Dear Judy,
I run a string of pawn shops, and I’d prefer if you don’t give their location. I had a regular who came in from time to time. He was a crackhead, but every once in a while would sober up, straighten out but never for long, and then one day or one month or other go back again to his old ways. But he also came from money. We got great stuff from him, really though from his mother who had passed.
On his last visit to the shop I usually man, he left a wad of cash with one of my employees, pointed to the last item he’d pawned, and said he’d be back in a few minutes to pick it up. He never came back. About 30 minutes after he left he was shot and killed. We read about it the next morning, and no one was totally surprised. He led, as I say, a strange life with strange folks.
The item he pawned and then paid for though has been weighing on me. It’s a diamond collar, not what my clients usually leave at the shop. I tried calling his home number a few times, but no answer and also no answering machine. I don’t know who else is in his family so I put a small ad in the local paper saying I had something belonging to the dead man. No reply.
So what do I do?
Matt
Dear Matt,
One thought: contact your local police. I bet they knew him well, and they likely might know the dead man’s relatives or spouse, should any be around. You don’t have to go into detail, just say you have an item that might belong to the family.
If the cops come up empty, then I’d say do what you want with the diamond collar.
Or maybe my readers have a better idea? I’m open to suggestions.
Judy
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Matt should speak to a lawyer.
Oh please. Some of your readers are really off base, Judy. Matt should give it to some charity. It’s not his. If he keeps it, it will bring him bad luck.
Matt got lucky, he should be grateful and have some fun!
It seems to me,if you notify the police and make sure it is not a stolen item and you have placed an ad in the paper with no respose, then it would be yours. If you feel uncomfortable with the way it was left with you, donate it to charity.