COLD OUT. Streaks of sunshine splashing over Queens. On Saturday morning, Nov. 15, John Sommese settled into a rented hearse, eased into the sparse traffic and drove to the morgue. He owns Simonson Funeral Home. At age 73, he remained a working owner in a city of dwindling deaths.

天很冷。几缕阳光洒落皇后区。11月15日周六早上，约翰·索梅斯(John Sommese)开着一辆租来的灵车，缓缓驶入稀落的车流，向停尸房开去。他是西蒙逊殡仪馆的经营人。在一个死亡越来越少的城市里，这位73岁的企业主依然在亲自干活。

At the morgue, an attendant withdrew the body from the drawer, and both medical examiner and undertaker checked the identity tag. Using a hydraulic lift, the attendant swung the body into the wooden coffin. George Bell was at last going to his eternal home.

在停尸房，一名助理拉出遗体所在的抽屉，法医和殡葬师要查验身份签。助理用一台水压升降机把遗体放入木棺。乔治·贝尔终于要前往他的永恒家园。

The coffin was wheeled out and guided into the back of the hearse. Mr. Sommese smoothed an American flag over it. The armed forces had passed on a military burial, but George Bell’s years in the Army Reserves were good enough for the funeral director, and he abided by military custom.

推车载着棺木来到灵车后部。索梅斯在上面铺了一面美国国旗。军队拒绝给他一场军葬，但以这位殡葬主持的标准，在陆军预备役那几年已经足够了，他要按照军队的惯例来。

Next stop was U.S. Columbarium at Fresh Pond Crematory in Middle Village, for the cremation. Mr. Sommese made good time along the loud streets lined with shedding trees. The volume on the radio was muted; the dashboard said Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” was playing.

下一站是去纽约中村清池火葬场美国骨灰安置所(U.S. Columbarium at Fresh Pond Crematory)火化。落叶纷飞的喧闹马路没有耽误索梅斯太多时间。收音机被拧到静音；从仪表盘看是在放皇后乐队(Queen)的《你是我最好的朋友》(You’re My Best Friend)。

While the undertaker said he didn’t dwell much on the strangers he transported, he allowed how instances like this saddened him — a person dies and nobody shows up, no service, no one from the clergy to say a few kind words, to say rest in peace.

这位殡葬师说他不会过多去想车上这些陌生人的事，但他说像这样的情况让他很难过——一个人死了，没人来吊唁，没有葬礼，没有牧师来说一些关爱的话，让他能够安息。

The undertaker was a Christian, and believed that George Bell was already in another place, a better place, but still. “I don’t think everyone should have an elaborate funeral,” he said in a soft voice. “But I think burial or cremation should be with respect, or else what is society about? I think about this man. I believe we’re all connected. We’re all products of the same God. Does it matter that this man should be cremated with respect? Yes, it does.”

他是一个基督徒，他相信乔治·贝尔已经去了另一个地方，一个更美好的地方，但还是难过。“不是说所有人都要有一场精心筹办的葬礼，”他轻柔地说着。“但我觉得，不管是埋葬或火化，都要带着敬意，否则这叫什么社会？我关心这个人。我相信我们彼此是相连的。我们都是同一个上帝的造物。怀着敬意去火化这个人的遗体，真的很要紧吗？是的，很要紧。”

He consulted the mirror and blended into the next lane. “You can have a fancy funeral, but people don’t pay for kindness,” he went on. “They don’t pay for understanding. They don’t pay for caring. This man is getting caring. I care about this man.”

他查看了后视镜，把车并到另一条车道。“你可以把葬礼办得很豪华，但善意不是花钱买得来的。这个人会得到关照。我会关照好这个人。”

At U.S. Columbarium, he steered around to the rear, to the unloading dock. Another hearse stood there. Yes — a line at the crematory.

他来到美国骨灰安置所，把车绕到后面的卸载区。那里还有一辆灵车。是的——火葬场要排队。

Squinting in the sun, Mr. Sommese paced in the motionless air. After 15 minutes, the dock opened up and the undertaker angled the hearse in. Workers took the coffin. Mr. Sommese kept the flag. Normally, it would go to the next of kin. There being none, the undertaker folded it up to use again.

索梅斯在阳光下眯着眼踱起步来，空气中一丝风都没有。过了15分钟，卸载区的门开了，殡葬师将灵车对准门口。工人把棺木卸下。索梅斯取下国旗。通常国旗会交给最近的亲属。现在一个亲属也没有，所以殡葬师把旗叠起来留到下次用。

The cremation process, what U.S. Columbarium calls the “journey,” consumed nearly three hours. Typically, cremains are ready for pickup in a couple of days. For an extra $180, the columbarium provides same-day express service, which was unneeded in this case.

被美国骨灰安置所称为“旅程”的火化需要将近三个小时。骨灰通常需要几天后才能取。加180美元可以提供当天取的加急服务，此刻没有这个必要。

Some 40,000 cremains were stored at the columbarium, almost all of them tucked into handsome individual wall niches, viewable through glass. Downstairs was a storage area near the bathrooms with a bronze tree affixed to the door. This was the Community Tree. Behind the door cremains were stacked up and stored out of sight. The budget alternative. Names were etched on the tree leaves. Some time ago, when the leaves filled up, doves were added.

安置所内安放着大概4万具骨灰，大多放在墙上的一个漂亮的独立壁龛里，隔着透明玻璃。楼下卫生间隔壁有一个存放区，门上贴着一棵铜树，叫做“社区树”。存放区里的骨灰是叠放在一起的，不对外展示。一个廉价存放方案。门口的树叶上刻着名字。后来叶子用完了，开始加入鸽子。

Several days after the cremation, the superintendent stacked an urn shaped like a small shoe box inside the storage area. Then he nailed a metal dove, wings spread, above the right edge of the tree. It identified the new addition: “George M. Bell Jr. 1942-2014.”

遗体火化几天后，管理员把一个形似鞋盒的小骨灰盒放在了存放区。然后在铜树右侧上方钉了一只展翅的金属鸽子。新鸽子上写着：“小乔治·M·贝尔，1942–2014”。

ON ALTERNATE TUESDAYS, David R. Maltz & Company, in Central Islip, N.Y., auctions off 100 to 150 cars; other days, it auctions real estate, jewelry and pretty much everything else. It has sold the Woodcrest Country Club in Muttontown, N.Y., four engines from an automobile shredder, 22 KFC franchises. Items arrive from bankruptcies, repossessions and estates, including a regular stream from the Queens public administrator.

每隔一周的周二，纽约州森特勒尔艾斯利普的戴维·R·马尔茨公司(David R. Maltz & Company)会拍卖100到150辆车；其他时间拍卖的东西有房地产、珠宝，什么都卖。从这里拍出的有纽约州马敦镇伍德克雷斯特乡村俱乐部，从一台汽车粉碎机上拆下的四台发动机，22家肯德基店面。有来自破产、回收和遗产的物品，皇后县公共行政官就是一个固定来源。

In the frosty gloom of Dec. 30, as a hissing wind spun litter through the air, the Maltz company had among its cars a 2011 Mustang convertible, multiple Mercedes-Benzes, two cars that didn’t even run and George Bell’s 2005 Toyota. Despite its age, it had just over 3,000 miles on it, brightening its appeal.

12月30日，清冷阴郁的一天，呼啸的风把垃圾吹向空中，马尔茨公司推出的待售车辆包括一辆2011年的野马敞篷，几辆梅赛德斯-奔驰，两辆连火都打不着的车，还有乔治·贝尔的2005年产丰田。虽然年头不少，但只跑了3000多英里，显得很有吸引力。

In a one-minute bidding spasm — “3,000 the bid, 3,500, 35 the bid, 4,000…” — the car went for $9,500, beating expectations. After expenses, $8,631.50 was added to the estate. The buyer was Sam Maloof, a regular, who runs a used car dealership, Beltway Motor Sales, in Brooklyn and planned to resell it. After he brought it back, his sister and secretary, Janet Maloof, adored it. She had the same 2005 model, same color, burdened with over 100,000 miles. So, feeling the holiday spirit, he gave her George Bell’s car.

疯狂的竞价仅用了一分钟——“有人出3000，3500，3500还有么，4000……”——最终这辆车卖了9500美元，超出预期。扣除费用后，遗产账目上又多了8,631.50美元。买家是萨姆·马鲁夫(Sam Maloof)，这里的常客，他在布鲁克林开着一家二手车行“环路汽车销售公司”(Beltway Motor Sales)，打算把车转手卖出。但回来后，他的妹妹兼秘书珍妮特·马鲁夫(Janet Maloof)看上了这辆车。在节日气氛感染下，他把乔治·贝尔的车送给了她。

In a couple of weeks, the only other valuable possession extracted from the apartment, the Relic watch, came up for sale at a Maltz auction of jewelry, wine, art and collectibles. The auction was dominated by 42 estates put up by the Queens public administrator, the thinnest by far being George Bell’s. Bidding on the watch began at $1 and finished at $3. The winner was a creaky, unemployed man named Tony Nik. He was in a sulky mood, mumbling after his triumph that he liked the slim price.

几周后，从公寓找到的唯一一件值钱物件——Relic手表——在马尔茨的一场珠宝、葡萄酒、艺术和收藏品拍卖会上卖出。这场拍卖会的拍品主要来自皇后县公共行政官提供的42份遗产，其中最微薄的显然是乔治·贝尔的那份。手表从1美元开始竞价，以3美元成交。赢家是一位苍老的无业人士，名叫托尼·尼克(Tony Nik)。他的情绪有点糟，拍下手表后嘟囔着说他满意这个价钱。

Again after expenses, another $2.31 trickled into the Bell estate.

扣除费用后，贝尔的遗产再添2.31美元。

On a sun-kindled day a week later, six muscled men from GreenEx, a junk removal business, arrived to empty the cluttered Queens apartment. Dispassionately, they scooped up the dusty traces of George Bell’s life and shoveled them into trash cans and bags. They broke apart the furniture with hammers. Tinny music poured from a portable radio.

一周后的一个阳光明媚的日子，垃圾清运公司GreenEx的六个壮汉来到皇后公寓进行清理。他们面无表情地清扫着乔治·贝尔的人生印记，把它们塞进垃圾箱和袋子。他们用锤子拆散家具。一个便携收音机里传出音质低劣的音乐。

Eyeing the bottomless thickets, puzzling over what heartbreak they told of, one of the men said: “Depression, I think. People get depressed and then, Lord help them, forget about it.”

看着堆积成山的杂物，想着它们在讲述怎样的伤感往事，其中一个工人说：“抑郁吧，我觉得。有的人就是抑郁了，然后，上帝保佑，就这么忘了。”

Seven hours they went at it, flinging everything into trucks destined for a Bronx dump where the rates were good.

他们忙活了七个小时，把所有东西都扔上卡车，运到布隆克斯的一座垃圾场，那里价钱出得比较高。

Some nuggets they salvaged for themselves. One man fancied a set of Marilyn Monroe porcelain plates. Another worker plucked up an unopened jumbo package of Nike socks, some model cars and some brand-new sponges. Yet another claimed the television and an unused carbon monoxide detector. Gatherings from a life, all worth more than that $3 watch.

他们自己也收了一些小玩意。有人看上了一套玛丽莲·梦露瓷盘。还有一个工人翻出一大盒没开封的耐克袜子，几个汽车模型，还有一些全新的海绵。有人要了电视，一台没用过的一氧化碳探测仪。它们来自对一段人生的探寻，每一件都比那3美元的表值钱。

A spindly worker with taut arms crouched down to inspect some never-worn tan work boots, still snug in their box. They were a size big, but he slid them on and liked the fit.

一个身材瘦高、手臂肌肉紧绷的工人蹲下来查看一双没穿过的鞣皮工装靴，还装在盒子里。大了一码，但他还是穿上了，觉得挺合适。

He cleaned George Bell’s apartment wearing the dead man’s boots.

他穿着乔治·贝尔的靴子打扫了死者的公寓。

THE PEOPLE NAMED to split the assets in the will were known as the legatees. Over 30 years had passed since George Bell chose them: Martin Westbrook, Frank Murzi, Albert Schober and Eleanore Albert. Plus, there was a beneficiary on two bank accounts: Thomas Higginbotham.

在遗嘱中被指定参与财产分割的人叫做遗产受领人。乔治·贝尔是三十多年前选定这些人的：马丁·韦斯特布鲁克、弗兰克·穆尔吉(Frank Murzi)、阿尔伯特·朔伯尔(Albert Schober)和伊莲诺·阿尔伯特(Eleanore Albert)。另外还有两个银行账号的受益人：托马斯·希根巴塔姆。

Elizabeth Rooney, a kinship investigator in the office of Gerard Sweeney, the public administrator’s counsel, set out to help find them. By law, she also had to hunt for the next of kin, down to a first cousin once removed, the furthest relative eligible to lay claim to an estate. They had to be notified, should they choose to contest the will.

公共行政官法律顾问杰拉德·斯维尼手下的亲属调查员伊丽莎白·鲁尼(Elizabeth Rooney)要参与寻找他们的工作。按照法律规定，她还必须寻找最近亲属，一直要找到隔代表亲才能停止，那是有资格要求得到遗产的最远亲属。必须通知到他们，因为他们可能会对遗嘱提出异议。

There was time, for George Bell’s assets could not be distributed until seven months after the public administrator had been appointed, the period state law specifies for creditors to step forward.

还有时间，在指定公共行政官后要过七个月才能开始分配乔治·贝尔的资产，这是州法规定的期限，在这之后债权人就可以行动了。

Prowling the Internet, Ms. Rooney learned that Mr. Murzi and Mr. Schober were dead. Mr. Westbrook was in Sprakers and Mr. Higginbotham in Lynchburg, Va. Ms. Rooney found Ms. Albert, now going by the name Flemm, upstate in Worcester.

经过在互联网上的一番寻觅，鲁尼得知穆尔吉和朔伯尔已经去世。韦斯特布鲁克住在Sprakers，希根巴塔姆在弗吉尼亚州林奇堡。鲁尼发现阿尔伯特在纽约州北部的沃切斯特，现在已经改叫弗雷姆(Flemm)。

They were surprised to learn that George Bell had left them money. Ms. Flemm had spoken to him by phone a few weeks before he died; the others had not been in touch for years.

他们没想到乔治·贝尔会留钱给他们。弗雷姆在他死前几个星期跟他通过电话；其他几位都跟他有很多年没联络了。

A core piece of Ms. Rooney’s job was drafting a family tree going back three generations. Using the genealogy company Ancestry.com, she compiled evidence with things like census records and ship manifests, showing Bell relatives arriving from Scotland. Her office once produced a family tree that was six feet long. Another time it traced a family back to Daniel Boone.

鲁尼的工作有一个重点就是制作一份谱系图，要上溯三代。她通过宗谱公司Ancestry.com提供的人口普查记录和轮船舱单来整理证据，显示贝尔的亲属是来自苏格兰。她的办公室曾经制作一个六英尺长的谱系图。还有一次追溯一个家族一直追到了丹尼尔·布恩(Daniel Boone)。

Ms. Rooney created paternal and maternal trees, each with dozens of names. She found five living relatives: two first cousins on his mother’s side, one living in Edina, Minn., and the other in Henderson, Nev. Neither had been in contact with George Bell in decades, and didn’t know what he did for a living.

鲁尼分别制作了母系和父系图，各有几十个人名。她发现了五名在世亲属：母亲那一方的两个表亲，一个住在明尼苏达州伊代纳，另一个在内华达州亨德森。两人都有几十年没跟乔治·贝尔联系了，不知道他是以什么为生。

On the paternal side, Ms. Rooney identified two first cousins, one in Scotland and another in England, as well as a third whose whereabouts proved elusive.

在父亲这一方，鲁尼找到两个表亲，一个在苏格兰，一个在英格兰，还有第三个表亲，但身在何处无从考证。

When that cousin, Janet Bell, was not found, protocol dictated that a notice be published in a newspaper for four weeks, a gesture intended to alert unlocated relatives. With sizable estates, the court chooses The New York Law Journal, where the bill for the notice can run about $4,000. In this instance the court picked The Wave, a Queens weekly with a print circulation of 12,000, at a cost of $247.

在这位表亲——珍妮特·贝尔(Janet Bell)——找不到的情况下，按照规定要在报纸上发布一则为期四周的告示，意在通知下落不明的亲属。如果是比较大的遗产，法院会选择《纽约法律期刊》(The New York Law Journal)，在那里登告示费用可达4000美元。而目前这一案，法院选择了发行量1.2万的皇后区周刊《浪潮》(The Wave)，费用是247美元。

The cousin might have been in Tajikistan or in Hog Jaw, Ark., or even on Staten Island, and the odds of her spotting the notice were approximately zero. Among thousands of such ads that Mr. Sweeney has placed, he is still awaiting his first response.

那位表亲也许在塔吉克斯坦，也许在阿肯色州的霍格乔，甚至就在史泰登岛上也说不定，她能看到通知的几率几乎为零。这样的广告斯维尼登过几千份，目前还在等待第一位应声前来的人。

Word came that Eleanore Flemm had died of a heart attack, on Feb. 3 at 66. Since she had outlived Mr. Bell, her estate would receive her proceeds. Her heirs were her brother, James Albert, a private detective on Long Island who barely remembered the Bell name, along with a nephew and two nieces in Florida. One did not know George Bell had existed.

消息传来，伊莲诺·弗雷姆已于2月3日死于心梗，享年66岁。由于她后于贝尔离世，她的所得将由她的遗产接收。她的继承人是弟弟詹姆斯·阿尔伯特(James Albert)，在长岛作私家侦探，他对贝尔这个名字已经没什么印象，此外在佛罗里达还有一男两女三个甥侄辈。其中一位完全不知道有乔治·贝尔这个人存在。

Death, though, isn’t social. It’s business. No need to have known someone to get his money.

不过，死亡不是社交。死亡是生意。拿他的钱的人，不一定非得认识他。

On Feb. 20, a Queens real estate broker listed the Bell apartment at $219,000. It was the final asset to liquidate. Three potential buyers toured it the next day, and one woman’s offer of $225,000 was accepted.

一个皇后区房地产中介在2月20日把贝尔的公寓挂牌出售，标价21.9万美元。这是最后一项需要变现的资产。第二天，有三个潜在买家来看房子，其中一名女子出价22.5万美元，被接受了。

Three months later, the building’s board said no. A middle-aged couple who lived down the block entered the picture, and, at $215,000, was approved. Their plan was to fix up the marred apartment, turn their own place over to their grown-up son and then move in, overwriting George Bell’s life.

三个月后，公寓楼委员会否决了交易。一对住在隔壁街区的中年夫妇斜刺里杀出，出价21.5万美元，得到委员会认可。他们的计划是把破败的公寓修缮一下，把自己现在的住处让给已经成年的儿子住，自己搬到这里来，抹掉乔治·贝尔的人生重新来过。

Meanwhile, Mr. Sweeney appeared in Surrogate’s Court to request probate of the will. Besides the two known beneficiaries, he listed the possibility of unknown relatives and the unfound cousin. The court appointed a so-called guardian ad litem to review the will on behalf of these people, who might, in fact, be phantoms.

与此同时，斯维尼来到遗嘱检验法院，要求对遗嘱进行查验。除了两位已知受益人，他还列出了未知亲属和那名没找到的表亲。法院指定了一名所谓的诉讼监护人来代表这些也许并不存在的人，对遗嘱进行审阅。

In September, Mr. Sweeney submitted a final accounting, the hard math of the estate, for court approval. No objections arrived. Tallied up, George Bell’s assets amounted to roughly $540,000. Bank accounts holding $215,000 listed Mr. Higginbotham as the sole beneficiary, and he got that directly. Proceeds from the apartment, other accounts, a life insurance policy, the car and the watch went to the estate: around $324,000.

九月，斯维尼提交最终版账目请法院核准，这是对遗产的精密计算。没有异议。乔治·贝尔的资产总计约54万美元。银行账户中有21.5万美元，希根巴塔姆作为唯一受益人直接拿到这笔钱。从公寓、其他账户、一份寿险保单、汽车、手表上得到的钱归入遗产：约32.4万美元。

A commission of $13,726 went to the city, a $3,238 fee to the public administrator, $19,453 to Mr. Sweeney.

纽约市得到13,726美元佣金，公共行政官得到一笔3,238美元的费用，斯维尼得到19,453美元。

Other expenses included things like the apartment maintenance, at $7,360; a funeral bill of $4,873; $2,800 for the cleanout company; $1,663 for the kinship investigator; a $222 parking ticket; a $704 Fire Department bill for ambulance service; $750 for the guardian ad litem; and $12.50 for an appraisal of the watch that sold for $3.

其他支出包括公寓维护，7,360美元；葬礼收费4,873美元；清扫公司2,800美元；亲属调查员1,663美元；一张222美元的违章停车罚单；消防队的救护车服务704美元；诉讼监护人750；那块卖了3美元的手表，做鉴定用了12.50美元。

That left about $264,000 to be split between Mr. Westbrook and the heirs of Ms. Flemm. Some 14 months after a man died, his estate was settled and the proceeds were good to go.

剩下大约26.4万美元将由韦斯特布鲁克和弗雷姆的继承人分割。在死亡14个月后，一个人的遗产清算完成，可以开始执行。

For the recipients, George Bell had stepped out of eternity and united them by bestowing his money. No one in the drawn-out process knew why he had chosen them, nor did they need to. They only needed to know him in the quietude of death, as a man whose heart had stopped beating in Queens. But he had been like anyone, a human being who had built a life on this earth.

在受领人看来，这是乔治·贝尔踏出永恒，通过金钱的赠予来与他们相聚。在这个漫长的过程中，谁也不知道——也不需要知道——他为什么选择这些人。他们只需要知道，他已安息，一个人的心脏在皇后区停止了跳动。然而他和其他人一样，是一个曾在这地球上有过一段生命的人。