Part I: An unexpected phone call

It has already been almost ten years now that my father first received a phone call followed, a few days later, by a letter about that person related to our family who had died some two years before.

I remember my father telling me on the phone, after we had exchanged the usual news: "...oh, and something unusual is happening to me...", his voice suddenly becoming more cheerful. "A genealogist called me a few days ago, it is about someone I don't know who died some time ago. That person had no living relative, so the notary got a genealogist to do the research. The latter found out I am related to that person; therefore, entitled to inherit. The genealogist then sent a letter to explain how he discovered that I, my sister Marie and my cousin Paul are the deceased person’s last relatives.

Who would never dream of inheriting from someone they had never known? Who would never imagine receiving a considerable fortune, deducting some taxes, making some donations so as to immunize themselves against any guilt and then leading a comfortable existence for the rest of their lives? We all believe in Providence. When we are low in spirits, we start thinking someone known, or unknown, might appear and help us out of our predicament. Not that my father felt particularly depressed at that time but he would not have turned down a consistent monetary gratification.

The genealogist knew his business and the intricacies of human psychology; early in the phone conversation he had told my father not much money was involved. The caller had just given some factual information, probably to prove this was not a joke and he had done serious research: the deceased person was related to my father's mother and originated from a very tiny village in Northern Provence, in the South of France. The caller had told the name of the village but not the name of the donator. The village was just a technical point for the genealogist but for my father, it was a very exciting piece of news... My father and I had been speculating for years about where part of our ancestry came from; we had just been offered the place name where to start our genealogical research.