Page 20 of Joker in the Pack

Now, that made me sad. Imagine going through your whole life and meaning so little to anybody that all you were worth was an empty church and a sermon nobody heard.

Mind you, who would come to my funeral? Probably only Maddie and Dave.

“I’d have gone if I’d known.”

She’d been family, after all.

“I understand she was a bit of a loner.”

That left one big question. Well, two. “So, how did you know Aunt Ellie? And why are you here?”

“Each day, my company reviews the Bona Vacantia list, and—”

“Wait a second. What’s the Bona Vacantia list?”

“It’s a list of unclaimed estates published by the government.”

“Like when people die without a will?”

“Exactly that. Anyway, we review it and try to track down the deceased’s missing relatives to inherit what’s left.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “And what do you get out of that?”

The whole arrangement sounded suspiciously like a scam to me. I may have been poor, but I wanted to believe I wasn’t entirely dumb.

“We help potential heirs with the paperwork in exchange for a small fee.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “But between you and me, I just love the research. Genealogy’s always fascinated me, and being able to make a living from studying it is a dream come true.”

“So you think, what? That I may somehow be Aunt Ellie’s heir?”

“I can’t find that she has any other family left.”

I opened the door wider, hoping that he wasn’t a serial killer. He stood an inch shorter than me, so kind of small for a man, and a year older at a guess. I didn’t feel any threatening vibes. But then again, my character judgement had been a little off lately, hadn’t it? While he stepped over the threshold and looked around, I inched closer to the ugly lamp sitting on the floor in the lounge. A gift from Edward’s aunt last Christmas, nobody wanted it, not even the good folks who shopped on eBay.

“Where’s all your furniture? Have you just moved in?” Mickey asked.

“No, I’m in the process of moving out.”

“Good thing I caught you, then. It could have taken me months to track you down at your new place. Are you going far?”

We’d made it to the kitchen by then, and I leaned against the counter and sighed. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t been able to find anywhere suitable nearby. Every place I’ve looked at has been awful in one way or another.”

Mickey bobbed his head. “That happened to me too. It took weeks to find my current flat, and even then, I ended up with a bedroom the size of a matchbox.”

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I gave an involuntary sniff. My search was hopeless, wasn’t it?

“Uh, don’t cry.” Mickey glanced towards the door as if he wanted to run out of it. “What about Eleanor’s house? If we get the paperwork done quickly, you could live there until you find somewhere better.”

I gripped the edge of the counter as my knees threatened to give way. “Did you just say ‘house’?”

“Well, it’s more of a cottage from what I understand.”

When he referred to Eleanor’s estate, I’d imagined some rickety furniture and a few china ornaments sitting in a storage unit somewhere. A house? I gave up trying to stay upright and slid down the kitchen unit until my bottom hit the floor. “But a whole building?”

“Are you all right?” Mickey asked. “Shall I make a cup of tea?”

I nodded.

“Which is that? Yes, you’re all right, or yes, you want tea?”

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