The Stipulation

The Anderson gene pool is extensive. Just about everyone knows at least one Anderson of some variation, so it is pretty safe to say that I probably have multitudes of cousins I have never met from nearly every continent. It shouldn’t have been too surprising to me that I should receive a call that my cousin Helen had passed away suddenly, and that I was expected to fly to Illinois and attend her funeral. 

The surprise was that I had never heard of a Cousin Helen before, and she had apparently left me something in her will. 

Now, from what I was able to figure out from good old Ancestry, Cousin Helen was my father’s uncle’s granddaughter. She was a ripe thirty when she died, which made it sadder when I learned that her young daughter had also died only about a year beforehand. Everything that I discovered when digging up info on who this woman could have been just intrigued me more. I never met her in my life, even though we were close in age. We lived hundreds of miles apart. Family reunions were not something a family our size typically did. Unless it was for a funeral or a wedding. 

“I know all of this must be overwhelming for you, losing a family member so young,” Mr. Schwartz broke my train of thought with a clearing of his throat and a voice that didn’t seem to match his stocky appearance. Not that it mattered too much to me. I was still trying to figure out if I was actually sitting there in his small office or if I was just imagining this. Did I really just fly from Arizona to Illinois on a whim and a mysterious inheritance?

“Honestly, I know nothing about her. Or why she wanted to leave me anything. We’ve never even met,” I declared, finally breaking my own silence. 

“I see. Sometimes this happens, especially if the deceased had no close relatives. She did have a brother and a nephew, but nothing was left to them. Miss Anderson was known to be a bit of an oddball in life.”

“Again, I wouldn’t know. I hate to rush things here, but I do need to start heading back home.” I could see a spark of irritation, but he couldn’t really be too shocked. I have a business to run and wasting time with this nonsense was all ready a bit too ridiculous. 

“There is a stipulation in order to receive the inheritance –”

“Naturally. What is it, a donation to some sort of charity? I should have known,” I chuckled and opened my purse to dig for my checkbook. I was an idiot, of course that’s why I was there. I had discovered that before her death, Helen was a psychiatric nurse for a children’s home in the middle of nowhere. She must have heard that I was successful and figured I could afford to make some brat’s Christmas a little jollier at the expense of her untimely demise. I really fell into the trap this time. 

Schwartz waved his hands and shook his head.

“No, no, nothing like that! The details of the stipulation are sealed in this envelope. She only wanted you to know what was needed and never discussed it further with me except to tell me that the inheritance could be released to you once you verbally tell me that it is done.” He then held up a red envelope, the kind that might have contained a Christmas card. 

“That’s all? Well, what’s to stop me from just telling you I did whatever it is to get the stupid thing? This feels like a sick joke…” 

He continued to hold the envelope out to me, not once wavering.

“She said that you are too noble to lie in order to receive something unearned,” was his unwavering answer. I couldn’t help but scoff. She knew nothing about me, except my name and maybe my net worth. I snatched the envelope from his ruddy hand and made my way to the door.

“I imagine this is probably the exact scenario you envisioned you’d find yourself while you studied for the bar,” I muttered with the shrill of the hinges. He forced a laugh, not moving from his desk.

“Nothing ever prepared me for the death of Helen Anderson.”

Snow was falling in slight drifts carried by the wind when I stepped out of Schwartz’s building. I detested the cold and I certainly despised snow, which was one of many reasons I preferred Arizona. The sooner I finished this silly business I could get on the next plane home and end the year on a positive note. After I climbed into my rental car and started the engine for the heat, I carefully opened the red envelope. Amusingly enough, it actually did contain a Christmas card, featuring a shocked child peeking through a staircase banister at a shadow that apparently belonged to Santa Claus busily placing gifts under a tree. When I opened the card, a small brass key fell into my lap. It was nothing special, but it did have the number 134 inscribed in its center. 

Merry Christmas, Michelle. I hate that we had to meet under these circumstances, but better late than never. I also hate that just after meeting I must ask you for a favor. Trust me, I’m generally not someone who would ask favors from a stranger, but I’ll make an exception just this once.

This key belongs to a safe deposit box at First Financial here in town, box 134. Inside that box is something extremely important, far more important than you can possibly imagine. All that I need you to do is take the contents to the address you will find once you open the box. The less that you know the better, and please trust me on this. No, it’s nothing illegal so you don’t have to worry about getting mixed up with my affairs or have it affect your internet business. By the way, I checked out your website before, well, dying. I must say I’m impressed! Not that it matters much to you what a dead relative should think.

Thank you for coming this far, I knew that I could count on you. I assure you that the reward matches the effort that you will put into finishing this task for me. 

Helen Elizabeth Anderson

November 29, 2014

This woman was insane. This had to be a prank! I looked around to see if anyone was filming me for my reaction, but as far as I could see I was the only one parked and the road was empty. It didn’t make any sense… why me? Of all of the people in the world, why would she send for me, a distant cousin on the other side of the country, to do something that she could have just had a neighbor or her own brother finish? My head was beginning to throb at the reality that I might have very well been putting myself into a bad situation. All for an inheritance that might not have even existed! This was too much…

And then, I took a deep breath and read the card again. I searched it for any clues, capital letters, or odd phrases. The entire thing was odd. She said that the less that I know the better. If that didn’t sound like dirty dealings then I don’t know what did. The smartest thing that I could do was take this key right back to that smarmy Schwartz and head home right away. 

Instead, I plugged the directions for the bank into my navigator and put the rental into reverse. I came this far, I had to at least know what was in this mysterious safe deposit box. If it was something dangerous, I would return the key and leave and pretend I never made this trip. I would move on with my life and never think about Helen or this stupid request again. 

A small lady led me to the safe deposit room and left me alone after bringing me to box 134. From first appearances it seemed like just an average box. It was larger than the rest, so that was initially interesting. I inserted and turned the key. Once I opened it, I was greeted by something that I was not expecting: a small shoebox that had once contained light up tennis shoes for a little girl. A large sticky note was placed on the lid.

Hello Michelle, long time no write! You are doing well and are nearly at the end of this short journey. Please take this box to 441 Yellow Ln. The lady there will know what to do with it and you will be free to go back to Schwartz for your inheritance. 

Don’t open the box. I understand you are curious, so I’ll just tell you what it contains. It’s a novel that I wrote. It took me a long time to put it together because it had to be done in secret. Now it’s finally finished and it is your job to take it to the publisher. Make sure the lady knows that it must have a red cover. I don’t care how it’s formatted or if it has pictures, but make sure it has a red cover. 

All the best in life and death,

H.E.A.

December 12, 2014

A novel. All of this work to take a manuscript to a publisher. I couldn’t help laughing right there in the middle of the silent room. Would I take a shoebox supposedly containing a finished novel to a publisher?

You are damn right I would. I honestly would have done just about anything at this point just for the closure.

Yes, I did exactly as I was told. I carried the small shoebox to an elderly woman who greeted me with surprise at the door. As the note said, she was expecting me and took the box gratefully. She mentioned knowing Helen for some time before and was happy to know that she was finally at peace. It was a strange conversation. How peaceful could a death like that have been? She was mangled and hardly recognizable when she was found, and from everything I learned today she fully expected to die, and soon. What healthy thirty-year-old has a Last Will and Testament prepared along with a scavenger hunt for a distant relative to complete? None other than Helen Elizabeth Anderson. 

It was nearly five when I arrived back at Schwartz’s building. The street lights illuminated the street and walk, glistening with that freshly fallen snow that still carried on the wind like a whisper in the twilight. I had made it just in time, I could see him through the frosted window of the door grabbing his coat from the hall tree when he spotted me and waved for me to come in. 

“I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again,” he smiled and unlocked his office door. 

“Neither was I, but I figured what the hell… might as well go on an adventure or else let her haunt me for the rest of my days,” I answered with a shrug and followed him. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a final red envelope, this time a bit larger than the last. 

“Congratulations for completing the stipulation. Deepest condolences on your loss.”

I decided not to open the envelope until I was back home. How I withstood the curiosity the entire flight and ride back I’ll never fully understand, except I was too wrapped up with my thoughts to really worry about it. I found myself wondering more and more about Helen’s short life, how she could have pressed forward after her daughter’s death and continued to work through what must have been unbearable grief. I wanted more than anything to know how she died, was it really suicide or something more grim? However it happened she knew that it was coming, that much I was certain. 

It was good to be home, to shake the cold and stress at the door and relax in familiarity again. I took the red envelope from my purse and sat on the couch. Finally, it was time to see what Cousin Helen had left me in her will. 

There were three things in the envelope. The first was a final note from Helen.

You did it, Michelle. Unlike me, you didn’t buckle under the pressure and you did the one thing that I couldn’t do. For that, I am immensely grateful. You will never truly know what you have done for me, so I reward you with my most prized possessions. 

The first is a check written to you for the amount of $12,665. To someone like you I’m sure this is meager pocket change, but to me this was the exact amount I had socked away to escape a horribly toxic situation with my daughter. But life and fate didn’t work in our favor and my little girl was taken from me before we could leave. I hope that this money might help you accomplish a dream you might have.

I wish you all of the happiness this nasty world affords you, and I hope with enough time and good news you might forget that cold day in Illinois and wipe me completely from your mind. Despite everything, I did have an interesting life filled with enough wonder and amazement than I’ll ever be able to carry to the next life.

Oh, and the last thing I leave you is a bauble that fulfilled its purpose long ago. I don’t need it anymore. Just looking at it brings me pain. Perhaps it could aid you in some way, I don’t know. Its existence might have chained me to a lifetime of mystery, but as I said, it did serve quite a purpose in the end. 

Goodbye, noble cousin,

H.E.A.

December 12, 2014

She was right, there was a check for $12,665 written to me and dated 12/12/2014. There was also a necklace at the bottom of the envelope, a small crystal vial stained a strange red color internally on a silver chain. 

I felt a chill run through me as I clasped the chain around my neck. December 12, 2014. Only three days before her body would be found. What a gruesome inheritance.