Classmates battle over treasure

Renée and Rainwater have been best friends since high school. That was over 25 years ago. Today, Rainwater runs a small contracting business. He's married and has two children in college. Renée never married. Instead, she became a successful CPA and runs a tax service in a medium- sized Ohio town.

The story begins when Renée decided to give her bathroom a complete makeover. She hires Rainwater to do the job. On the very first day, Rainwater rips the wall out behind the sink and finds a box containing over $25,000.

That prompts a phone call to Renée's office, and she comes running home. Their excitement grows when, together, they find a wire attached to a stud. At the end of the wire is another box stuffed with more than $100,000 - plus two more boxes also filled with money.

Overwhelmed with their discovery, the two contact a mutual friend who's an antique dealer. He tells them most of the $10 bills are rare Cleveland Federal Reserve bank notes engraved in the '20s and are valued at $85 each. There's also a stack of $500 bills and one $1,000 bill that have not been in circulation for many, many years.

The original owner of the house, Harry Rosentretter, built the house during the Great Depression. He's now presumed dead, and Renée is the unquestioned owner of the house. But Rainwater actually found the treasure, and Ohio's finders- keepers law may come into play since the original owner probably won't be making a claim.

Rainwater found the treasure only because he was hired as a contractor to do the bathroom make- over. Renée owns the house. She offers Rainwater a 10 percent finder's fee, but her former classmate says that's not enough- he wants 40 percent!

With lawyers now in the mix, these former classmates' relationship is headed for the cellar. They must've been real buddies, because it took a $500,000 treasure to rupture their friendship.

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