Fred Forchelli - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The Hints

Fred did not bring the manila folder home with him that evening. He wanted to get started on his investigation in the morning. But that did not stop him from thinking about the case. As he lay in bed waiting for sleep to overcome him, he considered not the “what” about had happened in this case, but the “why” – in particular, why had he been selected to investigate this mystery. Who was behind it, and why did she think him worthy.

With that thought, Fred stopped abruptly and opened his eyes. He had just classified his client as a “she”! The piece of paper and the message from the so-called operator at McCloud’s had been anonymous. And he did not recall any female associations from the cover letter – just the pronouns “I” and “my”. So why did he so automatically presume that the client was a “she”?

Was it just because his name on the piece of paper and the manila envelope and the signature of “A Friend” on the cover letter were in such flowing script? Fred considered others who had such bold signatures. There were several of his fellow investigators/lawyers who had similar styles of writing – and many of them were men like himself. Their bold script just matched their bold and confident personalities.

Or was Fred presuming that his client was a victim of these perpetrators – if that’s what they were – and victims were often women? Why did the idea of his client being a woman flow so easily from his semi-conscious mind?

As Fred considered this question, his eyes again closed, and the excitement of the day having given his mind such a workout, he fell asleep with no solution to his “why”.

 

Fred arrived at work early the next morning. He was almost taken aback when he opened his office door as everything was so neat – it had probably been a couple of years since it had been in this shape. He mentally challenged himself to see how long he could keep it this way. Fred got his laptop out of his briefcase. He also plugged in the power cord. He would need to do some detailed investigation through the power of the Internet so he’d leaved it plugged in all day.

But he also pulled out a new pad of yellow lined paper from one drawer of his desk. While he liked the power of the computer for doing research, he still preferred taking notes the old-fashioned way. But, unlike many of his fellow lawyers, he used 8.5x11 pads instead of the 8.5x14 “legal” pads. His recycled Goodwill desk only accommodated the smaller format in 9x12 manila folders. Another few “why” questions – of many that would occur in the coming days – crossed his mind. Why are 8.5x14 pads called “legal” pads? And why did lawyers, alone among all the professions, continue to use them?

Thus prepared, Fred began his review of the “hints” from the envelope he had received yesterday.

 

He began by re-reading the cover letter – looking for clues, not about the identity of his client, but clues about the case. The second paragraph was quite telling with phrases such as “right some wrongs,” “bring some perpetrators to justice,” “misdeeds,” “need to be stopped.” It was obvious that his client was referring to some sort of illegal activity – but of what kind? It could be fraud, blackmail, even murder. The comment in the next paragraph about possible danger to himself suggested that the latter was a possibility. And why did his client worry about the damage to her [there was that pesky feminine attribution again!] career? Fred made a few cryptic notes about the feelings that he got from the cover letter. Then he removed the paper clip and started reviewing the pages of “hints”.

There were a total of six pages – four copies of newspaper articles, one copy of a police report, and one grainy picture. Ignoring the urge to put the newspaper articles in chronological order as he felt his client may have had some “method in their madness” in putting them in the order she[?] had, he began reading the first one.

This article was a report in the local section of the paper about the annual Chamber of Commerce recognition event from a couple of years ago. It was a long article, so his client had cut it in two and laid the two sections side-by-side in the copier. There were awards being given for “Local Change-maker”, “Community Ambassador”, etc. Some of the awardees and the companies they worked for were familiar to him, but others were not. Not knowing what he was looking for, Fred decided to so some high-level investigation on each one. He used his laptop to see if the individuals were still employed at the same companies in the same positions or if they had moved on. For the ones he did not recognize, he looked up their past history, if they were new to the area or long-time residents. He came away with a renewed sense of pride about the city and the many great people who lived here.

The second article was totally different. It appeared to be cut from one of the “society pages” from about a year ago with a whole series of short articles on marriages, engagement announcements, births, etc. But the job of cutting it out of the newspaper seemed a bit sloppy. The left-hand cut was a slight bit too far to the right and the first character of each line had been partially cut off. And the bottom cut of the center column had sliced right through the middle of one of the announcements. Because there were so many announcements and so many names of individuals – all unfamiliar to him – it took him nearly two hours to look each one up, finding contact information or addresses for each one, and diligently recording all that on his pad of paper.

But his timing was good as just as he was finishing writing down the last of his findings, there was a knock at the office door. With his new infusion of funds from this client he had decided to splurge and have his lunch delivered from the fast-food place on the next block instead of walking there himself. After paying for it and giving a tip to the young man delivering it, he cleared a space on his desk and began eating. A six-inch sub, fries with one of those ketchup packets, and, of course, his typical large diet Pepsi. It was not only refreshing but gave him a chance to rest his mind (and his fingers) from the intense research of the morning. He was no closer to knowing where all this was going, but he had a lot of raw material to work with. Wiping his mouth and his fingers with one of the overly-generous pile of napkins that had come with his meal, he cleared the wrappers off his desk and started on the next article.

It was a business feature article from several years ago. There was an old, abandoned farm several miles outside of town where oil had been discovered. With the renewed interest in fracking, it was then going to be profitable. Fred had driven through that area on several occasions and had seen all the equipment, but had not been aware of the history of the place. The reporter in this article was primarily interviewing the two men who had acquired the large farm and who were just getting started with drilling operations. They both had long unpronounceable last names that appeared to be of Eastern European origin. There was also a rebuttal from some local “green” organization who did not like the idea of drilling for oil.

Fred did some checking on all the names in the article. The men with unpronounceable last names were no longer to be found and the drilling/fracking company was now owned by a sizeable corporation. The local “green” organization was also not to be found and Fred surmised that they had been absorbed into some other protest group.

Finally, Fred got to the fourth article. It was extremely confusing as it consisted of several small advertisements and partial articles, many of which had been truncated by the process of cutting out that section of a page from the paper. As he puzzled over what to make of it, there was a knock at the door – the second one of the day.

Opening it, he found a delivery person, a young woman, from Amazon who was carrying the box containing the fan that he had just ordered the previous day. Marveling at this one-day service, Fred took the box from her and thanked her as she took a picture of it for their records and left. Getting a pocketknife from his top desk drawer, he opened the large brown box, then the smaller fan box inside, and extracted the fan. Setting it on the windowsill, he plugged it in, turned it on to the low setting and reveled in the cooling effect of the breeze on his face. Yes, he thought, that was an extremely wise investment. He wondered why he had not done it sooner! Saving the instructions and warranty, Fred temporarily put the two boxes on the visitor’s chair in the corner. He’d dispose of them later in the large recycle bin behind the building.

Turning back to the fourth article, Fred looked closely at it. Since newsprint is fairly thin, by looking at the areas in the copy that did not have writing or shading, one could detect that there was printing on the other side of the paper. It was not readable, but one could tell where lines started and ended. He than had an epiphany – the individual who had copied the article had put it upside down on the copier. What he was looking at was the back side of that cutout piece of paper! What a colossal mistake – or was it deliberate?

Turning back to the second article that had also bothered him he examined it closely. Because the printing was so dense and there were few white spaces, it was more difficult to make out, but it appeared that this copy as well was of the reverse side of the intended article. Had he wasted all those hours this morning (and all those pages in his pad of paper) investigating individuals who played no part in this case? His day was a lot farther from done than he might have thought!

 

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Fred Forchelli - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – The Assignment

The top sheet was a letter to him. It was undated. Fred read silently to himself.

 

Dear Mr. Forchelli,

I apologize for having to put you through all the events of this morning. Since you are reading this, that means that you are both inventive enough and interested enough have gotten this far.

I need your assistance in helping to right some wrongs and bring some perpetrators to justice. I believe that the individuals involved have gotten away with their misdeeds for too long and need to be stopped. I do not have definitive proof of this, and I am not even sure how many individuals may be involved. I cannot participate in this as the damage to my career and to others around me if I were to be found out is far too great. So, I will have to remain anonymous at this stage – even to you.

I do not want to prejudice you with my opinions at this point, so I am only attaching a few helpful hints to get you started in this investigation. I cannot promise that if you pursue this that you may not be in danger. However, I feel that you have the capabilities and instinct to get you through any situation.

I know that it may sound like an echo of the old TV show, “Mission: Impossible,” but the phrase “your mission, should you choose to accept it” comes to mind. I have attached a check that I believe sufficient to reimburse you for your time and expenses for the next two weeks. Should you choose not to accept, I believe you have the integrity to just destroy the check.

Thanks for your assistance,

 

The letter was signed in that by now familiar script but simply said, “A Friend”.

Fred thumbed through the attached pages. There were a few copies of articles from the local newspaper that spanned several years. There was a copy of a police report from a few years ago. And there was a grainy picture showing two men shaking hands. But there did not seem to be any obvious consistency in the identities of any of the people named in the articles or on the police report. The final page was a cashier’s check that was larger than any that Fred had ever had the opportunity to hold. It was made out to him, but like a typical cashier’s check only contained the name of the bank and not of any individual. The other pages may have intrigued him, but this last one was truly shocking. Someone was willing to pay a lot of money for his services.

Fred put the pages back into the manila envelope and sat there for several minutes pondering what to do next. Then, making up his mind, he put the envelope in his briefcase. He ordered some lunch to go including a large diet Pepsi, and when the waitress brought it to him he left a larger than typical tip and made the 15-minute trek back to his office.

 

By late afternoon Fred had managed to clear up all his affairs. There was now only one manila folder on his desk – the one that he had presciently labeled “The Mystery” that morning. It was now slightly thicker as the letter and attachments were added to it. He had completed the notes on his other recent cases and filed those folders in the bookcase. He had also made the follow-up calls to other clients and given them a status report on his findings – while indicating that he would be tied up in other business for a few weeks. One of them had required that he send a few documents to the client. He had gone down to O'Brien's Office Services to make the necessary copies but had foregone setting up an appointment with Jennifer to get a cover letter typed up – choosing instead to handwrite it. He had left it in the outgoing mail bin at O'Brien's.

He had made a quick trip across the street to the branch bank on the corner where he had deposited the cashier’s check. And, acting on instinct, he had withdrawn several hundred dollars in cash. He didn’t know where this case was going to take him but having cash in his pocket seemed like a good idea.

Finally, he had made one other significant – for him – decision. Inspired by the cleanliness of the office after his straightening spree of the morning, he had gotten out his laptop and signed on to Amazon where he ordered an appropriate fan for his windowsill. There were no longer any loose papers on the desk or bookshelf or any folders on the visitor’s chair. And with no other cases to be involved in, the visitor’s chair was apt to be unused at least for the next couple of weeks – as was the hot plate and coffee pot – so plugging in the fan when it arrived in the next few days would not be an inconvenience.

Fred took one last look at the solitary folder on his desk. Yes, the label of “The Mystery” was certainly appropriate. More excited than he had been in a long time, Fred closed and locked the door of his office. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

 

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Fred Forchelli - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – The Message

After the excitement of seeing letters begin to appear on the now slightly browned piece of paper, Fred felt a little bit of a letdown. That was it? Just the word “CALL” and a phone number? He recognized the area code as being one that had been introduced lately – one of those overlay codes that they’d been releasing in order to handle the increased number of cell phones that were proliferating. He turned the page over to see if there were further messages but did not find any.

Disappointed, he nearly forgot to turn off the now glowing hot plate just a few inches below his hand. Now doing so, he made a mental note to replace the coffee pot once the hot plate was cool enough. Then, getting back into detective mode, he carefully copied the phone number onto a scrap of paper as he knew the original paper would be a bit fragile from the browning action it had been subject to.

He wondered how long the piece of paper had been on the floor. He knew it hadn’t been there when he left the office on Friday afternoon. Although he normally worked until 5:00, he had left around 4:30 that day in order to stop by the grocery store on his way home. His food supplies had gotten a bit low, and he also needed to stock up on cans of his favorite diet Pepsi.

The building was generally open from 7:00 am until 10:30 pm each day. While the busiest occupant, O'Brien's Office Services, was a typical 8-5 business, there were other offices in the building that had different hours – especially the Christian Counseling Center at the far end of the second floor who tended to see their clients in the evenings and weekends. None of the other offices on his floor were open much after 6 pm M-F. But the stairwell was not locked and there was only the guard who made periodic passes at night. The tenants had approached the building owner last year about installing security cameras, but since no offices had been broken into yet, the owner felt such an expense was not justified.

It was now about 9:20 – time for Fred to call the number on that piece of paper. He pulled out his flip phone and punched in the digits. After only one ring, the person on the other end picked up. It was a female voice.

“McCloud’s Answering Service, how may I help you?”

            “This is Fred Forchelli, do you have a message for me?”

“Let me check … Yes, Mr. Forchelli, can you verify your full legal name and date of birth?”

            Fred quickly responded.

“Thank you, Mr. Forchelli. Here is the message I have for you. ‘Please meet a courier at the Prudential Tower on the corner of Front Street and Third Avenue at 11:00 am today.’ The message also has underlined, ‘Do not be late.’ Do you need me to repeat the message?”

            “Prudential Tower, 11 am. Correct?”

“Yes, Mr. Forchelli. Thank you for using McCloud’s Answering Service”

Hearing the click of the woman hanging up, Fred added to the piece of paper where he had written down the address, “Do not be late!” and underlined it.

It was then that Fred realized that he should have asked if the operator had any other information about the person who had left the message for him. He picked up his phone and quickly dialed the number again. But instead of the friendly voice of the operator, this time it rang three times before he heard the computerized voice say, “I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service, please dial again.”

Annoyed with himself for misdialing, Fred dialed again, this time looking at the screen to ensure that he did not make any mistakes. But once again, he heard that same computerized voice. Putting down the phone, Fred stared at it. What was going on? How could a phone number be discontinued so quickly?

Although he knew that they charged for the service, Fred decided to call directory assistance. He could have looked it up on his laptop, but that was still packed in his briefcase. So, he punched in 4-1-1 and asked for the number of McCloud’s Answering Service. The response he got from the operator just added to his confusion when he was informed that they had no record of a business by that name. He gave a dazed, “Thanks anyway,” and much more slowly this time, folded up his phone and returned it to his pocket.

The Prudential Tower was only a short 15-minute walk from Fred’s office, so that meant that he had over an hour before he needed to leave. But he didn’t want to get started on any of the other things on his agenda so that he would not get distracted and miss his “Don’t be late” appointment. Still puzzled and shaking his head, Fred decided to do a little straightening of his office.

 

Shortly after 10:30, Fred stopped and looked around his office. He’d filed all the manila folders in his desk file drawer or in the bookcase – with the exception of the active cases he was still working on. He’d even cleared the ones from the visitor’s chair. The coffee pot was back on the now cooled hot plate. He’d also gotten all his pencils sharpened and they were neatly standing in the pencil holder on his desk. Maybe, he thought, I should do this more often. Looking at the top folder on his desk, which now held the piece of paper that he had found on the floor as well as his note from the answering service call, Fred realized that he needed to put something on the tab of the folder to make it identifiable. Not yet having a client or even knowing what this was about, he simply wrote “The Mystery” on the tab and then placed it back on the pile.

But now it was time to make the short walk down to the Prudential Tower. He picked up his briefcase, took one last admiring look at his newly cleaned office, then closed and locked the door before striding down the hall toward the stairwell.

 

Arriving at the appointed place, Fred checked his watch. It was now 10:53. The courier had not yet arrived, so Fred leaned against the building and watched the people going by. He wondered if any of them were part of this mysterious case that he was involved in – but not knowing what it was about he didn’t even know what he should look for. Two minutes later, at precisely 10:55, Fred observed a courier coming toward him. He’d used this courier service himself, so the color-matched hat and jacket with the sewn-on badge were quite familiar to him. He didn’t recognize this particular courier, but that was expected as the company employed a lot of students from the local colleges so one seldom saw the same courier twice.

Stepping forward, Fred approached the courier and said, “I’m Fred Forchelli, do you have something for me?” The courier reached in his company-logoed satchel, pulled out a large manila envelope, and handed it to Fred. Not to be thwarted this time, Fred took the opportunity to ask the courier the questions he had wanted to ask the answering service earlier that morning.

“Do you know anything about the person sending this?” Fred queried. “I’m sorry, but I don’t,” the young man replied. “It was in the bin of items to be delivered when I got to work. I grabbed it because the instructions clipped to it said that it was to be hand delivered between 10:55 and 11:05 and that if it was not picked up by 11:05 it should be given back to my supervisor and be destroyed. But it also said that the courier would receive at $50 bonus if the directions were followed exactly. And I could certainly use that extra $50!” Thanking the young man, Fred watched him walk off.

 

Fred was anxious to see what was in the manila envelope that he now held in his left hand. But somehow, going back to the office didn’t seem the right thing to do. There was a small café in the building next door to the Prudential Tower that was pretty deserted as it was not yet time for the weekday lunch crowd. Fred went in, found a corner table away from the few other diners, and ordered a diet Pepsi from the friendly waitress. Once she had delivered it and moved away to one of the other tables, Fred held up the envelope and examined it closely.

The 9”x12” envelope had the same “Fred Forchelli, Esq.” in the same flowing script as the message that he had found under his door a few hours earlier. His name also appeared on the courier company label that partially obscured that script – but of course the courier label was written in block letters to conform to the character-sized spaces on the label. There were no other markings on the envelope.

Fred carefully peeled back the sealed end of the envelope and extracted the contents. There were several 8.5x11 pages held together with a paperclip. He began reading.

  

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Fred Forchelli - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – The Piece of Paper

Fred rolled his chair toward the corner and reached down to pick up the piece of paper. Then, sitting back up, he opened up the fold to see what was written on it. It was blank! Somewhat puzzled, he examined it more closely. Sure enough, there was his name on the one side, written a big, flowing script. But the remainder of the piece of paper appeared to have nothing on it. What was going on?

It was then that Fred recalled a course he had taken as part of his degree in criminal justice. The elective he had originally signed up for had been cancelled at the last minute and so he had needed one more credit that semester. Glancing quickly through the course catalog he saw listed among the optional courses for that degree a course in the communications department – COM214 Stenography. Knowing that he was likely going to have to dictate things to a secretary for various reports, he thought that would be a useful course to have. He signed up and then went to the college bookstore to pickup the required books – sighing with relief when they were all paperbacks rather than the thick hardcover tomes he was used to for law classes.

It was not until he was sitting in the first class a few days later that he realized that he had mis-read the course catalog. The word that he had thought was Stenography was in fact Steganography. And what a difference that one syllable made!

(He did eventually take a course that helped improve his skills in dictation (COM311 Dictation and Stenography) and was glad that he did. In fact, one of the reasons why he chose the small office in which he was sitting was because of the business on the second floor of that building – O’Brien’s Office Services. He was able to contract with them for the production of official documents when needed. And he was usually helped by Jennifer who was getting quite skilled at reading his scrawling handwriting. Also, his contract with O’Brien’s meant that he did not need either a typewriter or a printer in his office or have to deal with adding ink or having the cartridges dry out due to lack of use.)

But for the moment as he sat there in this course on steganography the solution to his eventual dictation issue was not yet in his mind. He was stuck taking a course he was not expecting. He couldn’t drop it as he needed to have a minimum number of credits. And the bookstore policy was to buy back books for only 25% of the original price – even if they were unused. He pulled the books from the depths of his backpack to see what he would be facing. One was titled, “Hiding in Plain Sight: Steganography and the Art of Covert Communication.” The other had the intriguing title of “Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies: The Story of Invisible Ink from Herodotus to al-Qaeda.” Turning his attention from the books to the instructor, he began listening.

Professor Harrison was introducing himself. He had several years of experience working in covert operations in the US government. And he was hoping to share the skills that he had learned with the class. Fred became enrapt. Over the next several weeks he learned all about the art of secret communication. The only negative was that some of the methods relied on mathematics and physics or chemistry – the subjects that Fred despised in high school and that he had been avoiding in college. But despite those dislikes and accompanying lack of ability, Fred had managed to get a solid B in the class. However, he had not used those skills since then – until now.

Fred looked over the piece of paper in his hand. By holding it obliquely with the light streaming in the window reflecting off it, he could see that there were areas that appeared shinier than others. Yes, he thought, there may be something written on it with invisible ink. But what kind of invisible ink, and how should he go about making it appear?

From the section of the course on invisible ink, he knew that there were several different kinds – lemon juice, dissolved baking soda, milk, white crayon, etc. But the method of exposing the writing differed and some of the solutions (like using grape juice to expose the baking soda “ink”) would then prevent some of the other solutions from being used. He needed to try the non-destructive ones first.

The obvious one to try first was the one used for lemon juice writing. But that was generally exposure to a hot light bulb or an open flame. The only source of light in his office was the pair of fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling and they were both too high up and did not generate enough heat to be effective for this. And since Fred was a non-smoker, he did not have a lighter whose flame might work.

It was then that Fred saw the coffee pot sitting on the hot plate on the windowsills. Yes, that might do the trick! Setting the coffee pot on the floor, he turned on the hot plate. It didn’t take long to heat up. Being careful to avoid burning his fingers – and to avoid touching the paper to the hot surface where it might catch on fire – Fred moved the paper back and forth to warm it up evenly.

He was almost giving up when the paper finally began to take on a slightly browned look and the message on the paper came into view. Just a few more seconds and the invisible ink message was readable. There on the paper was the word “CALL” and a phone number!

 

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Fred Forchelli - Chapter 1

 

Fred Forchelli

World-renowned

Well-known

Investigator and Lawyer

 

The Case of the Piece of Paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A short story

by

Alan Russell

 

Chapter 1 – The Office

It was an overly-warm, sultry day in late May – which forebode a summer which would have many more such days – when struggling attorney Frederick Flintstone Forchelli, who was convinced that his parents must have named him after drinking something much stronger than the diet Pepsi that he preferred, opened the door of the small non-airconditioned office on the upper floor in the converted factory/office building which was all he could afford at this stage of his career.

At first glance everything looked as it had when he had locked the door the previous Friday. There was a heavy wooden desk along the left wall – it had only cost him $5 at the local Goodwill a few years ago, but then he had to pay two burley guys to collect it in a rusted pickup and haul it up the stairs since there was no elevator in the building. They had been using some fairly colorful language by the time they finally got it through the door and properly positioned. They had also been sweating profusely. While they accepted the $30 he had paid them for their services, he was pretty certain that they used some more of that colorful language to describe him once they were out of earshot. The desk served him well – except for the left-hand middle drawer which tended to stick when it got humid – which was most of the time. And nobody particularly noticed the shabbiness of the desk as it was well covered with stacks of books, manila folders, and the typical detritus that lawyers tend to accumulate.

The right wall of the office was occupied by a metal Steelcase bookcase – also rescued from the local Goodwill for $2. He had transported that himself by putting the shelves in the back seat and tying the shell to the roof of his car with a couple of ropes. The roof was already scratched up, so the addition of a few more scratches did not concern him as much as the strange looks he received from passing motorists gawking at him during the trip to the office. But he had underestimated the effort it would take to get the bookcase up the flights of stairs, and it took two weeks before the scrapes on his forearms healed properly. Once he reassembled it, he had nearly filled it with all the law textbooks that he had accumulated. However, he found that with only a few exceptions that he had never referenced those textbooks and now they mostly gathered dust. The original unfilled portion of the shelves were now stuffed with the overflow of manila folders that would not fit in his desk. Additional folders covered the tops of the unused books as well as the space under the lowest shelf.

The only other furniture in the room was a pair of chairs – not a matching pair, certainly, but there were two of them. There was a typical wooden chair to the left of the desk which was for clients – when they visited him in the office, which was not very frequently. It also was currently occupied by a couple of piles of folders for his last few cases. But they could be cleared off pretty quickly if necessary.

But the entire center of the room was dominated by Fred’s pride and joy – a high-backed imitation leather chair. It not only swiveled but could roll around on the five-wheeled base. And even better, it reclined! So besides being useful when he had to turn toward the bookcase to locate a needed folder, Fred had spent many hours leaned back in that chair as he pondered the evidence he had collected and considered how to best approach solving a case. He had ordered it from a catalog where the company would even deliver it to his office. Conveniently, the delivery date had turned out to be a Saturday, and since the other offices on that floor were closed, he was able to spread out all the components in the hallway during the time it took to assemble it. The necessary Allen wrenches were even included in the plastic covered and numbered cardboard sheet that held the various assembly components. There had only been one small moment of panic when he had one extra screw and one extra washer left over at the end of the process. But then he noticed that the instructions mentioned that extra parts were included in case of any manufacturing defects. Those extra parts, along with the instructions, were safely ensconced in the back of the bottom left-hand drawer.

There were only a few other items in the office. There was an electric pencil sharpener and a hot plate and coffee pot on the windowsill that were plugged into the only outlet in the room which was just below the window. Fred didn’t normally drink coffee, but if he was going to be having a client, he would fill the pot from the sink in the bathroom down the hall and make some – usually to be thrown out unused after the client left. There was a telephone/answering machine on the right-hand side of the desk. And there was a coat hook on the inside of the door with Fred’s sports coat hanging on it. The light on the answering machine was not blinking – that was pretty typical. Fred did most of his business on the low-end flip phone in his pocket. But the office phone was the one listed in the various Internet sites for his business.

Fred put his briefcase on the floor next to the bookshelves and sagged into his office chair. He had a couple of follow-up phone calls to make and some notes to clean up from the cases he had been working on the last week. But otherwise, it promised to be a typically dull Monday. It was only approaching 9 o’clock and already the temperature was getting uncomfortable. He pondered whether he should invest in a fan to put on the windowsill. Since the coffee pot got so little use, he could use that second plug for the fan. And if he needed to recharge the laptop that was in his briefcase, he could always unplug the pencil sharpener. But he would also have to then worry about the impact that a fan could have on the loose pieces of paper on his desk or on the top of the bookcase. Was he willing to change his habits just to have the comfort of the air movement from the fan?

It was while he was pondering the wisdom of this expense that he saw it. Something was out of place! On the floor where the door had pushed it when he had come into the office was a folded piece of paper with “Fred Forchelli, Esq.” written on it!

  

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Elizabeth Pierrepont – Bigamist

In the prior blog post, it says the following regarding Evelyn Pierrepont, second duke of Kingston, “His grace married Miss Chudleigh, one of the maids of honour to the late dowager princess of Wales; a marriage of which it is here unnecessary to speak, inasmuch as the peculiar circumstances attending it, are to be found at large in the records of the State Trials.” And in a post I wrote a few months ago, I wrote, “He had married, but the marriage was later found to be bigamous. His nephews challenged his will, but the bigamy was found not to affect his wife’s inheritance of the property.” But what is really going on here? And why was it so significant that it is recorded in the “State Trials”? More investigation is needed.

 

Research

Article on Evelyn Pierrepont in Wikipedia:

“On 8 March 1769, Pierrepont married Elizabeth Hervey at Keith's Chapel in the parish of St George's, Hanover Square, Westminster, although their marriage was later judged to have been bigamous. He died in 1773 without issue, and his titles became extinct. On the death of the bigamous Duchess in 1788, the Pierrepont estates passed to Charles Medows, who was the son of the 2nd Duke's sister, Lady Frances Medows. Charles Medows changed his name to Pierrepont in 1796 and, in 1806, he was created the first Earl Manvers”

Article on Charles Medows/Pierrepont from Wikipedia:

“In 1773, Medows's uncle, Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, died and left his estates at Thoresby and elsewhere to his wife Elizabeth, Duchess of Kingston, the former wife of the Earl of Bristol. The duke's nephews challenged the will on the grounds of bigamy, and the proceedings which followed established that the marriage of the Duchess had indeed been bigamous. However, this was found not to affect her inheritance, so she was able to retain the Pierrepont estates until her death, which took place in August 1788. Upon inheriting the estates, Medows adopted the surname of Pierrepont by Royal Licence.”

Article on Elizabeth Chudleigh/Pierrepont in Wikipedia:

“On 4 August 1744, she was privately married to Hervey … The wedding was held at night to preserve the secrecy (so she could continue to work as a maid of honor) … Hervey wanted to end their marriage by divorce, but Chudleigh preferred to avoid any public acknowledgement of it. She initiated a suit of jactitation (see note below) … the consistory court in February 1769 pronounced her a spinster … Within a month she married Kingston.”

Note – Jactitation is where one person falsely asserts that he or she is married to another and the wronged party can obtain an order restraining further repetitions of the falsehood.

An interesting blog post by someone else in regard to the picture in the Wikipedia article:

[Chudleigh as Iphigenia]

“One of her famous stunts was her appearance at a costume party [in 1749], where King George II, among others, was present, and in fact the good King took quite a personal interest in Miss Chudleigh's original costume. She was semi-dressed as a maiden from Greek mythology, Iphigenia. Whether it was historical faithfulness or mere artistic license at work, readers will have to decide for themselves, but the costume Miss Chudleigh / Mrs. Hervey wore apparently began at the waist and worked its way diaphanously down her legs, declining to travel any distance at all in the northerly direction. Topless, in other words.”

A recent article in the New York Post:

How a 56-year-old ‘bigamist’ duchess became most notorious lady in England.

A manuscript from the University of Nottingham:

“The 1776 trial for bigamy of Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston, gripped the nation. … Tickets for the trial were keenly sought by members of the public. … The trial for bigamy took place over five days… After hearing the evidence, all 119 Lords took it in turn to declare their verdict. Each spoke the word ‘Guilty’.”

I was able to get a copy of a manuscript that was written about that trial, “An authentic detail of particulars relative to the late duchess of Kingston” which was published shortly after she died in 1788. Besides the information on her life and the trial, a large portion of this manuscript is devoted to a complete copy of the will that she left in 1788. In this there were dozens of specific bequests, including many to her nephew, Charles Medows, despite his involvement in the lawsuit against her which resulted in her fleeing to France and Russia for the last dozen years of her life.

 

Summary

Was Elizabeth Chudleigh/Hervey/Pierrepont a bigamist? Most certainly. There were witnesses to her wedding at night, there were witnesses to the birth of her child with Hervey, etc. The evidence was overwhelming enough that the vote of the jury of the house of lords was 119-0. But she was still able to flee England after the trial and continue living abroad.

Upon her death she was quite generous, giving not only much to Charles Medows, her nephew, but she even had a bequest to the Pope in Rome.

However, since the charge of bigamy did not prevent her inheritance from the Duke of Kingston, it meant that Charles Medows did not inherit what/when he thought he should. Thus, instead of taking over the Duke’s estates in 1773, it had to wait another 15 years until 1788. Thus, it was not until then that he adopted the surname of Pierrepont (as the finally owner of Holme Pierrepont). Eight years later (at the age of 59 instead of 44) he was created Baron Pierrepont and Viscount Newark and then in 1806 (at age 69) he was elevated to Earl Manvers. It was fortunate that he lived to the age of 79 as otherwise the title of Earl Manvers might never have come his way.

The escapades of Elizabeth Chudleigh were not only sensational for that time in English history but had real consequences for other people as well.

 

The Pierrepont Peers

As part of my continuing exploration into the peers in the English Pierrepont family, I have come across and interesting book. The full title of this book, in the tradition of books at the time, is quite imposing.

“DORMANT AND EXTINCT BARONAGE OF ENGLAND, or, An Historical and Genealogical Account of the Lives, Public Employments, and Most Memorable Actions of the English Nobility who have flourished from the Norman Conquest to the Year 1809: deduced from public records, ancient historians, the works of eminent heralds, and from other celebrated and approved authorities.”

This massive book was published in 1809 by T[homas] C[hristopher] Banks. Interestingly, the Pierrepont family is not found alphabetically under the letter P as one might expect. Rather, since all the members of the family were also Earl/Duke of Kingston, they are found under the entry for Kingston. Below I have replicated the entirety of that section, including the accompanying charts. While much of this information can also be found in the prior blogs I have posted on this topic (see here and here), what I find interesting is the comments on the lives of some of these individuals.

For example, at one point Henry comes into the building and announces that he lost his seal so that if there are any documents which later contain that impression they are invalid. Also, Robert was so loved by the commoners which he oversaw that they called him the “Good Earl of Kingston”. These looks into the personalities of the individuals makes them much more real than just a bunch of titles and genealogical connections.

In the very last paragraph is a reference to Miss Chudleigh and the “peculiar circumstances” of her marriage. I’ll be posting separately about that subject.

So, without further ado, here is the entry for the Kingston Earls and Dukes that were created for the Pierrepont family. The only thing I have changed in retyping this is to replace occurrences of the letter “f” where it is used for non-terminating instances of the letter “s” so that it is more readable.

 

 

 

KINGSTON

ARMS – Arg. Semee of Conquefoils G. a Lion rampant S.

            THOUGH the family of Pierrepont did not arrive to the dignity of peerage till of late years, yet it has made a considerable figure ever since the time of the conquest. Of which name

            ROBERT DE PIERREPONT was of the retinue of earl Warren; and, according to the French genealogy, is said to have been one of the commanders in the army of the Conqueror. This Robert is handed down as great grandfather to [footnote here that Edmonson, in his Baronagium Genealogicum, makes him grandson, but Collins states him as son and heir of Robert de Pierrepoint.]

            WILLIAM DE PIERREPONT, who had issue two sons, Simon and Robert; where of the former died S.P. leaving the said

            ROBERT, his brother and heir; who, at the battle of Lewes, was on the part of Henry III and was there taken prisoner, whereby he was put to 700 marks fine for his ransom; a great sum in those days.

            Sir HENRY DE PIERREPONT, his son (or grandson), married Annora, daughter to Michael, and sister and heir to Lionel de Manvers; whereby he acquired a considerable inheritance in Nottinghamshire, and the lordship of Holme, now called Holme Pierrepont. In the 8^th Edward I it is recorded of him, that he came into chancery, then at Lincoln, and publicly declared that he had lost his seal; and that if any instrument was sealed with it after that day, it ought to be invalid. He deceased circ. 20^th Edward I having had issue by the said Annora, two sons, Simon and Robert. Of which,

            SIMON was one of those who, the 22d Edward I had summons among the barons of the realm, to attend the king upon certain weighty affairs of the realm. But he died, leaving only daughter, Sibilla, who married Edmund Ufford, whereby his brother Robert, was his next heir male. Which

            ROBERT, during the reigns of Edward I, II, III was a person of great eminence, and repeatedly in the wars of Scotland, where he served with great honour. The 1^st of Edward III he had summons to parliament among the barons of the realm; and having married Sarah, daughter, and at length heir, of Sir John Heriz, knight, died, leaving

            HENRY, his son and heir, from whom after many descents, was

            ROBERT PIERREPONT, who was strongly attached to the interest of that unhappy monarch, Charles I, by whom he was created, in 1627, baron Pierrepont, of Holme Pierrepont, and viscount Newark, both in com. Notts; and, the year following, was advanced to the dignity of earl of Kingston upon Hull, in Yorkshire.

            So eminent was this nobleman for his acts of charity, hospitality, and munificence, that he was usually styled by the common people, the Good Earl of Kingston: and such was his influence in consequence thereof, and of his great estate, that he is said to have brought 4000 men to the royal standard on the breaking out of the civil war; of whom, 2000 were able and willing to serve him with their persons, and the rest with arms and money.

            This popularity rendered him particularly obnoxious to the parliament; whose general, the lord Willoughby of Parham, surprised and made him prisoner at Gainsborough, from which he was sent, in an open boat, toward Hull. But Sir Charles Cavendish pursuing the boat, and coming up with it, demanded the surrender of the earl; which being refused, his men fired upon the boat and unhappily killed his lordship, and his servant; though they took the boat, and put the crew to the sword, 30^th July, 1643.

            He married Gertrude, daughter and coheir to Henry Talbot, a younger son of George earl of Shrewsbury, and had issue six sons; [footnote: Of the five younger sons of this nobleman, William, the second, married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Thomas Harris, of Tong Castle, in Shropshire, and had a numerous issue. Whereof, Robert, the eldest son, married a daughter and coheir of Sir John Evelyn, who became first duke of Kingston; and also Gervase, his youngest son, who was created, in 1714, baron Pierrepont, of Hanslope. This William was one of the leading members in the house of commons during the civil war; but was always against violent measures, and industrious to reconcile the unhappy differences of the times. Among the valuable collection of this gentleman’s paper and MSS, which were consumed in the fire at Thoresby, in 1746, were the original minutes and papers relating to the treaties with Charles I at Uxbridge, and in the Isle of Wight. He survived the restoration; and died in 1679.] viz. Henry, William, Francis, Robert, Gervase, and George; also three daughters; of which Frances married Philip Rolleston, esquire; Mary died young; and Elizabeth, unmarried.

            HENRY, second earl of Kingston, in 1645, was created marquis of Dorchester. Though his attachment to the king was firm and steady, yet the effect of it was limited to supplies in money; whereby he avoided the censure of the parliamentary party. He was a very studious nobleman, and very learned, particularly in law and physic; but there are no specimens of his talents, excepting a few speeches on different occasions, and a letter to John lord Roos, his son-in-law, in relation to the controversy carried on between him and his daughter, concerning the legality of parliamentary divorces. His lordship was twice married: by his first wife, daughter of Paul viscount Banning, he had a son, Robert, who died an infant; and two daughters, where of Anne married John lord Roos, after earl of Rutland, from whom she was divorced; and Grace died unmarried. His second lady was daughter of James earl of Derby; and by her he had one son, Henry, who died in his infancy. Having no surviving male issue, and deceasing in 1680, the title of marquis of Dorchester became extinct, but that of earl of Kingston descended to his great nephew.

            ROBERT, grandson and heir of William, his second brother; which Robert died unmarried, in 1682, at Dieppe, in France, as he was on his travels, and was succeeded by his brother,

            WILLIAM, who enjoyed the title about eight years; and then having no issue by Anne his wife, daughter of Robert lord Brooke, transmitted the same to his next brother and heir,

            Francis, third son, married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Thomas Bray, of Eyam, in com. Derby, esquire; and having built a fair fest at Nottingham, died in 1657.

            Robert, fourth son, died without issue, and unmarried; as did

            Gervase, fifth son, at Haerlem, in Holland, in 1678-9; the probate of whose will bears date 13^th February, 1678-9, whereby he bequeathed £10,000 to the first person of his family who should obtain the honour and title of a duke.

            George, the sixth and youngest son, was seated at Old Cotes, in Derbyshire, and married a sister to Sir Samuel Jones, of Corthen-Hall, in Northamptonshire; by whom he had two sons, Henry and Samuel, who both died unmarried.

            EVELYN, who, the 23d of December, 1706, was created marquis of Dorchester, with remainder to his uncle Gervase lord Pierrepont, of Hanslope; and on the 20^th July, 1715, was advanced to the rank and dignity of duke of Kingston. Moreover, in 1719, he was elected a knight of the garter; and in such estimation and favour was he at court, that he was four times appointed one of the lords justices whilst his majesty went to Hanover. His grace married, first, Mary, daughter to William earl of Denbigh; by who he had an only son, William, who died before him, and three daughters. His second wife was Isabella, daughter of William earl of Portland; which lady brought him two daughters, namely, Catherine (or Carolina), married to Thomas Brand, of Fyfield, in Essex, esquire; and Anne, who died unmarried. And dying in March, 1725-6, he was succeeded by his grandson, Evelyn, only son and heir of William, his eldest son beforenamed. Which

            EVELYN, second duke of Kingston, was also a knight of the garter; and on breaking out of the rebellion, in 1745, was among the first of those noblemen who evinced their attachment to the family on the throne, by raising regiments to assist his majesty’s forces in the subduing thereof. But notwithstanding this instance of zeal for the maintenance of the order of things as established at the Revolution, his grace did not concern himself with matters of state. He is said to have been endowed with many virtues, humanity in particular; an open, ingenuous, manly frankness, with candour, generosity, and courage. His grace married Miss Chudleigh, one of the maids of honour to the late dowager princess of Wales; a marriage of which it is here unnecessary to speak, inasmuch as the peculiar circumstances attending it, are to be found at large in the records of the State Trials. Having no issue, the honours of this house became extinct with the death of the duke, in 1773.

[Charts]