When Dexter reached the front of the Gallagher house, the hearse parked by the curb was impossible to miss.
He took a look, thought about it for a moment, and more or less figured out what was going on.
When he reported it, he'd said that Virginia Louise Gallagher had died twelve years ago. That meant Fiona's group couldn't just borrow an elderly woman from a nursing home to pretend to be Aunt Ginger anymore. After all, the FBI would very likely run DNA tests.
The safest move was to let "Aunt Ginger" die today.
Once someone is dead, there's not much point for the FBI to keep digging.
"I've gotta say," Dexter muttered with a smile, "the Gallaghers really know how to think on their feet."
He kept walking.
Something this interesting was definitely worth seeing for himself.
Knock knock knock—
The sound of knocking echoed.
Fiona, who had taken the day off work, had been anxiously waiting inside for Abby and the FBI agents to show up and finally put an end to this whole mess.
Lip, Ian, Frank, Debbie, and Carl were all in the living room—every one of them on edge.
Kevin and Veronica were there too, mostly to fill out the room.
When the knocking started, everyone inside instantly tensed up.
Fiona jumped to her feet and hurried to the door, swinging it open—
Only to see Dexter standing there.
"It's you," Fiona said, clearly disappointed.
Dexter smiled. "You were waiting for someone? Sorry—I was just passing by and saw a hearse parked outside, so I thought I'd check in."
"Oh—no, no, it's fine," Fiona said quickly. Her disappointment wasn't directed at him. She pulled herself together and gave him a faint smile. "Someone in the family did pass away. It's… complicated. Do you want to come in for a bit? Kevin's here."
Well, that was a coincidence.
"Is it okay? I don't want to interrupt," Dexter asked, not moving yet.
"Not at all. Please, come in," Fiona invited him.
"Alright," Dexter replied as he stepped inside.
Carl and Kevin spotted him almost at the same time.
"Dexter," Kevin greeted him warmly.
Carl was even more enthusiastic, grinning ear to ear. "Hey!"
"Hey," Dexter replied to Carl first, then turned to Kevin. "I was just passing by—who passed away?"
Kevin wasn't in a position to answer that and glanced at Fiona.
Fiona spoke up, lying smoothly without missing a beat. "My Aunt Ginger. She was old and went peacefully. It's not a bad way to go."
"I see. My condolences," Dexter said.
Fiona gave a faint smile. "Want something to drink? Coffee? Beer?"
"Beer, please. Thanks."
Soon, Dexter was sitting next to Kevin, drinking and chatting casually.
After a bit of small talk, something came to Dexter's mind.
The restaurant renovation would probably be finished tonight. Next came opening prep—licenses, permits, all that bureaucratic nonsense. Just thinking about it was a headache.
"Kevin," Dexter asked, "do you know anyone around here who handles business licenses and permits? My restaurant's almost done, and I really don't feel like running all over town myself."
"Of course," Kevin replied without hesitation. "There's more than one. Once this is over, I'll take you to meet someone."
"That'd be awesome. Thanks."
"No need to thank me. I'm just waiting to try your cooking," Kevin said with a grin.
Carl, who'd been listening the whole time, jumped in. "Dude, you're opening a restaurant?"
"Yeah. You're welcome to come eat once it opens," Dexter said with a smile.
"I'm definitely coming," Carl said seriously. "What kind of restaurant is it?"
"Asian food—the kind I grew up eating. You like that?" Dexter asked.
Carl shook his head. "Heard of it, never tried it. No idea if it's good."
"I promise it's good. You'll see."
"Is it expensive? I should start saving now," Carl asked earnestly.
Damn.
That level of honesty didn't exactly scream Gallagher.
"It's pricey," Dexter said, amused. "But if you come, it's on the house."
Carl didn't hesitate. He shook his head again. "No way. You're my brother. I can't eat for free."
"Man, you're something else," Dexter laughed.
Not far away, Fiona overheard the conversation. She thought about suggesting that everyone go support Dexter on opening day—
But before she could say it—
Knock knock knock—
Another knock at the door.
The mood in the room shifted instantly.
"That's probably Abby," Lip said, checking the time. It was just a few minutes off from when Abby had said she'd arrive. He turned to Fiona. "She's here."
Fiona nodded, took a deep breath, and went to open the door.
Sure enough, Abby was standing there with two FBI agents.
"Hello, Fiona. Hopefully we can resolve this matter today," Abby said coldly.
"I hope so too, but…" Fiona put on a grieving expression. "After I brought my Aunt Ginger back from Wisconsin last night, she passed away in her sleep just a few hours later…"
Abby: "?????"
That coincidence was ridiculous.
"Passed away?" Abby raised an eyebrow, her disbelief obvious.
"Yes," Fiona nodded sadly, then stepped aside. "Please come in. We'll be burying Aunt Ginger shortly. You can see her before that."
Abby didn't respond. She motioned for the two agents to follow her inside.
She scanned the room quickly.
Well damn—it really was a funeral.
There was even a coffin.
Abby frowned deeply, still suspicious, and walked straight over to it.
She leaned down and looked inside.
There was a body.
And it really was an elderly woman with gray hair.
Abby stared for a few seconds. It still felt wrong—dying now, of all times—but…
The coffin was here. The body was here.
And once Virginia Louise Gallagher was officially dead—real or not—the government would no longer have to pay Social Security benefits.
Abby thought it over.
Then she glanced once more at the shabby, rundown house.
Fraud involving Social Security wasn't actually that serious of a crime.
She'd come for two reasons:
First, to stop payments to Virginia Louise Gallagher.
Second, to recover as much of the money paid out over the past twelve years as possible.
Putting Frank Gallagher in prison was a means, not the goal.
But judging by the state of this house… yeah, there was no way they'd recover any money.
So now, one of the two goals had been achieved.
Not great—but not terrible either.
After thinking it through, Abby turned to Fiona and asked, "The deceased in the coffin is Virginia Louise Gallagher?"
Fiona nodded firmly. "Yes, she is."
"If we took her DNA and compared it with yours, would we find a partial match?" Abby asked. She didn't really plan to pursue it further.
But even if she let it go, she still needed to apply some pressure.
At this point, Abby was almost certain the family was guilty of defrauding the government.
Lip had already coached Fiona on how to answer this.
Without hesitation, Fiona nodded again. "I don't understand DNA. I'm not educated. But I believe it wouldn't be wrong."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lip jumped in, playing his part, and said heatedly to Abby, "I hope you brought the proper warrants. Aunt Ginger is our family. She meant everything to us. Now that she's passed, if you want to violate her body, show us a court-issued search warrant."
Abby: "!!!!"
That was a straight-up provocation.
This wasn't a murder case—there was no way a court would issue that kind of warrant easily.
And even if a judge did, there wouldn't be time. Any minute now, the family would bury the woman in the coffin.
Abby knew it.
Irritated, she gave Lip a cold smile. "If necessary, I could have the police come right now and stop the burial."
Lip panicked inside, but kept his face steady. "You could do that, but we—"
He didn't get to finish.
Frank, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up, cutting him off.
"Lip, shut up. This isn't your place to talk."
He scolded Lip once, then turned to Abby with a smile. "I'm sorry. Kids don't know any better. Ms. Abby, how about we end this here? Ginger is gone. Putting her through more trouble now would be inhumane, don't you think?"
Hearing that, Abby looked at Frank.
So did Dexter.
When it comes to emotional intelligence and raw IQ, Dexter thought,
Lip doesn't even come close to Frank.