PART 10

The records attorney called two days later with a finding that turned the dispute into something broader.

Mercer Heritage Holdings was real.

It had been formed decades earlier with an interest in a waterfront logistics venture that later became part of Sterling Consolidated.

The public filings did not establish who currently owned its beneficial interests, but they showed an unusual sequence of transfers after Ruth Mercer’s death.

“Some transactions may be completely legitimate,” the attorney cautioned.