“It depends on you,” Lily repeated, “and your mother.”
At that moment, there was a loud knock on the door. Lily jumped, and Alex lifted his head as if waking up.
“Who could that be?” he muttered.
Lily walked up to the door and peered through the peephole. On the landing stood two men in suits and a middle-aged woman carrying a briefcase.
“Who’s there?” she asked without opening the door.
“The Internal Revenue Service and a representative of the pension fund,” one of the men replied formally. “We need to speak with Ms. Gloria Smith and Mr. Alex Smith.”
Lily looked at her husband in confusion.
“The Tax Office and the pension fund are asking about you and your mother.”
Alex turned even paler.
“You really sent them information.”
“No.” Lily shook her head. “I didn’t have time to send anything.”
She turned back to the door.
“Gloria isn’t here. She just left. What do you want to discuss with my husband?”
“Verification of income and taxes,” came the dry reply. “And also information about Mrs. Smith illegally receiving survivor’s benefits.”
Alex ran to Lily in a panic.
“Don’t open the door. Tell her I’m not here.”
“We know Mr. Smith is home,” a voice said from behind the door. “We have a search warrant. If you don’t open the door voluntarily, we’ll be forced to call the police.”
Lily took a deep breath and looked at her husband.
“You better open them, Alex. Otherwise, it’ll only get worse.”
With trembling hands, she unlocked the door and opened it. The inspectors immediately entered the apartment, creating an atmosphere of formality and tension.
“Mr. Smith,” one of the men said to Alex, “Chief Tax Inspector Richard Cooper.”
“We have received information that you are running an unregistered business and evading taxes.”
“What kind of business?” Alex tried to protest, but there was fear in his voice.
“Computer repair and maintenance,” the inspector continued calmly, opening his briefcase. “We have documentation from various clients, parts receipts, and screenshots of your online ads.”
“Preliminary calculations indicate that you have earned at least thirty thousand dollars in illegal income over the past year.”
Alex sank into a chair.
At that moment, the woman from the pension fund stepped forward.
“And where can we find Miss Gloria Smith?”
“He lives separately,” Lily replied.
“We know her address.” The woman nodded. “Our colleagues are already there.”
“The fact is that we have information indicating that he has been illegally receiving survivors’ benefits for fifteen years.”
“After investigation, it was discovered that the death certificate for her husband, James Smith, was a fake. He is still alive and living in Boston.”
Alex covered his face with his hands.
“That’s impossible,” he muttered. “Mom would never do something like that.”
“Unfortunately, it could,” the pension fund representative replied dryly.
“Furthermore, Ms. Smith is officially registered as unemployed and receives appropriate benefits. However, according to our records, she sells homemade alcoholic beverages without the required permit.”
Lily leaned against the wall as if viewing surrealist art. She made no announcements.
So who informed the authorities about her mother-in-law and husband’s plans?
Within the next hour, their apartment was thoroughly searched. Alex’s notebook containing a list of clients and amounts received, boxes of computer parts, receipts, and invoices were found. Everything was carefully documented and recorded.
Alex was summoned to the tax office for questioning. Before leaving, he looked at Lily with a confused, almost pleading look, but she just shook her head.
“I didn’t send anything, Alex. Really.”
After the inspectors and her husband left, Lily was finally able to catch her breath.
Cheryl woke up from her afternoon nap and it was time to feed her, change her diapers, and play with her. The mundane duties of a mother strangely soothed her and brought a sense of normalcy to this frantic day.
That evening, Kathleen from the tax office called.
“You won’t believe it,” she whispered excitedly into the phone, “but the complaint against your mother-in-law and your husband was filed by your husband’s father, James Smith.”
“Apparently, he accidentally discovered he was registered as deceased when he applied for a death certificate. Can you imagine?”
Lily was speechless with surprise.
What an unexpected turn of events.
Alex’s father, who had thought Gloria was missing for years, dealt her such a severe blow.
“What now?” Lily asked.
“Gloria is facing criminal charges for
Leave a Comment