Chương 11
Audrey froze.
Mara reached for the phone.
“Play that again.”
Audrey did.
I only signed those papers because you told me to handle the house while you were in Denver.
Thomas whispered, “He just admitted signing them.”
Mara held up one finger.
“Not necessarily everything we want it to mean.”
“He said he signed them.”
“Yes.”
“He forged her name.”
“He didn’t say that.”
Audrey understood why Mara was cautious.
She hated her for it anyway.
The voicemail continued.
“And Mom was only trying to help.”
Julian exhaled.
“If you come home, we can explain all of this without lawyers turning it into something it isn’t.”
The message ended.
Audrey stared at the phone.
Thomas looked at Mara.
“Can that be used?”
“It can be preserved.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“It’s the answer you’re getting.”
Audrey replayed the middle section.
Not the apology.
Not the accusation.
The phrase about Denver.
Julian knew exactly when she had been gone.
He knew which papers she meant.
And he had volunteered the explanation without anyone asking.
Audrey put down the sandwich.
“I want to go back in.”
Mara studied her.
“You’re tired.”
“I know.”
“You’re in pain.”
“I know.”
“You do not need to prove anything by staying in that room.”
Audrey looked through the narrow window in the interview-room door.
“No.”
She picked up the second phone.
“But I need to tell Officer Ruiz about something I haven’t shown him yet.”
Thomas frowned.
“The home-equity application?”
Audrey shook her head.
“The messages between Julian and Eleanor.”
Mara said, “Which ones?”
Audrey opened the encrypted folder.
She scrolled past the comments about her anxiety.
Past the discussion about selling the townhouse.
Past the complaints about Thomas.
Then she found a thread she had copied three months earlier because one phrase had struck her as odd.
At the time, she had assumed they were discussing moving expenses.
Now she read it differently.
Eleanor had written, Make sure everything is in place before October.
Julian had replied, It already is.
Eleanor answered, Including Patty?
Julian’s response had been one word.
Yes.
Audrey turned the screen toward Mara.
Mara read it once.
Then again.
Thomas leaned over her shoulder.
“Patty.”
Audrey nodded.
“The notary’s name is Patricia.”
Mara’s face changed so slightly that Audrey almost missed it.
“Do you know whether Patricia Nolan has any connection to Eleanor?”
“No.”
“To Brenner Financial?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas said, “We can find out.”
Mara looked at him.
“We can let investigators find out.”
Thomas gave her a tired look.
“You really enjoy saying that.”
“I really enjoy evidence that survives contact with other people.”
Audrey took the phone back.
The hallway suddenly felt too bright.
She wanted to sit down, but the plastic chair beside the vending machine had a dark stain on one arm, and for some reason that mattered.
“Let’s give Ruiz the messages.”
Mara nodded.
They returned to the interview room.
Officer Chen was still there.
Ruiz came back carrying a fresh legal pad and two coffees.
He gave one to Chen.
Audrey noticed neither had offered her one.
That felt normal.
She preferred it.
Mara handed over screenshots rather than the phone itself.
Ruiz studied the exchange.
“Who is Patty?”
“I don’t know.”
“You think Patricia Nolan.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“The deed.”
Ruiz nodded.
“That’s an inference.”
“Yes.”
Audrey appreciated him saying it.
He asked where the screenshots came from.
Audrey explained that Julian had once linked his messaging account to a tablet they shared at home.
Months later, she had found the conversations while checking an old grocery list.
Chen looked up.
“Did he know you could access them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you continue accessing them after that?”
“Yes.”
“Did you use his password?”
“No.”
“Did you bypass any security?”
“No.”
Mara stepped in before the questions wandered farther.
“We can establish the device history if necessary.”
Ruiz nodded.
Audrey watched him write.
Each fact seemed to become less dramatic once it entered his notes.
That comforted her.
Drama was Julian’s territory.
Paperwork was hers.
Ruiz asked for the original timestamps.
Audrey showed them.
The messages had been exchanged in August of the previous year.
Two months before the quitclaim deed was supposedly signed.
Officer Chen said, “October could mean a lot of things.”
Audrey nodded.
“It could.”
Thomas would have hated that answer.
Audrey almost smiled at the thought.
Ruiz looked at her.
“You said there are financial records too.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about those.”
Audrey opened the home-equity application.
She explained the account she had found, the transfer amount, the signature irregularities, and the fact that the lender’s logo matched the document visible in Eleanor’s photograph that morning.
Ruiz listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he asked, “How did you get these bank records?”
“Our joint account had transfers to a bank I didn’t recognize.”
“That gave you the receiving account?”
“Partial information.”
“And the rest?”
Audrey hesitated.
Mara noticed.
“What?”
“I called the bank.”
Ruiz waited.
Audrey’s mouth went dry.
“I said I was verifying a transfer for household records.”
“Were you an authorized user on that account?”
“No.”
“Did the bank give you records?”
“No.”
“Then how did you get them?”
Audrey looked at the table.
“Julian printed statements.”
“Where?”
“In his desk.”
“At home?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have access to the desk?”
“Yes.”
“Was it locked?”
“No.”
Ruiz nodded and continued.
The relief was disproportionate.
Audrey had spent all morning imagining that one imperfect choice would invalidate everything.
Officer Chen asked, “Did you confront him about the transfer?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Audrey looked at her bruised hand.
“At first because I wanted to understand it before accusing him.”
“And later?”
Audrey swallowed.
“Because I was afraid.”
The room went quiet for one beat.
Ruiz wrote something.
He did not look at her with pity.
Again, she appreciated it.
May you like
They finished a little after one.
Ruiz told Audrey the assault report would move through the normal process and that investigators would separately review the property and possible fraud allegations.
