Dinner was nearly finished when Cole came walking into the kitchen. He had a smile on his face and everyone just looked at him.
"That must have been some errand," said Piper.
"It was," said Cole. "Listen, when you're all finished, I'd like you to come into the living room. There's something we need to talk about."
"Okay," said Phoebe. "It sounds important."
"It is," said Cole. "Granny, be sure to bring your satchel with you. I think you're going to find this very interesting."
Wondering about the mysterious way Cole was acting everyone quickly began to clear away the dishes. When they finished Piper said she'd do them later. She was interested in what Cole had to talk to them about.
When they walked into the living room, Cole was standing near the fireplace. Sitting in one of the chairs was another man who was going through a briefcase looking over some papers. He had a small stack of papers piled in front of him on the coffee table. The man was about forty, balding on top, and was wearing a suit and tie.
"Good, you're all here," said Cole. "Please everyone have a seat. I'd like to introduce Morton Perkins. Mort and I have worked together in the past. I did some work for him in my capacity as an assistant district attorney."
"Pleased to meet you all," said Mort.
"Cole, what's going on?" questioned Phoebe.
"Just sit down and I'll tell you," said Cole, still grinning from ear to ear. "First, let me tell you what Mort does for a living. He's an insurance investigator for the Internal Revenue Service."
"Gov'ment man?" Cletus snarled. "We ain't got no use fer no gov'ment man."
"Ordinarily I'd agree with you," said Cole. "But this is a unique situation. Granny, do you have that letter signed by General Washington."
"Course," said granny. "I never let it out of my sight."
"Very good," said Mort. "If I might have a look at it. And the letter of authentication Mr. Turner told me about."
"I ain't giving nothing to no gov'ment man," said granny clutching her satchel close to her. "They done took our farm. They ain't taking nothin' else."
"Granny, remember our deal?" asked Cole. "Please, just trust me on this. Mort isn't going to take it. He just needs to look at it for a moment. I promise you he'll give it right back."
"Well," said granny looking at Mort, "don't be trying nothing foolish, young feller. We don't cotton to gov'ment men and I ain't gonna stand fer no foolishness."
"It's perfectly all right," said Mort. "As Mr. Turner explained I simply need to see the original. Just a formality, I can assure you. And I'll return it immediately."
Cautiously, granny pulled the letter out of her satchel and handed it to Mort. He looked it over several times, even using a magnifying glass to look at it. Then he looked at the letter of authentication. Finally, nodding his head, he handed both of them back to granny.
"Mr. Turner you seem to be absolutely correct," said Mort. "The note appears to be genuine and the letter of authentication seems valid. Mr. Stiverson, the man who authenticated this note, does work for us from time to time. It appears everything is in order."
Mort reached down and picked up several papers from the coffee table.
"Now," he continued, "You did say that none of them could read or write except Mr. Angus Todd, I believe."
"That's what I understand," said Cole.
"Very well," said Mort. "If he will sign these for his father the sisters can sign as witnesses. I can notarize the signatures and that will make it completely legal. It will take a few weeks for the title transfer to be complete but I shouldn't think that will be a problem. I have a signed, notarized letter here that should suffice until the title is received."
"Title?" questioned Cletus. "Title fer what? What in tarnation is you babblin' about? You done took my farm. What more do you want?"
"A signature on these papers," said Mort. "So that the title transfer will be legal. And that ownership will be clear and free."
"I ain't signing nothing," snapped Cletus. "That gov'ment fella what took the farm said he didn't need no signature on no paper. He had a paper from a judge saying he could take the farm. Now you want me to sign a paper giving you the farm? You must be plumb loco if'n you think I's is gonna do that."
"Cletus," said Cole, "the title transfer isn't signing the farm over to the government. It's signing it back over to you. You have your farm back."
"What kind of trick is this?" questioned granny.
"No trick, granny," said Cole. "Once Cletus signs that paper the farm will be his free and clear."
"Plus there's the matter of the interest," said Mort.
"Interest?" questioned Paige. "Interested on what?"
"The interest on the note granny has that was signed by General Washington," said Cole. "For the five hundred dollars owed for the horses."
"That's correct," said Mort. "Over the years it's added up to quite a tidy sum. These are only preliminary figures, mind you, but I believe they are fairly accurate. The total comes to $17,548,692.63."
"Seventeen million dollars?" Cletus shrieked. "Now I knowed youse gone loco. I ain't got no seventeen million dollars.
"Mr. Mcellhenny," said Mort, "you don't seem to understand. You don't owe the government the money. The government owes you the money. I have your first check right here."
Everyone just stared at Mort in complete shock.