Cold Case -- The Two Brothers

Here's an interesting entry for "Cold Case -- The Trivial Stuff."

I'm calling it "The Case of the Two Brothers." I'm sorry I don't have more details. The story was related to me a long time ago, and whether I ever wrote it down, I don't think I did.

But two brothers, the sons of the same father, were with their father in a particular business. It might have been hide tanning, making lard, or something to do with animal carcass processing.

The father dies and there's a conflict over the estate, which son gets control of the business. It seems like the details were all very nebulous as to the legal directives. But the short story is that one of the sons got the controlling interest and the other was left out.

I believe this story must have happened between 1910 and 1940, just going by a rough estimate based on my sketchy recall of the original telling.

Anyway, the two brothers never spoke to each other after that time. And when they died, neither one went to the other's funeral.

I can't remember where all this took place. All I can remember is that I met the son of one of the brothers, who also now is deceased. He's the one who told me.

So the mission for the "Cold Case" investigators is: To find out by discovery what the legal situation was at the time, what the papers said, what the files on the case were. And having done that, to determine what would have been the best settlement on the business. How could the two brothers each have a share, depending of course on the father's intent, which I don't believe we have established.

It's a sad story, especially that it severed their relationship, which, we would like to think, had been cordial up to that point. And the fact that neither one attended the other's funeral is very sad to think of.

I would be happy to share any other information I have on the case with qualified investigators. What I stated above is all the information I have on the case, except for the family's last name, which I'm withholding for privacy reasons.