The Inheritance Nobody Wanted

The letter from the lawyer arrived on a Tuesday, between an electricity bill and a flyer for a pizza place. Daniel almost threw it away. He was forty-two, tired, recently divorced, and not in the habit of getting good news in the post.

But the envelope was thick and cream-colored, and his name was typed, not printed, so he opened it. Inside, in careful legal language, it told him that a man named Thomas Hale had died, and that Thomas Hale had left everything he owned to Daniel.

Daniel read it twice. He had never heard of Thomas Hale.