Page 67 of Pro Bono

As he could have predicted, the one who began the money talk was May. She said, “Let’s see if we’ve got all the facts about Daniel’s moneynow. I brought with me my correspondence with the Arizona Department of Revenue.”

“Correspondence?” Rose said, “Isn’t it just one letter?”

“No,” May said. “It’s been nearly a month since they got in touch with me. I felt I had to begin finding out what the procedures are, and make their office aware that we’re the heirs. I didn’t want some deadline to pass before we even knew there was one.”

Rose said, “Did you give them all our names as the heirs?”

“Well, no. I didn’t feel I had the right to do that. They already had my name, probably because I live in their state, so I gave them nothing and got some information. Want to hear it?”

Rose said, “Uh-huh.”

“They work out of a place on West Monroe Street in Phoenix called the State of Arizona Unclaimed Property Office. They have a website that tells you all about the process. If you’re claiming property of someone who is deceased, just having the same name gets you nowhere. You’ve got to have evidence that you’re now the owner. They also warn you that the process can take up to a hundred and twenty days before you get the money. If there are stocks, it takes an extra thirty days.”

“What is there?” Rose asked.

“They won’t tell you. You have to tell them.”

“Anybody have any actual information?” Rose said.

Peter said, “I do.”

May said, “What is it?”

“I got a notice from the California State Controller’s Office about two weeks after the Arizona people contacted May. I was pretty angry to learn that our brother Dan had used my name for some purpose of his own all those years ago, and compromised my safety. I did what May did, and let them know I was planning to claim what Dan left behind.”

“Interesting that you never mentioned it to me,” May said. “I told both of you right away when I got my letter.”

“You knew Dan was hanging around in California for years until he died,” Rose said. “That’s probably the place where most of his money is.”

Peter said, “Well, I’m pretty sure none of this matters anyway.”

“Why not?” May said.

“The only reason they got in touch in the first place was that somebody else had just filed papers to claim the money. That made them search the records for the first time in fourteen years, and they found that he had signed something with his real name once and offered my house as collateral, probably in some deal. Now that everything is computerized, it surfaced.”

“What a disloyal bastard he was. What about the other claim?”

Peter went inside to the tall wooden desk on the far side of the great room, lowered the front to turn it into a writing surface, and then opened a drawer above the cubbyholes and pulled out a paper. His sisters sat on the porch and watched him through the big window. He emerged and read aloud from the paper. “On July 18, the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles determined in conformity with the laws of the State of California that the late Daniel Rickenger, a resident of the state, was married at the time of his death to the former Linda Warren Stone, now Linda Warren. She is the sole heir to his estate.”

May shot up from her chair so fast that it looked to Peter as though both her feet actually left the ground. “Shit!” she shouted. “Shit shit shit!” Her graceful hands were clenched into sharp little fists.

“It looks like this was a waste of time,” Rose said.

“There’s got to be a way around this,” May said.

Rose said, “No, if there was a woman he was still married to when he died, and she didn’t consent in writing to his leaving his money tosomebody else, there’s no contest in California. It’s hers. I’ve used that one twice myself.”

May said, “That explains something, anyway.”

Peter appeared between them. “Another drink, May? How about you, Rose?”

The women ignored him. “Explains what, May?” Rose said.

“Why you slept with so many old men. I guess now we know what that was about.”

Rose’s smile was steely. “What was it about, May? It was about forty-six million dollars, give or take. And it wasn’t a lot of work, either. When they’re old, you’re not expected to take part in threesomes or organize swaps or go jogging with them. You should have tried it while you still could.”

Peter said, “Since we’re together all at once, we should consider everything we now know and think of an alternative. It doesn’t sound as though this woman Linda Warren has remarried in seventeen years, since she was called Linda Warren before she married Daniel and is now too.”

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