Estate Inventory, Lots 1–64
The sender is the nephew of the deceased. He writes: “This is the working inventory the liquidation company prepared before the sale. The sale was cancelled. The appraiser’s handwritten notes were in the margins; I’ve typed them in where they appear. I’ve changed my uncle’s name.”
LATHROP & DAUGHTERS ESTATE SERVICES Brattleboro, Vermont
WORKING INVENTORY — NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
Estate of: Warren T. Penrose (deceased) Property: 77 Orchard Hill Road, Putney, Vermont Prepared by: C. Lathrop, Senior Appraiser Walk-through dates: Monday through Thursday Proposed sale: Saturday and Sunday, 9–4, numbers at 8
General notes: Two-story farmhouse, c. 1840, with ell and attached barn. Deceased lived alone for 31 years following the death of his wife, Hester, per the nephew. House clean and well kept. Unusually complete contents. Deceased appears to have kept two of nearly everything. Recommend selling paired items as sets for higher return.
KITCHEN
Lot 1. Two cast-iron skillets, Griswold #8, both well seasoned. One shows daily use. The second is seasoned identically but the cooking surface shows no utensil marks at all. Est. $80–120 the pair.
Lot 2. Two place settings, Blue Willow pattern, kept on the table, not in the cupboard: plate, bowl, cup and saucer, each. Set at opposite ends of the table. Nephew says his uncle set the table this way every night. Est. $40.
Margin note (CH): Both settings had crumbs on them. Nephew says no one has been in the house since the funeral two weeks ago. Probably mice. Recommend pest control before sale.
Lot 3. Two coffee mugs, stoneware, local potter. One reads WARREN. The second is unglazed on the side where a name would go, as if the potter was never told it. Est. $15 the pair.
Lot 4. Pantry contents: canned goods, all in pairs, labeled by hand. One of each pair labeled W. The other labeled with a short horizontal line. Not for sale; donate.
PARLOR
Lot 5. Two wingback chairs, mahogany, c. 1920, reupholstered in green velvet. Placed facing each other before the fireplace. The left chair shows heavy wear on the seat and arms. The right chair shows identical wear. Est. $400–600 the pair.
Lot 6. Chess set, boxwood and ebony, in mid-game. Per nephew, the deceased played a correspondence game “with himself” for decades. Board left as found, for photographs.
Margin note (CH): Photographed Monday at 10 a.m. White’s bishop on c4. Tuesday 9 a.m., the black queen had moved to h4. Asked nephew if he moved it. He went pale and said no. Recommend someone else does the parlor.
Lot 7. Two pairs of reading glasses on the side table, one per chair. Left pair: +2.25, consistent with deceased’s prescription per his optometrist’s card in desk. Right pair: lenses are plain glass, no correction. Both pairs smudged with fingerprints. Est. $5.
Lot 8. Victrola, working, with 40 records. One record, unlabeled, left on the turntable. Est. $250.
Margin note (CH): Did not play it. Nephew says don’t.
FRONT HALL
Lot 9. Two winter coats on the hooks by the door. Left: men’s wool, size 42, deceased’s. Right: men’s wool, size 42, identical make and color, the shoulders noticeably damp to the touch on three separate mornings. No leak observed above. Est. $60 the pair.
Lot 10. Two pairs of boots on the mat. Left pair: deceased’s, size 10. Right pair: size 10. The right pair has fresh mud on it, wet, with pine needles. It has not rained this week. Est. $30.
Lot 11. Umbrella stand containing two umbrellas and a walking stick. Est. $20.
Lot 12. Framed sampler, embroidered, dated 1843, reading THE DOOR KEEPS TWO WAYS. Est. $150–250.
STAIRS AND UPPER HALL
Lot 13. Hall runner, wool, worn down the center from foot traffic. Also worn along the left edge, next to the wall, in a separate track, as if a second person habitually walked beside the first. Est. $90.
Lot 14. Framed photographs, twelve, along the stair wall. Deceased and wife at various ages. In several, the deceased stands beside a person whose face is turned away from the camera, the same height and build as the deceased, in matching clothes. Nephew says he never noticed this before. Not for sale; family.
Margin note (CH): Counted the photographs Monday: twelve. Wednesday: thirteen. The new one is hung at the top of the stairs, a recent color print, the deceased in his hospital bed. The person with the face turned away is sitting in the chair beside the bed. Nephew took it down. It was back on the wall Thursday.
MAIN BEDROOM
Lot 15. Bedstead, double, maple, Shaker style. Two pillows. Both pillows dented. Bed made tightly; on Tuesday morning both sides had been slept in, the covers turned back on both sides. Est. $700–900.
Lot 16. Two matching nightstands. Left drawer: deceased’s watch, wallet, pill organizer, a library book (overdue; returned to library). Right drawer: a pocket watch that does not tick but keeps correct time; a wallet containing no cards, no cash, and a single folded slip of paper reading in pencil PATIENCE. Est. $200 the pair, contents separate.
Lot 17. Wardrobe, oak. Hanging inside: seven men’s suits on the left, seven identical men’s suits on the right. Right-side suits slightly damp. Smell of cold earth. Est. $350 wardrobe; suits $20 each.
SECOND BEDROOM (late wife’s sewing room)
Lot 18. Treadle sewing machine, Singer, c. 1910, working. Est. $150.
Lot 19. Sewing basket with notions. Inside, half finished, a man’s shirt collar embroidered with the initials W.T.P. Under it, finished, a matching collar embroidered with the initials W.T.P. in a different hand. Est. $25.
Lot 20. Journal, wife’s, 1981–1994. Not for sale. Excerpt copied at nephew’s request:
April 4, 1994. W. still sets the table for two since the accident at the quarry, and I let him, because it’s harmless and because I set a place too when he isn’t looking. Doctor says it’s grief. W. says that when a man goes down into the cold and is brought back, he doesn’t come back alone. He says the other one came back with him and wants only to be kept. Kept and fed and sat with. He says he’ll keep it until he dies and then it will be someone else’s to keep. I asked who. He wouldn’t say.
BARN
Lots 21–58. Tools, tack, two of each. See attached sheets. Est. $1,800 total.
Lot 59. Two rocking chairs on the barn’s south-facing porch. One rocks when wind blows. The other rocks when there is no wind. Est. $120 the pair.
Lot 60. Workbench with vise. On the bench, a cribbage board mid-game, and two hand-carved pegs, one of pine and one of a black wood we could not identify. Est. $75.
ATTIC
Lot 61. Trunk, camelback, c. 1880, containing the deceased’s Army uniform and papers. Est. $200.
Lot 62. Second trunk, identical, locked. No key found. Est. $200.
Margin note (CH): Trunk was knocked from inside, three times, on Wednesday, while my assistant was photographing Lot 61. Patient knocking. Like at a door. My assistant has asked to be taken off this job and I have agreed. I’m finishing the inventory myself.
Lot 63. Box of letters, deceased to nephew, never sent. Sealed. Addressed to the nephew. Not for sale; given to family.
Lot 64. (Written in by hand, Thursday, 4:40 p.m.)
I was finishing in the parlor when I heard someone come down the stairs. I thought it was the nephew. I said “Almost done” without turning around.
He sat down in the right-hand wingback chair, the one facing Warren’s.
I didn’t look straight at him. I want to be honest about that. I saw him the way you see something at the edge of a lamp’s light: a man in a dark wool coat, damp at the shoulders, sitting very upright with his hands folded on his knees. Same height as Warren. Same build. I couldn’t have told you what his face looked like. I don’t think he had decided yet.
He was looking at the empty chair across from him. Waiting for it to be filled.
I said, very carefully, keeping my eyes on my clipboard, “I’m the appraiser. I’m just taking inventory. Everything here is going to be sold.”
He didn’t answer. After a while, I heard the chessboard. A small wooden click. A piece being set down.
I didn’t look. I finished my line. I walked out of the parlor and out of the front door and sat in my car in the driveway until my hands stopped shaking, and then I called the nephew.
Lot 64: One occupant. Adult male, appearance indeterminate. Requires a keeper. Not for sale.
RECOMMENDATION: Lathrop & Daughters withdraws from this sale. Deposit refunded in full.
The nephew adds: “I opened the letters in Lot 63 after the appraiser called. There were thirty-one of them, one for every year since my aunt died. They all say more or less the same thing. The last one is dated the week before he went into the hospital. It says, ‘I’m sorry, Ned. There’s no one else. Set the table for two. Play when it’s your move. Don’t ever let it sit in the cold. It only wants to be kept.’
“I moved into the house in March. I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve kept the place settings as they were. The chess game is still going; I’m not very good, and it’s patient with me.
“It’s my move. It’s been my move for a week. I don’t want to know what happens if I stop.”