Chapter Sixteen

As she was about to push the drawer closed with the toe of her shoe; a box caught her eye. It was a box that checks came in from the bank. Curious, she knelt down and took it out. Opening it, she realized that Steve must have had another account without her knowledge. Having found the money upstairs, she was not surprised. Yet, she did feel a little disappointed. While she knew that her marriage wasn't good, she had no idea that he was stashing money away or had a girlfriend. Her marriage was indeed a fraud, or Steve was.


Kelleigh dumped the checks out into the garbage can, careful to keep one so that she had the account number. As the last checks fell into the can, something followed that wasn't checks. It was a deposit slip. Examining it further, she saw that it was dated one month ago. The most shocking of all was that he had a balance of nearly $10,000 hidden in the bank.


Kelleigh went back into the house and called Delly. "Del, you won't believe what I just found! Steve had a separate bank account, he hid nearly $10,000 from me!"


"What!?! $10,000!! Oh my God, Kel. What are you going to do?"


"I'm not sure. I haven't thought it through that much. I just found it. Because it's in Steve's name, I am not sure that I'll even have access to it."


"Well, call the bank and find out. Hurry! Before Sid finds out!"


"Oh God, I hadn't thought about that. I wonder if he knows about the account?"


"Call them and find out then call me back. Oh, here comes Sid to get his stuff, perfect timing. Call them now. Bye!"


Using the number from the deposit receipt, Kelleigh dialed the number and worked her way through the automated service. She was beginning to become frustrated when finally a human voice came across the line.


"Yes, my name is Kelleigh and I need to check on an account. It's kind of an awkward situation."


"How can I help you?" the nearly bored voice replied.


"Well, my husband just died two days ago." It felt weird to say it, Kelleigh thought, I think that's the first time I've said it aloud. She continued in a rush of words "As I was closing out his papers, I realized he has an account here and needed to check into it."


"Hmm, what's the account number?" Kelleigh read it from the receipt.
"What's his social security number?" Kelleigh rattled it off.
"What's his mother's maiden name?" Kelleigh had to think for a second and then answered her.
"And your full name?" Getting frustrated with all of the questions, she said her full name.


"Just a minute please." The sound of hold music came through the earpiece. Kelleigh regretted not just going down to the bank herself. She began to drum her fingers on the table.


A few minutes passed and another voice came across the line. "My name is Mrs. Hooper, how may I help you?"


Trying not to become snarky at having to explain everything again, Kelleigh repeated the story again. There was a moment's pause then Mrs. Hooper asked, "Do you have a death certificate and marriage certificate?"


"Yes, somewhere I do. Do you need copies?"


"Yes, we do. It seems that you're not listed on the account but by being his spouse, you have co-ownership of the account due to this being a community property state."


Kelleigh breathed a sigh of relief then found her nerves jumping. She would have to get a death certificate; she had fibbed that she had one. She also wanted to transfer the money before Steve's family discovered its existence.


"I will bring them down to the local branch first thing in the morning. Thank you for your help, Mrs. Hooper." She had forgotten that it was a Sunday and she was talking to someone that was probably nowhere nearby. This would give her a little bit of time to get the death certificate and find their marriage certificate.


She picked up the telephone again and dialed the local state police office. She needed to get a death certificate as soon as possible. They referred her to the funeral home. She was hesitant to call the funeral home as they had only been dealing with Steve's family. Nevertheless, she had to get the certificate. Dialing their number, she heard the voicemail message. Of course, it was Sunday and they were only available upon an emergency. Kelleigh declined to leave a message. She would just call first thing in the morning. She did not want to take the chance of anyone overhearing her message and the news getting back to Steve's family.