I wasn't prepared for an interrogation. I assumed my wish would have handled everything. Now I knew that I'd have to be more explicit in my wishes to avoid situations.
I looked up for a second and searched my brain for an answer. Suddenly I had it. "Well, about four years ago I helped an older man who was locked out of his car outside my apartment. He said he didn't have AAA, so I called them because I did. When they found out that I hadn't called for a problem with my car, they said the service would have to be paid for. Since I called them, I paid the charge myself without letting the man even try to pay himself. He drove off and I realized that I never got his name. I never saw him again either."
Now Miss Flanagan looked up. "So how did you know that was Mr. Chester Wooten?" she asked suspiciously.
"I saw his picture in the newspaper a few months later and realized that it was him," I said.
She sighed heavily and went back to filling out her form. She handed my driver's license back to me, again without looking up at me. Neither of us said anything for a minute. It felt a lot longer than that to me. She finally broke the silence by asking, "What type of car did Mr. Wooten drive that day?"
"It appeared to be a Toyota Prius," I answered. She continued to write on her form. The entire incident I described to her never happened. Apparently it did as a result of my wish, and that is also why I had memories of it. Another moment of silence passed. I had enough of being made uncomfortable and asked, "What else do you need to know?"
"Nothing from you, Mr. Williams," she said. "Mr. Wooten's will referred to the exact incident you just described and the details matched exactly. The will indicates that this is how we were to verify your identity. Apparently Mr. Wooten was touched by the kindness of a stranger."
"Like 'Melvin and Howard,'" I said.
She stopped writing and glared at me. "Are you saying that you wrote Mr. Wooten's will and that it is a fake?" she asked.
Apparently that wasn't the right movie reference to make. "No," I said. "Just in that in the movie--"
"I know," she said curtly.
"OK, look," I said. "Forgive me for being so blunt, but you seem to be quite unhappy that I'm here. Well I had no idea what any of this was about before I came here. So don't go holding it against me, Miss Flanagan." I said her name with disgust.
"Mr. Williams," she said, "Richmond & Westfield represented Mr. Wooten for the better part of three decades. He was our most important client. Losing him was like losing a close family member. Forgive us if we are skeptical for the situation now being what it is."
"But you said that I told you what you needed," I said.
"Yes, you have," she retorted. "But we are still going to perform background checks on you." She finished her form and handed it to me. "Sign at the bottom," she said.
I took it from her but before I signed it I asked her, "What does this say?"
"It's the account of what you just told me for verification of the will," she answered. "By signing it, you confirm that it is the truth." I signed it and handed it back to her. "And now we can test your fingerprints and handwriting to make sure that they do not match the copy of the will in any way." Before I could protest she stuffed it into her briefcase.
"Great," I said. "It's a good thing I'm not lying."
"We'll see," she said as she stood up. "You'll hear from us very soon, Mr. Williams, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Good day."
With that she quickly walked away in the direction of the front door. "Pleasure's mine," I mumbled to myself once she was out of sight. Since I possessed absolutely no knowledge of anything of this nature, I simply wished that there would be no complications with me inheriting everything. That should satisfy the ice queen, I thought.
"Good afternoon," I heard a voice say behind me. I spun around to see a man in his 40's standing in a doorway. "I am the butler, Jennings."