“Nick doesn’t want the money from the policy.”

“You realize we’re talking about a hundred thousand dollars?”

Now it was her turn to be astonished. “That much?”

“It’s a fifty-thousand-dollar policy that pays double in the event of accidental death.”

“Of course, it was an accident,” she said, brusquely.

“No one is saying it was anything else.”

“Then why are you investigating?”

“Standard procedure,” I replied. “What kind of law do you practice, Miss Trejo?”

That got a bitten off, “Plaintiff’s personal injury, not that it’s relevant.”

“But it is. You must deal with insurance companies all the time. You know how reluctant they are to part with money until every ‘t’ is crossed and every ‘i’ is dotted.”

“Sure,” she said. “I understand that, but that’s business and this is my family. Nick’s very sensitive. He’s already been through our dad’s death and now Bill’s. You can’t imagine how tough this has been on him.”

“You’re right. I can’t, but even so, I don’t understand why he would reject the money.”

“He doesn’t want to profit off Bill’s death.”

Profit off Ryan’s death? That was an odd way of putting it.

“The policy was Bill Ryan’s way of taking care of him.”

“Nick doesn’t see it that way. To him, it’s blood money.”

“I could see that if Nick felt he was in some way responsible for Bill’s death, but as you said, Miss Trejo, it was an accident.”

There was a fraught silence that went on so long, I thought she’d hung up on me, but then she said, “It’s Nick’s decision and that’s what he’s decided. If he needs to sign something, you can messenger it to my office and I’ll take care of it.”

She rattled off an address before I could respond.

“Okay,” I said, scribbling it down. “I’m not sure what the procedure is when a beneficiary declines the benefit. I’ll have to check with the company and get back to you.”

“Fine. But talk to me, okay, not Nick. Like I said, Nick’s—”

“Upset,” I said.

“That’s right. Thanks.”

She hung up.