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“Oh yes.” He removed some papers from his briefcase and slid them across the table. “She had a ten-year term life insurance policy with $100,000 of coverage.”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally, some good news!
“Unfortunately,” Perry said with a sympathetic smile, “your mother stopped paying her premium eleven months ago. She was still within the grace period, however, and entitled to the majority of her policy. I’m here to deliver a check for $75,000.”
“That’s still wonderful,” Brandi said. “I wasn’t expecting her to have any life insurance. Our mother wasn’t the kind of woman to think about other people.”
My smile slowly faded. I had just remembered the $50,000 owed for our mother’s funeral. That would eat up most of this windfall. Still, it was good news.
“Now then, the next matter of business,” Perry said. “The homeowner policy for the property at 715 Gulfshore Drive. I just have a few questions for you, if you do not mind.”
“Go ahead,” I said.
He began by verifying a lot of basic information about the house. When it was built, and when we moved in. How long the two of us had lived there, and the period of time our mother had lived alone. The questions seemed totally normal.
Until they didn’t.
“How would you describe your mother’s mental health these past few months?” Perry asked.
“We weren’t close with our mother,” Brandi replied. “Neither of us had seen her in a long time.”
“But it’s true she had a live-in caretaker.”
“She had a caretaker who visited once a day,” I corrected. “She didn’t live in the house.”
Perry made some notes. I tried to see what he was writing, but the angle wasn’t good from where I was sitting.
“Did your mother ever tamper with the electrical wiring in the house?” Perry asked casually.
There it is. They’re trying to find a reason not to pay out the home insurance.
Brandi snorted. “Let me tell you about her—”
“Not that we’re aware of,” I interrupted, kicking Brandi under the table. “She worked with power tools in the garage and office. She owned an upholstery business, and occasionally made her own furniture. That’s about all we know.”
Perry was staring at me for three long heartbeats. It made me feel like he could see into my mind.
“Did she exhibit any other erratic behavior?”
“Like I said: neither of us had seen her in a very long time.”
“I don’t understand,” Brandi said. “Why are you asking about our mother’s behavior?”
Don’t you get it, Brandi? At least she wasn’t revealing any incriminating information.
“Do you have any idea how the fire might have started?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t have any idea.”
“Me neither,” Brandi added.
“When were you last inside the home?”
“I was there the night it burned down,” I admitted. “Brandi was there a week before.”
“But I didn’t go inside,” Brandi said. “I stayed in the car.”
Perry tilted his head curiously. “You were there, but did not go inside? Why not?”
