Lulu stepped out of Dante Moretti's mansion with a check in hand, her nerves only slightly fried, and Marco Bellini's ghost trailing behind her with a grateful smile.
"That went better than expected," Marco mused.
"Define 'better,'" Lulu muttered. "He thought the armchair was you for a solid ten minutes."
"But he's letting the world see my work. That's all I needed."
Lulu paused on the front step. "You're not going to... you know. Cross over?"
Marco gave her a small shrug. "Eventually. But first I want to visit a few galleries. Just to see if they hang them properly."
And with that, he walked back into Dante's home...through the closed front door.
---------------
The next morning, Lulu inside a public library that allowed the booking of private meeting rooms, staring at the man who had booked the urgent appointment from the Spectral Solutions portal the day before. He had a kind face, twinkling eyes, and a full white beard so convincing Lulu had almost wished it was December.
If Santa Claus was real, this would be him.
"Luciana Lukas?" he asked in a warm baritone.
"That's me," Lulu said, gesturing to the conference table inside the meeting room. "Please, have a seat, uh…?"
"Mortimer. Mortimer Dale."
"Pleasure." Lulu tried not to be distracted by how much he looked like he should be leading reindeer. "So, Mr. Dale, you said your situation was... unique?"
Mortimer gave a deep sigh, his expression shifting from jolly to pained in a heartbeat. "Miss Lukas… I am dying."
Lulu blinked. "Oh. I'm... sorry to hear that."
"I have come to terms with it," he said plainly. "The doctors give me about a month. But I'm not here for sympathy. I'm here to set my affairs in order…things I have left for my familty"
"Set your affairs in order…shouldn't a lawyer help you with that?" Lulu said confused.
"Oh definitively! I have a will in place. But this request…my lawyer said he 'didn't want to get involved in this mess'. But then I saw your service and felt you could help me!"
Lulu's heart immediately sank. What could be 'too messy' for even a lawyer to want to deal with?
Lulu had already preparing herself for another long list of bitter relatives, unpaid debts, or secret assets not disclosed to family members.
"I have three wives."
Lulu nearly choked on her tongue. "I'm sorry?"
"Three wives," Mortimer repeated. "Three separate homes. 8 children—3, 3 and 2. Each of them believes they're the only one. It's... well, let's just say I've lived a very compartmentalized life."
He said it like a man describing a particularly elaborate scrapbook.
Lulu stared. "And they've never found out?"
"Not yet…'I travel a lot for work'," Mortimer said with a sigh. "But I can't bear the thought of dying without at least giving an explanation in my own words. I want you to deliver a speech at my funeral. One speech, for all of them."
"All of them?" Lulu said. "You want all three families at the same funeral?"
"And my son in Vietnam. His name is Bao. He's in his forties now. From my army days. They don't know about him either. We exchange postcards regularly and I said he was a kid I sponsored."
Lulu blinked. "Of course you did."
"I want everyone to hear the truth at once. To know I loved them all. Maybe they'll hate me. Maybe they'll understand. But they deserve to hear it. Also, since none of them know about one another…I will need your help to make sure none of my families get left out. You know, since they don't know about each other…"
"Ugh…" Lulu could already imagine the horrible fall out that Lulu would have to deal with. The families would already be grieving, and now she had to reveal all of these secrets at once. She understood why the lawyer didn't want to deal with this mess.
'Should I also turn him down? Maybe I could pretend my laptop crashed…'
"I'll pay extra. Of course."
"Okay. So lets get started on the logistics," Lulu immediately entered business mode, opening up a new document on her laptop.
She titled the document: The Triple-Life Exit Speech.
As she typed, Mortimer began dictating:
"I want it to open warmly. Something like, 'To my beloved families… SURPRISE!'"
Lulu groaned. This was going to be a long day.
And she still had to figure out a way to organize what might end up being the most awkward family reunion in modern history.