Chương 5
“Hey, Rachel.”
Rachel Kim did not waste time.
“The title company’s counsel called me.”
“What now?”
“Your mother’s equity application was for one point two million.”
Daniel stared at a shelf full of empty glass jars.
“What?”
“That’s why the filing was reviewed quickly. The lender ordered a title examination, and the chain made no sense.”
“She was borrowing against the house?”
“Trying to.”
“What for?”
“They don’t know.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Could she have gotten the money?”
“Not after the title review.”
“But if nobody had caught it?”
“Daniel.”
“I’m asking.”
“If the forged deed had made it through underwriting, maybe. There are still identity checks, appraisal, insurance. But yes, fraud works sometimes. That’s why people commit it.”
He leaned against the pantry wall.
“Do the police know the amount?”
“Yes.”
“That changes things.”
“It changes the stakes.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
Until that moment, part of him had still been treating the forged deed as Margaret’s terrible attempt to reclaim something she believed belonged to her.
One point two million dollars was different.
“Rachel.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you find out where that money was supposed to go?”
“Not directly. We don’t have subpoena power. Law enforcement will look at the application.”
Daniel heard Mark putting plates in the trash outside.
“Could it have been debt?”
“Of course.”
“How much debt?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel thought about his mother’s townhouse. Paid off, as far as he knew. Her pension. Charles’s life insurance. The investment account that had gone through probate.
“She shouldn’t need that kind of money.”
Rachel was silent.
Then she said, “People often don’t need money they try to borrow.”
Daniel almost snapped at her.
He stopped himself.
“What happens to the house now?”
“I’m filing for a declaratory judgment and an order preventing any further transfer or encumbrance while title is disputed.”
“How long?”
“Not tomorrow.”
“Can she move in?”
“That’s complicated.”
“She has keys.”
“Change the locks.”
“She lived here for thirty-eight years.”
“Daniel, I’m giving you legal advice, not family advice.”
He looked toward the kitchen.
The blue mug was still upside down on the towel.
“Right.”
“Do not destroy anything she left. Do not access her devices, accounts, mail, or private records. Photograph what’s here. Make an inventory if necessary.”
“You think she’s going to accuse me of stealing?”
“I think your family has reached the phase where you should stop assuming the answer is no.”
Daniel hated her for being right.
The next morning he woke on the living room sofa with the lights on.
At six seventeen, he made coffee using grounds that had expired eight months earlier.
He drank it anyway.
The lake outside the windows was flat and gray.
His father had designed the rear terrace so the stone seemed to continue toward the water. Daniel used to think it looked expensive.
That morning it looked like a place people had spent too much money avoiding difficult conversations.
His phone held eleven messages.
Three from Emily.
Two from Claire.
One from Mark.
Four from numbers he did not recognize.
One from Margaret.
He opened hers first.
You have always wanted me out of that house.
Daniel read it twice.
He did not answer.
He opened Emily’s messages.
Call me.
Seriously.
Daniel.
He called.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Mom disappeared.”
Daniel sat upright.
“What do you mean?”
“She left at five this morning. Her car’s gone.”
“Did she say where?”
“No.”
“Did you call her?”
“Thirty times.”
“Claire?”
“Nothing.”
“Mark?”
“Driving around.”
Daniel got up.
“Did you call the police?”
“She isn’t missing, Daniel. She’s sixty-six and angry.”
“She was questioned yesterday about felony fraud.”
“I know what happened yesterday.”
“I’m not criticizing you.”
“It sounds like you are.”
Daniel stopped beside the kitchen island.
“Okay. I’m going to drive to the townhouse.”
“She has a key.”
“To the townhouse?”
“To the lake house.”
Daniel looked toward the front hall.
The brass bowl.
The keys Claire had offered him.
He had told her to keep them.
“Damn it.”
“What?”
“I didn’t change the locks.”
Emily went quiet.
Then, “You think she’s coming there?”
The gate chime sounded.
Daniel looked through the entry windows.
Margaret’s sedan was stopped at the closed gate.
“Yes.”
He ended the call.
When he opened the gate remotely, Margaret drove up slowly.
She parked beside the empty motor court where the moving truck had stood the day before.
She got out carrying a grocery bag.
Daniel watched through the glass.
Margaret came inside.
Her hair was damp.
She held up the bag.
“I bought milk.”
Daniel stared at her.
She looked at the counter.
“Your father never kept enough milk.”
“Emily thinks you disappeared.”
“She panics.”
“She called me before six.”
Margaret set the groceries down.
“She should sleep later.”
“Mom.”
Margaret took out milk, eggs, butter, and a package of bacon.
It was one of the strangest conversations Daniel had ever had.
“You can’t just leave after yesterday.”
“I’m not a prisoner.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“Everybody behaves as though I’m going to flee the country.”
“I thought you might.”
She looked at him.
Then she laughed.
Once.
A dry little sound.
“With what money?”
Daniel thought about the equity application.
Margaret saw something on his face.
“You know.”
“One point two million?”
She turned toward the refrigerator.
“Rachel told you.”
“The title company told Rachel.”
Margaret put the milk inside.
“What was it for?”
“None of your business.”
“It was secured by my house.”
“Your house.”
She closed the refrigerator.
There was no explosion in her voice.
That made him more uneasy.
“Dad transferred it to me.”
“Because you paid his debt.”
“Yes.”
“He owed me more than money.”
“I’m not debating your marriage.”
“You entered our marriage the day you agreed to take that property.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I agreed because the bank was going to take it.”
“We could have sold.”
“Dad didn’t want to.”
“I did.”
May you like
That stopped him.
Margaret took the bacon from the counter.
