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About the Author: Preston Lang's work has appeared in Queen's Quarterly, N + 1, Ellery Queen, and Best American Mystery Stories 2019 and 2021.
It was a fifty-minute ride on the GO train to see Grandma Bev. Amanda made the trip nearly every Friday. Sometimes she stayed until Monday. The week before finals, Amanda packed all her books and studied on the train. Bev teased her for being so damn studious. Then she taught her granddaughter how to make a Tom Collins.
“I’m going to die soon,” Bev said after her first sip.
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. I’ll say it.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Do you want the house?”
“What? No.”
“It’s probably worth four hundred grand. Maybe more. I’m giving it to you.”
“No, they’ll all hate me.”
“They all hate me. It’s terrific.”
Bev had always been tiny but vital. Now watching her walk back to the kitchen, Amanda saw how frail she really was, holding onto counters and chairs, wheezing when she reached the gin.
“I told my lawyer to gather everyone here for a dramatic reading of my will after I’m dead. But she says she won’t do it that way.”
“You could hire an actor. A mysterious Danish gentleman with a limp.”
“Okay. I like that.”
“And you have to put something berserk in the will.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know—something really wild.”
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