No he didn't sell the business, he sold his house. He just left the shop behind. I don't know how it worked in Texas in the 70's but if TT were legally registered as co owner, would he not have been liable for outstanding debts? Or were the debts actually personal debts of CA's. Or was TT never actually made legal part owner despite handing over $10,000? Because $10,000 was a lot of money for anything other than a share in the business. I guess I have an avenue of thinking that involves TT being duped by CA into investing in what he believed to be a healthy business that would become his on CA's death. If something came to light in the early part of 1975, that might be why TT packed up and left town since he then knew he wouldn't see the money again and didn't want anything more to do with those in FW. I don't see this having anything to do with the girls going missing though, other than an indication of how shady CA could be, and how much influence he could have over TT.
TT left May 75, CA died July 75. If the shop were still open at that point then someone had to be running it.....
Yes ST would have been but I was talking about visits with his dad. As he got older TT may have been worried about ST hearing things while visiting with him.
His inheritance I believe was his when he turned 30. Yeah the throckmorton shop advertised him as factory trained technician so I guess they weren't really checking references or training back then!