Chương 5
They sat around a small dining table.
Judith kept touching the handle of her mug.
“Michael contacted me about eleven years ago,” she said. “He had discovered discrepancies in records for several works the foundation had handled.”
“Stolen art?” Daniel asked.
“Possibly. Some had questionable export histories. Some had ownership gaps. He believed at least one donor was using charitable transfers and private resales to disguise where works had come from.”
“And Dad?”
“Michael thought Richard knew.”
“Did he?”
Judith looked down.
“I don’t know how much.”
Claire gave a tired laugh.
“Good. Finally, someone admits they don’t know.”
Judith continued.
“Michael was frightened. Not at first. At first he was angry. He thought if he showed Richard enough evidence, your father would correct the records.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“That sounds naïve.”
“He was twenty-six.”
Claire stared into her tea.
“He thought people were better than they were.”
Judith looked at her daughter.
“Yes.”
Claire’s mouth tightened.
“What happened?”
“Michael was told to stop reviewing files outside his assignment. He didn’t. Then some documents disappeared.”
“Who took them?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What did you do?”
“I met with him privately.”
“In Santa Fe?”
Judith nodded.
“Anna was there.”
“Why?”
“Michael had sent copies of some records to her. She was studying accounting at a community college and helping him organize dates and transfers.”
Daniel thought of Elena’s degree.
She had told him she studied communications.
Another lie.
Judith noticed his expression.
“She changed more than her name.”
“Clearly.”
“She had reasons.”
“Everyone keeps having reasons.”
Judith’s eyes lowered.
Daniel regretted the sharpness but did not apologize.
“What promise did you make Michael?”
Judith stared at her tea for so long that Claire finally said, “Mom.”
“He believed he was being followed.”
Daniel sat back.
“By Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I won’t invent certainty to make this easier for you.”
The firmness surprised him.
Judith continued. “Michael gave me a list of document numbers. He said if anything happened to him, I should make sure Anna stayed away from the foundation.”
Claire whispered, “And then he died.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“I did.”
Both children looked at her.
Judith rubbed her thumb over a chip in the mug’s glaze.
“I spoke to the detective handling the accident. I said Michael had been afraid. I gave him the document numbers.”
“What happened?”
“He told me there was no evidence connecting Michael’s work to the collision. The driver who hit him fled. There were no useful cameras on that stretch of road. They investigated. Nothing came of it.”
“You believe Dad had him killed?” Claire asked.
Judith’s face went pale.
“I have spent ten years refusing to answer that question.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
Judith looked at her daughter.
“I do not know that your father killed Michael.”
Claire’s shoulders dropped slightly.
Judith added, “I know Richard was relieved Michael could no longer cause trouble.”
No one spoke.
Outside, rain clicked softly against the windows.
Judith stood and took their cups to the sink.
Claire watched her.
“You stayed with him.”
“Yes.”
“After that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Judith turned on the faucet.
Water ran over the cups.
“I had no proof. I had two children. I had spent twenty-eight years letting your father handle money, lawyers, property, taxes, everything. I told myself suspicion was not evidence.”
She shut off the water.
“And I was afraid.”
It was the first sentence of the night Daniel trusted completely.
Judith dried her hands.
“Anna came to see me after Michael died. She was nineteen. She wanted documents. Names. She wanted to accuse Richard publicly.”
“What did you tell her?”
“To leave.”
Claire whispered, “Jesus.”
“I thought I was protecting her.”
“From Dad?”
“From everyone around him.”
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
“Why did she change her name?”
Judith sat.
“After Michael’s death, she received threats.”
“What kind?”
“Anonymous calls. Someone broke into her apartment. Nothing valuable was taken. Her laptop was damaged. Michael’s files disappeared.”
Daniel’s skin prickled.
“Did she report it?”
“Yes. There was no proof it was connected.”
“How did she become Elena Ward?”
“She used her middle name and her mother’s maiden name socially first. Later she changed it legally.”
Daniel frowned.
“So Elena Ward is legally her name.”
“Yes.”
“Richard called her identity fraudulent.”
“Richard uses words for effect.”
Claire gave a humorless smile.
“Another family tradition.”
Daniel pressed his hands flat on the table.
“Why marry me?”
Judith looked at him.
“I cannot answer that.”
“You said she came because of Richard.”
“She did.”
“So she met me deliberately.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she hated the idea.”
Daniel went still.
Judith almost smiled, though sadness stopped it.
“She told me after your third date.”
“She was talking to you?”
“Occasionally.”
“For six years.”
“Not regularly.”
Daniel stood.
He walked toward the window.
Brooklyn shimmered below in wet light.
“You and my wife had secret conversations about me.”
“Daniel.”
“Did she report on me?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her things about Dad?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did she marry me to get access?”
Judith did not answer fast enough.
He turned.
“Mom.”
“She told me she loved you.”
“That is not the question.”
“She also believed marriage would make it easier to remain near Richard without attracting suspicion.”
Daniel laughed.
There was no humor in it.
“So yes.”
“She considered leaving you instead.”
“Comforting.”
“She tried.”
Daniel looked at her.
Judith said, “About a month before your engagement, she disappeared for four days.”
He remembered.
Elena had said her aunt was ill.
She came back exhausted and refused to talk about it.
“She came here,” Judith said. “She told me she couldn’t do it anymore. She said she had started this because of Michael, but now every step toward the truth required lying to someone who didn’t deserve it.”
Daniel sat down again because his knees suddenly felt weak.
“What did you tell her?”
“To tell you everything.”
May you like
“Did she?”
Judith shook her head.
