Chương 8
“We met at a Christmas party years ago.”
“Did you notarize the transfer of my house?”
Silence.
“Mrs. Reid, I received a call from a detective.”
“Did you notarize it?”
“I can’t discuss an active investigation.”
“You called me.”
“I wanted to say I’m sorry this has become so ugly.”
Eleanor sat down.
“Did you see me sign?”
Susan exhaled.
“I remember you being present.”
“Where?”
“At your kitchen table.”
“When?”
“March eleventh.”
“Last year?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor looked at the wall calendar Rachel had given her. March eleventh had been the day of her cataract surgery.
“I was at St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
“That may not be correct.”
“I have the bill.”
“I’m not accusing you of lying.”
“You said I was at the table.”
“I said I remember you being present.”
“Those are the same thing.”
“Memory is complicated.”
Eleanor almost admired the choice of phrase.
“Did Calvin ask you to call me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you?”
Another pause.
“Because he says the police are destroying his business.”
Eleanor ended the call and immediately telephoned Detective Alvarez.
The detective asked for the exact time of the call, whether Susan made any direct admission, whether Eleanor had recorded it, and whether Susan had attempted to influence her testimony.
“I didn’t record it,” Eleanor said.
“That’s fine.”
“I should have.”
“No. You should not contact her again.”
“She called me.”
“I understand.”
“She lied about seeing me.”
“That may be important.”
“It may be?”
“We need the hospital records and the notary log.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The hospital record confirmed Eleanor had been admitted at 6:10 a.m., undergone surgery at 8:05, and been discharged at 11:40 to Anna’s cousin Mark, who drove her home. The notarization was recorded at 10:15.
The contradiction gave the investigation weight it had lacked.
Susan Abbott’s notary journal initially could not be located. She claimed it had been stolen from her car. Security footage from a storage facility later showed Calvin entering a rented unit the night after his release. Police obtained a warrant and found business records, two old notary journals, Eleanor’s passport, the original deed, and a metal lockbox containing jewelry.
Her mother’s ring was not inside.
The search also uncovered documents involving three other properties and two elderly clients who had recently died. Calvin’s company appeared to have transferred interests through forged or improperly notarized signatures, then used the properties as collateral.
When Detective Alvarez explained this, Eleanor felt no triumph.
“How many people?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Did their families know?”
“Some did not.”
“Did he take their homes?”
“We’re still determining what happened.”
Anna was on speakerphone during the meeting. Her voice sharpened.
“Was my mother targeted as part of the same scheme?”
Alvarez looked at Eleanor before answering.
“The evidence suggests Mr. Drake had significant business debt. Transferring the marital residence may have been intended to place it under an entity he controlled and use it as collateral. Whether he saw Mrs. Reid as a target or simply assumed her cooperation is a question of motive.”
“I wasn’t cooperating,” Eleanor said.
“No.”
“He thought I would.”
“Yes.”
The difference mattered more than she expected. Calvin had not selected her because she was foolish. He had counted on the habits he had trained into their marriage: her silence, her deference, her fear of embarrassment, her reluctance to expose private conflict. He had built a financial strategy around her obedience.
Anna came back for the hearing on Sunday night.
Eleanor met her at the apartment wearing the pale green cardigan she had washed twice to remove the blood. The stain beneath the collar remained faintly visible.
“You kept it,” Anna said.
“It’s a cardigan.”
“It was evidence.”
“They photographed it.”
Anna set down her bag.
“You don’t have to wear it tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you?”
Eleanor examined the cuff.
“Because I bought it. Because it still fits. Because I don’t want everything he touched to become his.”
Anna took off her coat.
“Okay.”
They ate grocery-store soup from mismatched bowls. Anna had brought a folder containing notes from Calvin’s phone call two years earlier, her travel records from the cataract surgery, and copies of messages Eleanor had sent afterward thanking Mark for the ride.
“You flew in for my surgery?” Eleanor asked.
“I was in training nearby.”
“You stayed one night.”
“Yes.”
“I forgot.”
Anna smiled without humor.
“Careful. That’s their argument.”
Eleanor put down her spoon.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a joke.”
“It wasn’t a good one.”
“No.”
They sat in silence.
Anna picked at the paper label on her water bottle.
“I’m angry,” she said.
“At me?”
“At him. At myself. At you sometimes.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I’m angry at you too.”
“I know.”
“You left.”
“Yes.”
“You had reasons.”
“Yes.”
“I still felt left.”
Anna looked toward the window.
“I couldn’t stay in that house.”
“I know.”
“I asked you to come with me.”
“You were eighteen.”
“I had a car.”
“You had ninety dollars and three traffic tickets.”
“Two.”
“Three. One came in the mail after you left.”
Anna’s mouth lifted.
Eleanor continued, “I thought leaving with you would ruin your life.”
“Staying almost ruined yours.”
“I didn’t know that yet.”
“You knew enough.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Eleanor folded her napkin into smaller and smaller squares.
“Yes,” she said.
Anna’s eyes filled, but she blinked and looked away.
“I needed you to choose me once.”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
Eleanor waited.
Anna stood and carried both bowls to the sink though soup remained in hers.
“When I left for basic training, Calvin told me you were relieved,” she said. “He said you could finally have a peaceful house.”
Eleanor’s chair scraped the floor.
“I never said that.”
“I know now.”
“I cried for three days.”
“He said you went shopping.”
“I bought you socks.”
Anna turned from the sink.
May you like
“What?”
“Black socks. You said they had to be a certain kind. I bought six packs and then realized you’d already left.”
