The Safe Call

I was the only one still speaking to Auntie Dottie when she died. “She ain’t right,” they all defended. She was just reclusive. If you could stand the silence spending time with her wasn’t all that bad. Anyway...

She died and then her lawyer called. I didn’t even know she had one. “What’s a slum-renting old lady need a lawyer for,” I asked. He told me Dottie said to take the old mirror in the bathroom and to take the numbers 9871.

Turns out she was also a money-grubbing tightwad who kept all her cash in a safe.