The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson. Short summary

5 seconds

In the 18th century, young men gave money to a bank and made a deal: all the fortune that had grown over 90 years would go to the surviving members of the «tantine.» Morris hid the body of his dead uncle. But Michael also cheated.

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In the late 18th century, the young men conceived a fad: each deposited a sum multiplied by the number of family members in a respectable bank. A «tantine» contract was drawn up with a notary: after 80 years, the survivor would receive the entirety of his or her growing fortune.

Joseph and his older brother Masterman were still young boys when they signed the notarial deed and became full participants, as did the other 57 members of the tantine. Toward the end of the 19th century, two of them remained alive.

The weirdo Joseph had nephews Morris and the simple-minded John, and Masterman had a son, Michael, a lawyer.

Morris suspected that Masterman was dead, but Michael assured him that his father was only a gaggle and did not want to see anyone. The nephews had custody of their uncle. But when the train crashed, they found the old man dead with a contorted face.

Wanting tantine, they hid the body in a container and sent it to themselves. But they got the address wrong. And the corpse was not Joseph’s.