“Is that everything?”
“Mona had several bank accounts and a great deal of money in shares. Here’s a list of those assets.”
Fenella glanced down the list and then looked at the number at the bottom of the page. “I can’t even comprehend that,” she told Doncan.
He nodded. “I’ve been handling Mona’s investments for years and even I was surprised when I added everything up. She rarely spent any money, as well, which helped her amass her fortune.”
“I understand the apartment was a gift,” Fenella said.
“It was, as was the car and probably all of the property. I wasn’t Maxwell Martin’s advocate, but obviously I worked with him. Maxwell moved a great deal of money into Mona’s accounts over the years. When he first began doing so, I worried that he was trying to avoid taxes in some way, by moving things back and forth between himself and Mona, but nothing ever moved back from Mona to Maxwell.”
“I see. Is that everything?”
Doncan looked at a sheet of paper in front of him. “We talked about her flat and her car, her other properties, her safe deposit boxes, and her bank accounts and shares. I think that’s about it. If you’re interested, here’s a number that approximates your net worth.” He held out another sheet of paper.
Fenella looked at the number and then shook her head. “I think I might just try to forget that number,” she said. “It’s so large as to be ridiculous.”
“Of course, I’m here to work with you if you decide you want to make any changes to anything. House prices have been very up and down in the last ten years, but they’re fairly stable at the moment, should you want to start selling off some of Mona’s properties. We can discuss which stocks and shares you hold and maybe make some changes there. Or you can, of course, move some or all of your money elsewhere for someone else to manage on your behalf.”
“I’m quite happy to leave everything exactly as it is for the moment,” Fenella said. “I just wish I’d known that I was rich before today. I would have taken more taxis and walked a lot less for the last six months.”
Doncan frowned. “I am sorry. I thought that I told you that money wasn’t to be a concern for you, but apparently I was too vague. I should have insisted that we have this meeting much earlier.”
“It’s fine. I was mostly joking,” Fenella said quickly. “It’s just that I’ve been trying to be very careful with my money, not knowing if it might be close to running out.”
“I believe you’d have to work quite hard to get it to run out,” Doncan said. “But I have had clients who seemed bent on spending everything when they’ve inherited money, and I don’t recommend it.”
“No, I will continue to be sensible,” Fenella replied. “But I will want to travel more and I may want another car. Something more, well, sensible for day-to-day use.”
“Let me know if you need a check cutting for anything. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting credit cards as well, if you’d like some.”
Fenella nodded. She was still relying on her old US credit cards, but they were a pain to keep track of from the island. Getting credit cards here was a good idea.
“I think I need to go and lie down,” she told Doncan half-seriously.
“There is one more thing,” he told her.
“Oh, dear. What else?”
“This is less serious, I think. Do you remember Mortimer Morrison?”
“Not exactly, as I never actually met the man, but I did look after his dog, Fiona, when he disappeared. I remember that.”
“Yes, and you attended his memorial service.”
“I did. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“And perhaps more importantly, you signed the guest book at the memorial service.”
“Yes, I did,” Fenella agreed. “You were quite insistent about that.”
Doncan nodded. “I was quite insistent with everyone,” he said. “And for good reason. Mortimer didn’t have any family left. In his will, he left a large sum of money to be used for looking after Fiona after his death. That sum has already gone to Harvey Garus, as he’s taking care of Fiona now.”
“How nice for Harvey,” Fenella replied.
“Yes, but even after that sum was paid out, there was still a considerable amount of money left in Mr. Morrison’s estate,” Doncan said. “According to the provisions of the man’s will, the remainder of the estate is to be divided equally among everyone who signed the guest book at the man’s memorial service.”
Fenella stared at the man again. “Really?” she said after a moment. “Isn’t that rather odd?”
Doncan laughed. “It isn’t the oddest idea that Mr. Morrison came up with. Initially, he wanted some sort of random drawing from all of the names of the people who attended the service. One person would have won the entire estate. When I suggested that wasn’t necessarily the fairest way to do things, he came up with a complicated formula for awarding shares in the estate to, well, random people, really. It would have been a nightmare to try to administer, and I told Mr. Morrison he’d have to find another advocate if he was determined to use that scheme.”
“So he just left it all to be divided among his mourners?”
“More or less, yes. You’ll each be getting a check in the post from my office in the next six weeks or so, along with an explanatory letter. I just thought, since you were already here, that I would tell you in person.”
“Can I tell anyone else? Shelly and Peter were at the service with me.”
“You can tell anyone you like. There will probably be an article in the local paper about it one day soon. No doubt there will be complaints about it as well.”
“Especially from the people who didn’t go to the service,” Fenella suggested.
“Exactly.”
“Should I ask how much we will all be getting?”
Doncan told her a number that made her raise her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize Mr. Morrison was worth that sort of money.”
“He made some very smart investments over the years. He also inherited a nice amount from his sister when she passed away.”
“And now he’s given it all away to random strangers?”
“Not entirely random; he’s left it to the people who chose to honor his memory by attending his memorial service. Many of them were business associates, of course, but they were probably the closest thing the man had to friends.”
“That’s sad.”
“While we are on the subject, if you don’t have a will yourself, you should definitely think about having one made. You will be leaving considerable assets, after all, and it would be a shame for the government to claim it.”
“I’ve never really thought about where I’d want my money to go. In fairness, I never had any money to worry about, of course.”
Doncan nodded. “I know you have four brothers. Presumably at least some of them have families, as well. Start giving some thought to what you might like to do with your estate. We really should meet again in a week or two to discuss things, if that works for you.”
“I hate thinking about dying,” Fenella murmured.
“I understand that, but you should hate the thought of the government taking everything and wasting it on whatever the government wastes money on.”
Fenella nodded. “I’ll have to start thinking about it. I suppose I should leave my brothers something, or maybe their children. No doubt my youngest brother will argue that I should leave him a great deal, or better yet, give him a lump sum now.”
“That would be James?” Doncan asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’ve had some correspondence from James. I don’t believe he was very happy with the contents of Mona’s will.”
“No, he wasn’t,” Fenella sighed. “He even tried to persuade my other brothers to go in with him to contest the will.”
“But they didn’t agree?”
“No, they were all happy for me. Of course, I’m sure none of them had any idea
just how much I’d actually inherited from Aunty Mona. They might not have been so disinterested if they’d known.”
“And how much you tell them about the money is entirely up to you. I can assure you that Mona’s will is uncontestable, or as close to it as it is possible to be. It would cost your brother or brothers a great deal of money to fight the case and I’m nearly certain that they would lose.”
“And it would cost me a great deal as well,” Fenella suggested.
Doncan laughed. “It wouldn’t cost you that much,” he told her. “For a start, you’d have the advantage of already being here, with local representation. There isn’t an advocate on the island who would take me on, not on this case. Your brother wouldn’t be able to use an American lawyer, so he’d have to find someone in the UK to take the case. The costs would start to mount before I had to do anything at all.”
“I think the lawyer he consulted in the US told him something along those lines,” Fenella replied. “I hope he’s given up on the idea now.”
“If he hasn’t, and he gets in touch with you to discuss it, have him ring my office. Don’t talk to him about any legal matters.”
“I’ll do my best, but he is my brother.”
“Yes, but he may also be your opponent if he does decide to sue.”
“He won’t,” Fenella said with more confidence than she actually felt. “He can’t afford to sue even if he wanted to, and no matter how much he could use the money, he wouldn’t deliberately do anything to hurt me.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s a failed novelist,” Fenella told him. “He wrote one book, many years ago, and my other brothers insisted that he use his advance to buy himself a little house. He’s been there ever since, working hard on his second novel, but never actually writing anything.”
Doncan nodded. “Let me know if he gives you any trouble. On your way out, make an appointment with my secretary for next week. We’ll get your will sorted out, sooner rather than later.”
Fenella nodded. “That’s probably good.”
She made her way home with her head spinning. A will had never been something she’d even thought about. She was trying not to think about all of the zeros that had been on the sheet of paper Doncan had shown her. Donald’s not so intimidating now, is he, she thought. The idea made her giggle, and within a minute she was laughing hard. I’m like a zillionaire, she thought, or maybe not quite, but near enough that one or two zeros didn’t matter.
Forget the Isle of Man, I could buy my own island, maybe in the Caribbean or somewhere like that, she thought. Maybe I should buy a mansion on the beach or a summerhouse in the south of France. As she walked into her apartment building, she couldn’t stop giggling to herself as she mentally spent her fortune over and over again. When she opened the door to her apartment, Katie raced toward her.
“Merroww,” she said in what sounded like an apologetic tone.
Fenella frowned at her. “What have you done?” Experience told her exactly where to look. She’d forgotten to shut the door to her bathroom when she’d gone out. Katie had obviously taken that to mean that it was time to play with the toilet paper. There were strips of it all over the master bedroom floor. Tiny shredded pieces seemed to cover the bed, and it looked as if the kitten had assembled herself a large pile of squares and then jumped into the center of them, scattering them everywhere.
“That’s brought me back down to earth,” she sighed. “I’ve inherited a fortune and I still have to clean up after you.”
Katie winked at her and then disappeared, leaving Fenella to drag out the vacuum and clear away the mess. “I need to find a better solution than simply shutting the bathroom door,” she told her reflection as she pulled out a new roll of toilet paper. She looked around the large master bathroom. Maybe she should keep the paper in one of the vanity drawers rather than on the holder. It would be a bit of a pain when she needed it, but at least she wouldn’t have to worry about remembering to shut the bathroom door every time she went out. She was still musing over the matter when someone knocked on her door a short while later.
“Did you hear the news?” Shelly asked excitedly as Fenella let her into her apartment.
“Maybe,” Fenella grinned. “What news are you talking about?”
“Doncan Quayle just rang me. He told me that everyone who was at Mortimer Morrison’s memorial service will be getting a portion of the man’s estate.”
“I did hear that news, actually. Congratulations.”
“Yes, and to you, too,” Shelly replied. She leaned closer to Fenella and lowered her voice. “He said it would be a rather considerable sum, as well.”
“Yes, that’s what he told me, too, but I couldn’t really take it in as I was already in shock over how much Mona was worth,” Fenella confided in her friend.
“Mona never worried about money. I doubt she had any idea what she was worth. But I am excited for you. Are you fabulously rich? Richer than Donald, maybe?”
“As I’ve no idea how much money Donald has, I can’t possibly answer that question. But I’m super-mega-extra rich, if that gives you any idea.”
Shelly laughed. “I hope you’ll remember us little people as you climb over your mountains of money.”
“I will try to remember you, uhm, Stacey, was it?”
Shelly laughed again. “I suppose I should go and talk to Peter instead. I’m sure he’ll be excited about the inheritance from Mortimer. It won’t just be spare change for him like it is for you.”
Fenella shook her head. “It isn’t just spare change to me, even if I have oodles of money. I really can’t even begin to comprehend what I’ve inherited. Doncan said he didn’t want to share the specifics with me until I’d had time to get settled in, but now I think I wish he’d have waited a little bit longer. I’m not sure I’m ready to worry about what to do with all of my money.”
“Surely it’s Doncan’s job to worry about your money. You’re just meant to spend it.”
“Yes and no,” Fenella sighed. “What are you going to do with your inheritance from Moritmer?”
Shelly shrugged. “I was thinking that I might have a fabulous holiday somewhere, but then I started thinking about getting a new car or maybe even buying a larger flat. It’s a lot to think about.”
“Exactly, and I’m having to think about it on a larger scale.”
“What a wonderful problem to have, though,” Shelly suggested.
Fenella nodded. “Except the guilt is already starting. I have four brothers, and it doesn’t seem quite fair that they didn’t get anything from Mona. Maybe I should send them each a check or something.”
“You can’t feel guilty about the money from Mortimer, at least. Maybe we should go on an amazing holiday together.”
“That could be fun. Where would you like to go?”
“What about a cruise?”
“I got badly seasick on the ferry and it never even left the dock,” Fenella reminded Shelly. “I’m not sure I’d enjoy a cruise, even though they do look wonderful.”
“Isn’t there anywhere you’ve always wanted to go?” Shelly asked.
“Paris, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Monte Carlo,” Fenella rattled off a short list. “But I’d really need a tour guide in every one of them, one who could help with the language barrier and show me all of the important sights. That would probably be expensive.”
“I think you can probably afford it.”
Fenella laughed. “You’re probably right. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to having money.”
“How was your dinner with Donald last night? Are you going to end things with him now that you have more money than he does?”
“I wasn’t dating Donald for his money,” Fenella said quickly.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to suggest that you were. But I know part of his charm is that he spoils you. Now you can simply spoil yourself.”
“Yes, well, maybe, but anyway, dinner was delicious, but we ended up sitting
next to Neil and his friends from across and that was unpleasant. And then, when we got back here, Donald said he doesn’t want to see me anymore.”
Shelly gasped. “I’m so sorry,” she said, pulling Fenella into a hug. “Did he give you a reason?”
“He said it was because he was afraid he was falling for me and he doesn’t want to fall in love again, or something like that.”
Shelly stared at her and then shook her head. “I don’t believe it. That sounds like something a man would say while trying to seduce a woman.”
Fenella giggled. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? I don’t know that I believe him, but he didn’t ask to see me again, or even walk me to my door after dinner.”
“Hmm, I wonder what he’s planning now.”
Fenella sighed. “I hate it when men play games like this. Actually, I’ve never had a man play games like this with me. Jack was always totally transparent and Chuck, well, he lied and cheated on me, but that was different.”
“Have you heard from Daniel lately?”
“Not since he called to complain about my getting myself caught up in another murder investigation,” Fenella told her.
Shelly frowned. “Maybe we need to find you a new man,” she said thoughtfully. “Gordon has a lot of friends.”
“I met a few of Gordon’s friends at the pub once. They were pretty awful.”
“He has some very nice friends, although some of them aren’t so great, I will admit. The problem is that Gordon is nice to everyone and everyone wants to be his friend, even a few unpleasant people.”
“Whatever, I’m not looking for a man right now. Now that I know that I’m wealthy, I shall have to be more careful about the men I date, as well.”
“Yes, that’s going to be a real worry, isn’t it?” Shelly said thoughtfully.
“I wonder if Mona ever worried that men were only attracted to her because of her money,” Fenella said thoughtfully. And where was Mona, anyway?
“If you’d ever met Mona, you wouldn’t ask that question. She was so beautiful and vibrant and, I don’t know, alive, that men flocked to her and would have done so even if she’d been penniless,” Shelly told her.
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