Joseph Relfe's debt to Richard Pool

Joseph Relfe's estate records can be found at the North Carolina State Archives:

Pasquotank County Estates, 1712-1931
CR 075.508.143
Joseph Relfe, 1818
The following is culled from copies obtained from the above source.

1. A promissory note was signed the 12th of August 1817 by Joseph Relfe and Leonard Martin. They promised to pay Richard Pool seventy four dollars.

2. The sherriff of Pasquotank summons Joseph Relfe and Leonard Martin to court in order to pay the debt in addition to a 20 dollar damages. James Pool is listed as the real plantiff on behalf of Richard Pool. The document is issued on the 4th of March, 1818.

3. The sherriff of Pasquotank summons Asa Sanderlin the administrator of Joseph Relfe's estate to settle the debt of 74 dollars and 20 dollars in damages. The document is issued on the 13th of June 1818.

So, what, if any, conclusions can be drawn?
That Joseph Relfe was alive as late as August 1817 and dead by June 1818. That Joseph Relfe needed cash (as opposed to goods) for an unknown purpose in conjunction with Leonard Martin. That Richard Pool had the means to provide the cash.
Questions to explore:
Why did Joseph and Leonard need the cash? Why was James Pool the real plantiff? How did Joseph die?