Chương 14
Naomi paused.
"Mason was arrested twenty minutes ago."
I sat very still.
"For what?"
"Identity theft, financial transaction fraud, and obstruction-related charges are being presented."
My mouth went dry.
"Presented?"
"Charging language may change."
"Where was he arrested?"
"At a bank."
I looked up.
Mom's face had drained of color.
"Which bank?"
Naomi named it.
I recognized the name immediately.
The same bank Richard had just said held the safe deposit box.
For a second, nobody in the room spoke.
Then Mom whispered, "Why would he go there?"
I already knew.
"The box."
Naomi's voice came through the phone.
"That is the working assumption."
"Did he try to access it?"
"According to Ortiz, he presented identification and asked to enter the vault."
"After Richard gave police the key?"
"Yes."
I looked at Janet.
She had stopped pretending not to listen.
Naomi continued.
"Bank staff had already been alerted because investigators were obtaining legal process connected to the box."
"So they called police."
"Correct."
"Was he carrying anything?"
"A document folder."
"What was in it?"
"I don't know yet."
The answer no longer frustrated me as much as it once had.
Maybe because I could finally feel the difference between not knowing and being lied to.
Naomi said, "The hearing tomorrow may still proceed unless the court reschedules because of his custody status."
"I want it to proceed."
"I thought you might."
"No."
I looked at the affidavit on the table.
"I need it to."
Mom frowned.
"Hannah, he was just arrested."
"Exactly."
I touched the page where Mason had sworn that I was dangerous.
"I want his version on the record."
Naomi went quiet for a moment.
"All right."
The next afternoon, I entered the courthouse through a side entrance in a wheelchair because Camille had threatened to personally haunt me if I attempted crutches over polished floors.
Dad pushed me badly.
He clipped one doorway and apologized to the door.
"You're fired," I said.
"I volunteered."
"Still fired."
Mom walked beside us carrying too many folders.
Naomi met us outside the courtroom.
Mason had been released on bond that morning.
The charges were serious, but Naomi warned me not to treat an arrest like a conviction.
"He will look normal," she said.
"I know."
"He may look sympathetic."
"I know."
"He may have family support."
That one made me glance at her.
"Beatrice is still in custody."
"Richard is here."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Subpoenaed."
I saw him five minutes later.
He looked smaller than he had three days earlier.
His left arm was in a sling.
When our eyes met, he started toward me.
Dad stepped between us.
"Dad."
He stopped.
Richard did too.
"I just wanted to say—"
"Not here," Naomi said.
Richard nodded.
He sat alone on the opposite bench.
Mason arrived with an attorney I did not recognize.
He wore a gray suit, no tie, and the expression of a man attending an unpleasant business meeting.
When he saw my wheelchair, something moved across his face.
Not remorse.
Calculation.
His attorney leaned close and whispered.
Mason looked away.
The hearing itself was less dramatic than I expected.
No one shouted.
No one confessed.
The judge asked questions in a patient voice.
Lawyers objected.
Pages were marked.
People waited while the clerk found documents.
Mason testified first.
He described me as volatile.
He mentioned the mug.
He mentioned the miscarriage.
He said he had feared for months that I might hurt myself or somebody else.
Naomi did not react.
Neither did I.
Then Mason said, "I only tried to protect her."
The sentence almost got me.
Not because I believed it.
Because I had believed versions of it before.
Naomi stood for cross-examination.
She began with the mug.
"You stated Mrs. Whitaker threw it at you."
"Yes."
"Where did it strike?"
"It missed me."
"How far were you from the sink?"
"I don't remember."
"Was anyone injured?"
"No."
"Did you call police?"
"No."
"Did you seek a protective order then?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Mason hesitated.
"I was trying to keep the family together."
Naomi moved on.
"Yesterday, you stated under oath that Mrs. Whitaker withdrew eighteen thousand dollars from a joint savings account on Monday."
"Yes."
"Do you still maintain that?"
His attorney shifted.
"Yes."
Naomi lifted a document.
"Bank records show the withdrawal occurred through online access associated with your authenticated device."
Mason stared at her.
His attorney objected.
The judge allowed Naomi to continue within limits.
"Did Mrs. Whitaker possess your device on Monday?"
"No."
"Was she present when the withdrawal occurred?"
"I don't know."
"She was at work."
Mason's jaw tightened.
Naomi looked down at her notes.
"You also testified that she threatened you with a kitchen knife."
"She did."
"Which knife?"
"What?"
"Chef's knife, paring knife, bread knife?"
"I don't remember."
"Was the knife recovered?"
"No."
"Did you photograph it?"
"No."
"Tell anyone?"
"My mother."
"Your mother is currently charged in connection with causing Mrs. Whitaker's fractures, correct?"
His attorney objected again.
The judge sustained it.
Naomi simply nodded and changed direction.
Then came the email.
"Mr. Whitaker, did you contact your wife's employer before her injury?"
His face changed.
Barely.
But I saw it.
"I contacted them about benefits."
"When?"
"I don't remember."
Naomi handed a page to the clerk.
"Would seeing the email refresh your memory?"
His attorney asked for a moment.
They whispered.
Mason's shoulders stiffened.
Naomi waited.
Eventually he said, "I may have emailed them."
"At 8:14 the morning before Mrs. Whitaker was hospitalized?"
"Possibly."
"What did you ask?"
"I don't remember."
"You asked about long-term medical leave."
His attorney stood.
"Counsel is testifying."
Naomi corrected the form of the question.
Mason admitted sending the email.
Then she asked the simplest question of the afternoon.
"Why?"
He looked at me.
For one second, the courtroom disappeared and I was back on the kitchen floor.
His face held the same cold irritation.
May you like
As if I had created an inconvenience he now had to manage.
"We had been discussing her leaving work."
