I stared at the black ink on the old decree.

The words swam slightly under the harsh yellow light of the cheap desk lamp.

“My mother left an insurance payout for me?” I asked.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Arthur tapped his pen against the side of the rusted cookie tin.

“She didn’t leave it to you,” Arthur said.

“She died without a will.

The insurance company paid the money directly to her surviving spouse by default.”