As Felix was doing his monthly house errands, he saw that his neighbor, old Mrs. McAllister was fighting with her lawn, as she is struggling to mow.
When Felix went to the old woman’s side, McAllister had said, “Felix…is there…something…I can help…you with?”
“Step aside and let me help you! Honestly, Mrs. McAllister, your son should be helping you with these chores. It ain’t right to let your elderly Mom struggle alone.” Said Felix.
As he had spend some hours on McAllister’s lawn, she had called Felix to inside to have something to drink, as he was exhausted.
“Here you go, dear.” Said McAllister as she handed over the lemonade.
“I also want you to have this. It’s an antique that’s been passed down in my family.” She also handed a metal box to Felix.
“I don’t need a fancy gift for such a simple task, Mrs. McAllister.” Felix said.
As she was disappointed, she offered some groceries, apples and other fruit for Felix to give his daughter.
Felix thanked to McAllister, and left for his house. As he gave the apples to his daughter, after a while, Suzie rushed towards her father as she handed over the metal box. “Dad, look what I found under the apples Mrs. McAllister gave us!”
“I think these dials are a combination lock, but I can’t open it.” Suzie added.
“I’m sorry, Suzie, I know you love old puzzle boxes and things, but we aren’t keeping this.” Said Felix, as he remembered the box.
“I’m going to return it to Mrs. McAllister.”
As he went over to the house of Mrs. McAllister, he saw that she was lying on her armchair, as she was unresponsive to his yelling.
“Mrs. McAllister!” Felix had screamed one more time, but again, there was no response.
Then later on, while he was searching for the antique box on the internet, he found the exactly the same one for, $250,000, he was shocked.
As few days had passed, the lawyer of Mrs. McAllister had called Felix.
“This is Tim, Mrs. McAllister’s lawyer. I’d like to meet with you, as soon as possible. Are you available now?”
Then her son, Henry had arrived on the cafe where Felix was supposed to meet with the lawyer. “I’m going to cut to the chase, Felix. A precious heirloom has gone missing from my mother’s house, a small box with some dials on the lid. You were the last person in her house and I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing.” Said Henry.
“You think I stole from your mother?” Felix said.
“Mrs. McAllister gave the box to me as thanks for cutting her grass—a chore you should’ve done for her!”
“Mom would never have given you that box!” Henry shouted.
“It belonged to my great-great-grandfather, a well-known politician, who commissioned it from a famous artisan! It’s one of only two in the world! You’re going to return the box to me and I’ll give you $1000 for it. Deal?”
“You’re welcome to join the bidding when I put it up for auction. Goodbye, Henry.” Said Felix as he left.
On the next day, Felix went to the auction house on the town. Mr. Whitaker and a woman named Ellen had welcomed him.
“I can immediately verify that the craftsmen’s mark on the underside is authentic,” said Whitaker.
“That means this is quite a notable piece, sir. One of only two in the world.”
Ellen said, “That is quite lovely…may I see your provenance documentation?”
“Excuse me?” Said Felix. And Ellen responded, “You need to provide a certificate of authentication, or any verifiable document that proves the artifact’s authenticity and your ownership.”
Felix said, “Uh…I left all that stuff at home,” he said, “I’ll fetch it and be right back.”, as he took the box from the desk.
“We can’t let you do that.” Ellen said.
“We are obliged to notify the authorities of any…irregularities concerning items tied to historical figures.”
As Felix was panicked, he had ran to the hallway, and at that point, the alarms went off. He had ran to the street from the window.
As he wanted to talk with Mrs. McAllister about the paperwork, he decided to get in the house of her, to search the place.
As he was searching in the house for the documents, “Not so high and mighty now, are you Felix?” Said Henry, who was on the edge of the room.
“This isn’t what it looks like, Henry. I just need—” said Henry, as he took the pictures of Felix.
“The documentation for the box, I know.” Henry said.
“My family has a known connection to that box so the auction house contacted me after you tried to scam them. Of course, I told them you stole it—”
“That’s a lie!” Shouted Felix.
“But you can’t prove ownership without proper documentation.” Henry said.
“You can’t sell it either. I’ll give you until 8 a. m tomorrow to hand it over, otherwise I’ll call the cops.”
As Felix ran away from the house, he had wished that he left the box in the house on the day Mrs. McAllister had passed away.
He had called his mother to his house, and bid them farewell as he explained everything to them. He said to Suzie, “Sell it as soon as you can. Don’t take anything less than 100, 000 dollars for it, okay? This is the only way to get clear of this mess while still ensuring you get to live your life to the fullest.”
“Promise me you’ll live a good life, Suzie,” said one last time.
“Study hard so you make something of yourself, and travel so you can see what the world has to offer you. Take care of your grandma…family is important, and the elderly deserve our respect.”
Half an hour later the police sirens were heard. Then they came closer and closer. And took him in.
As the box was missing, he was charged with legal technicalities. As he had stayed in for four months, one day he was let go as he was informed that his bail was paid.
“Okay, Suzie, I can’t wait anymore,” as he saw his daughter and mother outside.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, I didn’t listen to you about the box.” Suzie said.
“Instead, I figured out how to open it. Inside it was a certificate of authentication, and a note from Mrs. McAllister. She really wanted you to have that box, Dad. The note said so.”
“So I showed the note to your lawyer, and then I took the box with all the papers to an antique dealer.” Suzie added.
“He gave us enough money for it to post bail and we still have $100,000 left!”