Chương 10
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Martin was acting independently.”
“On whose behalf?”
“Serena’s counsel contacted him before Tessa Greene arrived.”
Harrison looked at the laptop.
Martin Bell unmuted himself.
“That is not accurate.”
Ellen’s face hardened.
“Then correct me.”
Martin’s image froze briefly, pixelated by poor connection.
“Leon called the firm’s emergency line,” he said. “He stated that he possessed original materials belonging to a client and feared he had been instructed to commit theft. I agreed to take custody.”
“Where are they now?” Harrison asked.
“In the firm’s secure records room.”
Relief moved through Harrison’s posture.
Mara did not share it.
“Have you opened the packet?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because ownership and privilege are disputed.”
“Serena photographed it.”
“Apparently.”
“Then the seal was broken.”
“The external packet was opened. The inner document envelope remains sealed.”
Harrison stepped toward the screen.
“Deliver it to me.”
“No.”
The refusal seemed to offend him more than the theft.
Martin continued.
“The foundation’s independent counsel has requested preservation. The state has requested preservation. Serena claims personal legal interest. Ruth Ellis’s estate may have an interest if the contents concern misuse of her credentials. We will not release the original to any single party.”
Mara glanced at Ellen.
“You knew they had it.”
“I learned this morning.”
“And you let the police search for Leon.”
“We informed them that the documents were secure.”
“When?”
Paul answered. “Forty minutes ago.”
Rachel had been suspended before that.
Mara turned to him.
“Reinstate Rachel.”
“This is not the moment.”
“It is exactly the moment. You punished her for a problem you created.”
Paul looked at Harrison.
Harrison nodded.
Paul took out his phone.
Martin said the packet would be transferred that afternoon to the offices of the foundation’s independent counsel in Hartford. Representatives for Harrison, Serena, the foundation, and Ruth Ellis’s estate could attend when it was opened.
“I don’t represent my mother’s estate,” Mara said.
“You are her executor,” Ellen replied.
Mara had forgotten the word could matter beyond funeral bills and closing a bank account.
“You will need counsel,” Martin said.
“I don’t have one.”
“I do,” said a voice from the doorway.
Mrs. Kline stood beside an older woman in a red raincoat carrying a leather briefcase.
“This is Judith Ames,” Mrs. Kline said. “She did my divorce, my sister’s property line, and a lawsuit involving a frozen turkey.”
Judith removed her wet coat.
“The turkey matter was settled confidentially,” she said.
Harrison stared at Mrs. Kline.
“You brought an attorney into my house?”
“She wiped her feet.”
Judith looked at Mara.
“I am not a charity lawyer, but I know when five expensive attorneys are about to agree that one young woman should sign something quickly.”
Mara almost objected that she had not asked for help.
Then she saw Ellen’s expression and decided not to.
The opening of the packet was scheduled for four thirty in Hartford.
Judith drove because Mara’s hands still shook when she held the steering wheel. They took the Merritt Parkway beneath trees stripped by the storm. Traffic slowed near New Haven, where a fallen branch blocked one lane.
For twenty minutes, they barely moved.
Judith ate Mrs. Kline’s egg-salad sandwich without concern.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“My mother’s name cleared.”
“That is an outcome. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good. People who know too quickly are usually repeating someone else.”
Mara watched brake lights redden the wet road.
“Harrison paid for my mother’s treatment,” she said.
“Was it a gift?”
“He said it was.”
“Did your mother believe that?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
Mara looked at the sandwich wrapper folded on Judith’s lap.
“I believed it until yesterday.”
“Gifts do not become bribes because the giver later disappoints you. But gratitude is not a lifetime retainer.”
Mara rested her head against the seat.
“I warned him. I ran down those steps because I thought Serena was betraying him.”
“She may have been.”
“He may have been betraying her.”
“Also possible.”
“I need one of them to be less wrong.”
Judith wiped a crumb from her coat.
“That is not a legal service I provide.”
They reached Hartford at four twenty-seven.
The independent counsel’s office occupied two floors of a modern building near the river. No marble, no portraits, no household staff. Mara liked it immediately.
Harrison arrived with Ellen. Serena came with Tessa Greene. Paul sat near the door as a witness to the chain of custody. Martin Bell placed the sealed inner envelope at the center of the conference table.
It was ivory, thick, and marked with the pale blue seal Mara had seen in Harrison’s study.
Her throat tightened.
Martin described the custody record. The courier delivered the outer packet to Ashbourne at eight forty-seven. Serena signed. Leon received the packet from Serena shortly after nine. He photographed several exterior pages at her instruction. At Westport station, he contacted the firm and transferred the garment bag to Martin. The inner envelope remained sealed.
“Did Leon know Martin would meet him?” Harrison asked.
“No,” Martin said. “He expected Serena’s attorney. When she failed to arrive, he called our emergency number from a station payphone.”
“A payphone?” Judith asked.
“There is one inside the taxi office.”
“That may be the most surprising fact today.”
No one laughed except Paul, who covered it with a cough.
The independent counsel, Miriam Cole, broke the seal.
She removed Owen Mercer’s affidavit, bank records, contractor invoices, printed emails, and a smaller envelope labeled ORIGINAL—D. VALE NOTE.
Harrison’s face lost color.
Miriam opened the smaller envelope.
Daniel’s handwriting covered two pages of cream paper.
Mara had seen it on birthday cards and instructions left for the kitchen. His letters leaned forward as if every word were late.
Miriam read silently first.
Then she looked at Judith.
“The note concerns your client’s mother.”
“Read that portion aloud,” Judith said.
Harrison said, “Mara may prefer privacy.”
Mara looked at him.
“I prefer hearing it.”
May you like
Miriam read.
Ruth came to me about the west terrace invoice. She did not approve the amount and did not know I used her login. She is threatening to go to the board if it isn’t reversed. Dad says she’ll calm down if he talks to her. Do not let him make this her problem. I told her it was temporary. That was a lie.
