and/or graveside ceremony. If we had a graveside ceremony, I also had to provide an estimated number of attendees. I told him I would get back to him with the information once I had time to plan and think things over.

I ate with my folks again that evening and talked with them about the funeral services. Privately, I made a note to myself to solicit Cathy’s input as to what Art, Mary, and she would like to have me do. Just the thought of asking the deceased what they wanted me to do about their funeral gave me a weird feeling.

During the day, it felt as if I had a very weak link with Cathy, so I started to believe that maybe my dreams had been more than just dreams. However, the link felt different to me.

My folks suggested an open casket viewing and a church service with a short private graveside service for family and close friends. I felt that would be appropriate, but Art and Mary had no family, and I really didn’t know who had been their close friends. I hoped Cathy could advise me.

When I got home, I remembered Cathy’s address book. I flipped through its pages making a list of her close friends. I would have to look to see if I could find Art and Mary’s address books tomorrow. The day left me depressed and extremely tired, so I went to bed.

That night my communication with Cathy was clearer, but not totally clear. My concern regarding my having hallucinations ended. Well, I still had a few minor doubts left. We talked about the funeral arrangements.

I asked, “Cathy, do you and your parents have any preferences regarding your funerals and who should be invited?”

Cathy said, “Ward, Art and Mary’s spirits are in limbo while waiting to be reincarnated. I can’t consult with them now, and once they have been reincarnated, they won’t remember their former lives.

“My funeral isn’t important to me, for I am still alive. They say funerals are for the living not the deceased. What you want seems more important to me. I can work with you to create a guest list.”

I described what I thought would be appropriate for her and her parent’s funeral, and told her I would get her and her parent’s address books and we could go through them together. We both agreed that her consulting with me on her and her parents’ funerals was freaky.

Yes, I know everyone would believe that I was crazy, delusional, or having a mental breakdown if I were to tell them about talking with Cathy. However, I just knew it was more than a dream. Our link was coming back and we were communicating. I couldn’t explain it and I most definitely wasn’t going to mention it to someone else ... well, maybe to my parents, once I figured out a good explanation.

My life was extremely chaotic during the weeks following Cathy’s death. In a metaphorical sense, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. My mental state was total confusion, denial, and depression. The result of all this was that I can’t recall everything I did or the exact sequence of occurrences, but I can summarize the key events that occurred during the months that followed their deaths.

The funeral home picked up Art, Mary, and Cathy’s bodies and the internment occurred a week later. Cathy and I reviewed Art, Mary, and her address books determining who should be invited to the church service and grave side ceremony. I provided my list of invitees to Sam. These were the people who would be invited to the graveside ceremony. She merged that list with her list of Art’s business associates to create the list of church service attendees. The friends and close acquaintances on the consolidated list of invitees were invited to attend the viewing and the church services. I limited the graveside service to my family and to Art, Mary, and Cathy’s closest friends.

Art and Mary’s estate started through probate with no problems, but it would take a long time. As William predicted, Cathy’s estate would inherit Art and Mary’s estate after payment of the inheritance taxes. Cathy’s estate would pass directly to me without further taxes or probate. William would have to sell off many of Art’s stocks to pay Art and Mary’s income taxes and the estate taxes, but I would end up owning the two businesses; plus Cathy, Art, and Mary’s personal property and close to one hundred and thirty million dollars in investments. Of course the executor fees and few additional costs would be paid out of what I would receive. I would also inherit Art and Mary’s house.

William told me I could move into the house once he completed the inventory of the house’s contents. However, I would not be permitted to dispose of any of the contents until after the estate was finalized. A month after the funeral, William completed the inventory and I moved into the house.

The police arrested the driver of the silver car. The mistakes made by the police officer and paramedics prevented an accurate determination of the driver’s blood alcohol level, so the ADA could not charge him with drunk driving and felony murder. They charged him with four counts of vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, driving too fast for conditions, and several other charges.

The authorities reprimanded the officer and paramedics for their mistakes and reminded everyone of the existing policies regarding paramedics removing injured parties from an accident scene.

William hired a private detective, and we learned that the driver was worth around nine million dollars. I decided to strip him of his wealth or at least most of it. I talked with Harold and had him file a wrongful death suit against the driver of the silver car on my behalf.

The driver and his lawyer tried to plea bargain his case so he would receive no jail time. I suspected that they would be happy if all he got was the minimum sentence, which would have been about three years for each of the four counts of vehicular homicide. When the Adan consulted me about the plea agreement, I suggested an alternate plea deal that the driver accepted. The deal had three parts:

He would be sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary for each count of vehicular homicide, but would be released on parole after serving one year of his sentence.
He would be on parole for the remainder of his sentence, which considering the other counts of his indictment would likely be in excess of forty years. If he was found driving with any alcohol in his system while on parole, his parole would be revoked. The authorities would send him back to prison for the remainder of his sentence without provision for further parole or time off for good behavior.

He would grant his wife the divorce she wanted, give her title to their house and other jointly owned property, and pay her the sum of three million dollars as compensation for the problems he caused her during their marriage.
I learned that she had health issues that led to him treating her poorly. I felt sorry for her and believed that she should not suffer financially for his actions, even though she probably enabled his drinking by supporting him. It was also a way for me to strip him of a large portion of his wealth.

He would settle the wrongful death suit that I brought for five and a half million dollars and pay my legal fees related to the lawsuit.

When I explained my proposed plea deal, Adan said, “Ward, it seems to me that you are being too lenient with the driver.”

“There is a method to my apparent leniency, Adan. I believe that if the driver’s case goes to court, he will be sentenced to a far shorter period of time and be out of prison on parole in less than five years.

“I also believe that when he is released on parole, after spending a year in prison, the driver will be found driving under the influence within a year of being released from prison. Thus based on my suggested plea deal, he will serve far more time behind bars than if he went to court.

“Furthermore, the plea deal will quickly settle both the criminal and civil cases out of court, which is in my best interests for I have other things to do in life.”

I didn’t share with Adan that I had plans for the driver and his lawyer.

When I met the driver and his lawyer at the time of the plea bargain, I established links with their minds. I learned that on the morning after the accident, the driver drove his wife’s car from his home to his lawyer’s office. He told the lawyer what transpired the prior night. The lawyer told him to go get drunk as quickly as he could, so the authorities could not determine an accurate blood alcohol level at the time of the accident.

The lawyer had used numerous legal maneuverings in the past to keep the driver from going to prison. In doing so, he exposed society to the hazards of a habitual drunk driver. As far as I was concerned, the lawyer was just as guilty of the accident as the driver was. Unfortunately, I knew our legal system did not look at things that way.

During the week after Cathy’s death, she continued to contact me during my sleep. The one and only thing that kept me from believing that I was delusional and having an emotional breakdown was that sense of still being linked to Cathy when I was awake. I still found it difficult to believe that I was communicating with Cathy. As my dreams continued, I started to accept that I was actually communicating with her, and I was not going crazy.

Then several weeks after we reconnected in my dreams, our link changed. Cathy and I were able to establish a link while I was awake. That gave us more control over when we were able to talk.

We discovered that our linking abilities had changed, which was probably why our link felt different to me.

The first difference was, Cathy could always monitor my thoughts, emotions, and actions, but I could not monitor hers at any time, even when linked with her. Since Cathy was always aware of my thoughts, she could initiate a link with me when I wanted to talk with her, so my loss of the ability to initiate a link was not a problem.

The second difference was, Cathy had to initiate our link. All I had to do was ask Cathy to link with me if I wanted to talk with her. Cathy could also connect multiple people together in a single link. I could also do this with multiple people, but couldn’t include Cathy in my link. She was able to join a link that I made with other people, but I couldn’t join a link she had made with other people.

The third difference was, Cathy could create links with other people here on Earth, but I could not link with or sense anyone in the Fourth Dimension.

The fourth difference was, we were no longer capable of communicating at our prior high speed of mind-to-mind speech. Our mental communication was now only about twice the speed of mouth-to-ear communication.

During one of our conversations, shortly after our link stabilized, I asked, “Cathy, can you tell me about what happened to the spirits of Art, Mary, our unborn child, and your spirit?”

A couple of days after our ability to create a link during the day had stabilized, Cathy explained more to me about the dimensions. I should note that dimension is not the concept that she placed in my mind, but it is as close as I can come to the concept in words.