A Deadly Judgment by Jessica Fletcher

continuing.
    “In the defendant’s mind, he had good reason for killing his older brother, Jack. Of course, everyone who kills another person has what they consider a good reason at the time. In William Brannigan’s case, he killed his brother to avenge the threat of being cut out of a trust fund left him by their father, now deceased, the founder of a company we all know and respect, Brannigan’s Bean Pot. Because that company was extremely successful, their father had placed a great deal of money in trust for each of his sons. Millions of dollars in each of those trust funds. And as we all know, money—or the fear of losing it—can be a powerful motive for murder.”
    This time, she looked directly at me, perhaps expecting me to nod in agreement because, as a writer of murder mysteries, I was well aware of motives for murder. Receiving no response from me, she turned away and continued her statement.
    “Knowing that his son, William, would probably not amount to much in life—”
    “Objection, Your Honor,” Malcolm said, now on his feet. “This is a trial about murder, not the defendant’s future earning power.”
    “Overruled,” Judge Wilson said. “Continue, Ms. James.”
    “The father provided for William Brannigan through the trust. And because he had infinite faith in his older son, Jack, who was an important member of the management team of Brannigan’s Bean Pot—and, I might add, the younger son, William, has never had anything to do with the company—”
    “Objection. Irrelevant.”
    “I’ll allow fairly wide latitude during opening statements, Mr. McLoon. You’ll benefit from it, too, and I have no doubt you’ll take full advantage of my generosity. Go on, Ms. James.”
    “The father made Jack the trustee,” she said. “It was a wise choice. Jack Brannigan managed the trust with skill and care.
    “But James Brannigan, who not only was a successful businessman but was also a man of high moral principle, included a clause in the trust that stipulated that should his younger son, William, ever be charged with a crime involving moral turpitude, the trust was to be dissolved, with all remaining funds going to his older son, Jack. By the way, six months before he was murdered, Jack Brannigan was named president of Brannigan’s Bean Pot. He was obviously a young man with considerable talents and ability.”
    “Your Honor,” Malcolm said.
    “Overruled.”
    Whitney James cleared her throat, took a sip of water from a cup on the lectern, and said to the jury, “The defendant is no stranger to horrific crimes. A year ago he was charged with the rape of a young woman on Cape Cod. Even though the rape victim eventually decided to drop charges—we will present evidence that a tremendous amount of pressure was put on her to do that by the defendant—having been charged met the condition of the stipulation in the trust that it be dissolved, and that the money go to Jack Brannigan. This placed Jack Brannigan in an extremely difficult position, as I’m sure you can understand. On the one hand, as trustee, it was his responsibility to carry out his fathers wishes. On the other hand, he knew how devastating this would be to his younger brother, whom he loved very much. Had he not felt this conflict of loyalty, he would have dissolved the trust immediately, and had the legal right to do so. Instead, he told the defendant that he would eventually have to follow the terms laid down by their late father, but tried to work things out, even offering the defendant an opportunity to work for the company, to earn an honest living, to no longer simply live off the work and sweat of other family members.
    “Instead of responding with gratitude, William Brannigan was angry. We will present witnesses who will testify to that anger. He threatened his brother on more than one occasion.”
    Now, her accent became more pronounced, and she spoke with deliberate slowness. “Eventually, on a fateful spring night, with