Although Eddy was 99% sure that this was the person who had called just now, he still asked cautiously and politely, "Uh … well, Cathy, you called just now, right? I'm sorry, I came to the office late today and didn't get the call. "
"Yes, it's okay. I said I would call again." The person on the other side of the phone said, "You're Eddy Lewis, right? Can I call you Eddy?"
"Of course." Eddy changed into a comfortable position on the chair and sat down. "Cathy, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Well, Eddy, I want to donate a sum of money to your foundation. Can you tell me your remittance account number?" the person on the other side asked.
"Oh! Please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you for your generosity on behalf of the foundation! " Eddy turned on the computer happily. "But please understand that we still have some procedures to go through. If you don't mind, in order to ensure your rights and interests, I'd like to record the call now."
"Please, I don't mind," the person on the other side said.
Eddy pressed the recording and hands-free buttons one after another, and pulled up the donation database from the computer. "Okay, I'll start recording now. Can I say your full name again? "
"I'm Katherine Donna Ryan," the person on the other side said.
Every time the person said a word, Eddy typed the corresponding letter on the keyboard.
"Katherine Donna Ryan?" When he saw the result that appeared on the screen, he could not help but be stunned. He repeated the person's name, "Uh … Ms. Ryan … I mean, Cathy, did you donate money to our foundation in the past?"
"Yes, but I don't remember the donation process. After all, I'm old, and my memory isn't very good. You know." The person's tone was a little perfunctory, as if she was trying to hide something.
"But …" Eddy swallowed his saliva, stared at the screen, and said with difficulty, "But, Cathy, the last time you donated … it was in the form of a will … Listen, no matter who you are, this joke is not funny."
He quickly glanced through Katherine Donna Ryan's donation records. She had donated to the foundation several times over the past ten years. The amounts varied, but all of them were designated for lung cancer research. The last amount was the largest, and it was handled by a lawyer on her behalf as her will.
Was it someone with the same name? It was very rare for someone to have the same first name, last name, and middle name. Moreover, they chose the same foundation to donate to. This was unlikely to be a coincidence, so it could only be explained as a prank.
"I know, I know." The other party chuckled over the phone and said, "I understand how you feel. You're right about the will, but … well, there was a small accident. I thought I was going to die, and so did the lawyer and the doctor, but I pulled through in the end. You see, my body is fully recovered now, and I'm traveling in China. Do you hear the firecrackers outside? It's the Spring Festival here, it's so lively! "
Eddy was speechless. Of course I know it's the Spring Festival now. Why do you think I was late this morning?
He felt a little thirsty. He picked up the paper cup of coffee and finished it in one gulp. He then switched the receiver to the other shoulder.
"Hold on, please don't hang up."
He pressed the hold button on the landline phone, then retrieved the call record left by Katherine Donna Ryan when she made the donation from the computer and clicked play.
A voice that was exactly the same as the one he had heard earlier came from the computer speaker. Other than the slight distortion caused by the old recording and the fact that the analog signal had been converted to digital signal, based on his hearing, he could tell that it was definitely the same person.
So, did the lawyer and the doctor really make a mistake?
The doctor mistakenly issued the death certificate, and the lawyer donated her assets to the foundation based on the wrong death certificate? It sounded … quite ridiculous.
Thinking of this, Eddy inhaled a breath of cold air. He really felt sorry for the two doctors and the lawyer. They had made such a serious mistake. How much money would they have to pay her? Perhaps even their medical licenses would be permanently revoked.
It seemed that this was really the case. There was no other reasonable explanation.
He turned off the previous recording and picked up the phone again.
"Cathy, are you still there?"
"I'm here, Eddy. Did you find out?" The other party smiled, as if she had already expected the answer.
Eddy cleared his throat. "Sorry, Cathy, I misunderstood you just now."
"Of course. Who would make a donation under someone else's name? This isn't a case of receiving relief funds. " The other party smiled and gladly accepted his apology. "Alright, now let's get down to business."
What she said made sense. Although Eddy still felt a little awkward, he could not find any reason or evidence to question her.
"Cathy, do you have a fax machine? I need to fax you a confirmation letter for the donation. The confirmation letter has our bank account number, and it also supports PayPal payments. Please fill it out and fax it back. Is that okay? "
The other party paused for a moment. The microphone was covered, and she seemed to be discussing something with someone. She then said, finding it troublesome, "Can't you just give me an account number? Do you have to make it so troublesome? "
Eddy was stunned and explained, "Please forgive me, Cathy. This was your request when you donated in the past. You requested that the donation be used to fund research on lung cancer. If you don't want to limit the scope of funding, then you don't need to fill in the confirmation letter. So, Cathy, do you plan to limit the scope of funding, or not? "
Just like before, the other party paused for a moment, then said in a rather helpless tone, "Alright, alright, then fax it over. Just send it to this number."
Eddie sent the confirmation letter over.
"Cathy, did you get it?"
After a while.
"Got it. How do I fill this out?"
Eddy's doubts increased. Cathy's previous donations were not handled by him, but logically speaking, she should have filled out this kind of form several times. Why didn't she know how to fill it?
However, he still patiently explained, "For the first option, please fill in your email address and residential address so that we can send you a donation voucher. For the second option, please choose your funding target. You can choose a single option or multiple options. You will be able to see the names of various types of cancer, such as pharyngeal cancer, lip cancer, colorectal cancer, gallbladder cancer, liver cancer, bone cancer, and so on. If you only intend to fund lung cancer, please choose the tenth option. For the third option, please fill in the amount of your donation. And for the last option, do you want to make a donation in memory of someone, to pay tribute to someone, or just to donate?
Rustling sounds and breathing sounds could be heard from the other side of the phone, as well as muttering sounds. The other party seemed to be complaining softly as he filled out the form. Occasionally, a few cat meowing and dog barking could be heard.
After a few minutes, the other party put down the pen and said, "Alright, I've filled it out. What do you do now? Can I remit the money? "
This was the first time Eddy had met someone who was so eager to donate. It was as if the other party could not wait to donate the money.
He licked his lips and said, "Please sign your name at the bottom of the confirmation letter, then fax it back."
"What? I need an autograph … "
The other party seemed very surprised and unwilling to sign, but Eddy insisted on signing it personally.
Feeling helpless, the other party said as if explaining something, "I haven't written by hand for a long time. I almost forgot how to sign …"
Eddy was speechless. Even if he hadn't written for a long time, how could he forget how to write his name?
After a while, the fax machine beeped. It had received a document from the other party.
"Eddy, is this all right?" the other party asked.
Eddy pulled the document over and glanced at the "$4000.00" written on the donation amount. He replied, "Yes, Cathy, I've received the confirmation letter. I can donate now."
"It's done," the other party said, "Please check it."
He refreshed his bank account and saw that $4,000 had been deposited into his account.
"Thank you again for your generosity! We promise you that every cent of your money will be used according to your request to fund mankind's battle against cancer. "
He had said this countless times during his years of service at the Matthew Davis Foundation, and he would continue to say it in the future.
"Alright, Eddy, that's all. I wish you a pleasant day. Goodbye!" the other party said in a relaxed manner.
"Goodbye, Cathy."
The other party hung up the phone.
A beeping sound came from the other side of the phone. Eddy put down the phone and turned off the recording at the same time.
Although the process was a little strange, the donation this time was considered successful.
He had received a donation of $4,000 as soon as he came to work today. It was a wonderful start, enough to make his depressed mood due to the bad weather happy again, like bathing in the sunshine of a California beach.
Eddy hummed an old-fashioned song from more than ten years ago. He pulled open the desk drawer and wanted to put the confirmation letter in it. He would send it to the filing office before he got off work that night.
"Hmm?"
At the bottom of the confirmation letter, he noticed the other party's signature.
Katherine Donna Ryan.
The name was not a problem, but the problem was … how could the handwriting be so ugly? It was not even as good as a primary school student's handwriting!
The extremely ugly signature and the other party's voice were too much of a contrast.
Then, he noticed the last line on the confirmation letter — whether this donation was made in memory of someone, to pay tribute to someone, or just to donate.
The other party had chosen the second option, to pay tribute to someone. The blank space was filled in with the name K.D.R.
In other words, the other party was using this donation to pay tribute to the person named K.D.R.
K.D.R. …
Coincidentally, Kathryn Donna Ryan's initials were also K.D.R.
Was she paying tribute to herself?
Or was it just a coincidence?
He took the confirmation letter and examined it several times. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was strange.
In any case, the voice just now was definitely Katherine Donna Ryan's voice. There was no mistaking it. He believed his ears.
So how could this be explained?
Eddy stood up, leaned against the window, and looked out.
The hazy drizzle was still falling. Judging from his familiarity with the weather in San Francisco, the rain would not stop for a while. There were still a few familiar cars parked in the parking lot. There were no new cars driving in. It seemed that there would not be any visitors for a while.
He glanced at the landline phone again. It lay quietly on the table and did not seem to have any intention of ringing.
"Alright." He seemed to have made up his mind and said to himself, "Let's see, Katherine Donna Ryan, what secrets are you hiding?"
Eddy held the confirmation letter in his hand, turned on the answering machine, locked the office door, and left.
He turned a corner and came to the office door of the colleague who had greeted him in the corridor earlier.
The nameplate on the door read: Archives.
He knocked on the door and pushed it open.
"Hi! Jason! "
"What's wrong, Eddy? Don't tell me you're going to the bar now. It's not time to get off work yet, is it? "Jason, who was behind the desk, looked at his watch jokingly.
Eddy laughed and said, "No, Jason, I have something to do. Help me find a few confirmation letters from the past. The donor is Katherine Donna Ryan."
"What's the problem?" Jason asked worriedly.
"Nothing at the moment. I just want to … review it."
Before things were clarified, Eddie did not want to make it known to everyone.
"Okay, let me see." Jason quickly looked up the file number on the computer, took it out of the filing cabinet, and handed it to Eddy.
Eddy opened the old portfolio and took out a few confirmation letters from it.
He did not need to compare them carefully. He found at a glance that the signatures on these confirmation letters were completely different from the one he had just seen. The handwriting was neat and neat, and it was obvious that they were not written by the same person. In addition, for the reason for the donation, these confirmation letters were all chosen as "in memory of someone." The name of the person in memory was obviously Katherine Donna Ryan's husband who passed away due to lung cancer.
There was only one exception. This one was written by a lawyer named Adams, and it was accompanied by a copy of the power of attorney for the execution of the will.
He silently read it a few times without making a sound. He wrote down the contact information of Adams' lawyer, then stuffed the confirmation letter back into the file and put it back in its original position.
"Thanks. Tonight's drink is on me — I mean, if the rain stops." He waved at Jason and left the file room.
…
Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Binhai City, China.
Zhang Zian hung up the phone and said guiltily, "Why do I feel that this person is quite careful … He won't find out that there's a problem, right?"
"Quack! Probably not. If there's a problem, it must be with your shitty signature! " Richard shouted while fluttering its wings. "I say, you idiot. Why do you have nothing better to do than to play with me? Why don't you practice signing? "
"Your sh * t may not look any better than dog sh * t." Famous had just gone upstairs to drink water. When it heard Richard's words, it immediately retorted, indicating that the dog should not take the blame.
"Even if I practice signing, I won't practice with someone else's name, right?" Zhang Zian felt wronged. "Are you blaming me? I thought that the donation could be made by directly transferring the money. I didn't know that there were so many troublesome procedures! "
Richard raised one of its wings, pointed at the rope hanging from the ceiling, and shouted, "Quack! If I don't blame you, who should I blame? I suggest that you go hang yourself on the southeast branch! "
Zhang Zian was speechless. This b * tch bird's skin was itching again!
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