“You’ll do fine. You’re articulate. Open a dialogue. Tell them how you got caught up in this. You know about the last few months of Terrence Dace’s life. His children should have the information.”

“I don’t know anything about the last few months of his life. I’m only going on what I’ve been told.”

“Matters not. You said Dace made a point about the executor of his will delivering the news.”

I was shaking my head in despair. “I can’t do it. Truly. They’re bound to react badly. It’s like begging to be abused. First they find out he died and then they find out he’s screwed ’em over in death the way he screwed ’em in life.”

“You don’t know that for a fact.”

“What, that he screwed ’em over in life? Look at it from their perspective. God knows what they went through during his arrest, trial, and sentencing. They must have been mortified. After that, Mom divorces him and he goes to prison, presumably for life. He put them through the wringer.”

“But he didn’t commit a crime. He was falsely accused. The legal system was at fault. The judge, the lawyers, and police made a terrible mistake. You’d think his kids would be thrilled to find out he was telling the truth.”

“Not so. From what Dandy tells me, the visit was a bust.”

“Do you think he told his kids how much money he had?”

“Beats me. Dandy and Pearl suspected he had money, but apparently he never revealed how much. I don’t want to be the one who drops that bomb on them. Once the kids find out I’m sole beneficiary, no telling what they’ll do.”

Henry shook his head. “You’re just trying to save your own skin.”

“Of course I am! Wouldn’t you do the same?”

“That’s neither here nor there. Tell them what happened. Lay the whole story out the same way you told me. It’s not your fault they severed the relationship. It’s not your fault he named you in his will.”

“You think they’ll take such a charitable view?”

“Well, no, not likely, but it’s better if you take the high road and handle this one-on-one.”

I put my head down on the table and groaned.

“Kinsey, the money isn’t theirs. It was never theirs. Their father had the right to do anything he wanted with it.”

“What if they feel entitled to it? They’re his natural heirs. Why wouldn’t they feel they had a right to it?”

“In that case, it becomes a legal issue and they’ll have to hire an attorney.”

I thought about it briefly. “I guess if they raise a huge stink, I could offer to divide the money among the three of them.”