Chapter 15: The Auction Catalog
The Halcyon Heritage Foundation had planned a private auction as the centerpiece of its autumn fundraising campaign.
The catalog included theater posters, a restored chandelier, and several costumes described as unrestricted property donated by anonymous collectors.
Franklin Voss had guaranteed a minimum price for the most valuable pieces and expected favorable publicity in return.
When the trust disputed the collection’s ownership, the auction house suspended the disputed lots pending verification.
Victoria called the decision an overreaction to an old man’s allegations.
The auction director refused to change the suspension until the paperwork was complete.
Franklin learned of the decision while attending a meeting with two potential lenders.
One lender asked why warehouse assets appeared in a charitable foundation’s auction without a documented transfer.
Franklin explained that consignment agreements were being reviewed.
He returned to his office and demanded that his staff locate every document relating to the Lantern costumes.
His assistant found a yellow folder in a closed account file.
It contained correspondence from Marion Keene requesting the return of labeled garments and a response drafted by the warehouse’s former lawyer.
The response acknowledged that several pieces carried trust labels but proposed charging storage fees before their release.
Franklin read the draft three times.
It was never sent, but it proved the company knew about a competing ownership claim years earlier.
He asked the retired lawyer whether she remembered the file.
She did and told him she had recommended settling the matter before it reached a public dispute.
“Why didn’t we?” Franklin asked.
“Your father decided the claimants couldn’t afford to take it further,” she answered.
Franklin had inherited the business two years earlier and believed he had inherited a respectable legacy.
Now he confronted a choice between defending an old decision and correcting it.
He instructed his staff to preserve the entire file and provide a copy to independent counsel.
Victoria called that evening demanding reassurance that he would not embarrass the foundation.
Franklin told her the auction could not continue until ownership was established.
“You are supposed to be on my side,” she said.
“I am on the side of the documents we actually have,” he answered.
It was not a noble declaration.
It was the first time he had accepted that the privileges of an inheritance included responsibility for the papers left behind.
Chapter 16: The Door on the Plan
Nora secured a supervised inspection of the former theater entrance after the foundation’s attorneys reviewed the property agreement.
