Chương 14
He was silent.
Then he said, “Claire won’t speak to me.”
“That is between you and Claire.”
“She speaks to you.”
“She sorts receipts with me.”
“You took my father. Now you’re taking my daughter.”
Althea closed her eyes.
“You left them both standing where you could have reached them.”
Richard ended the call.
The criminal review changed the civil case.
Gordon Pike proposed mediation. Miriam agreed.
They met at a retired judge’s office in Kansas City. Althea and Miriam sat in one room. Richard, Marcy, and Gordon sat in another. The mediator moved between them carrying offers and pieces of information.
Richard increased Althea’s share of the house proceeds to fifty percent.
Althea refused.
He offered sixty percent and all the pillow money.
She refused.
Miriam watched her carefully. “What outcome are you seeking?”
“The deed recognized.”
“Why?”
“Because Bill signed it.”
“That is the legal answer.”
“It’s the answer.”
“Would you keep the house?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you sell it later?”
“Maybe.”
“Then why spend another year proving you may sell it on your terms rather than now?”
Althea stood by the window. Below, traffic moved along wet streets. A delivery cyclist waited beneath an awning, shaking rain from his sleeves.
“Because Richard wants the settlement to say we were both wrong,” she said.
“Settlements often avoid assigning fault.”
“He accused me of letting Bill rot for money.”
“Yes.”
“He told people I drugged him.”
“His petition did not say that.”
“He allowed other people to say it.”
“That is harder to prove.”
“I’m not asking whether it’s easy.”
Miriam removed her glasses. “What do you need him to do?”
Althea had imagined money, apology, withdrawal of the petition, and public correction. None felt sufficient when named.
“I need him to tell the truth.”
“All of it?”
Althea looked at her.
Miriam continued. “Do you intend to tell the court every time you resented Bill? Every moment you wished the care would end? Every dollar you cannot document?”
“That’s different.”
“Some truths are legally relevant. Some are morally relevant. Some are private. When you say you need the truth, be specific.”
Althea sat again.
“I need him to withdraw the neglect allegations. I need him to acknowledge the transfers were not authorized. I need him to stop contesting the deed.”
“And in return?”
“I won’t seek repayment beyond what the estate requires.”
“The pillow money may already represent repayment for the truck proceeds.”
“I mean the fifty-two thousand.”
“That money belongs to Bill’s estate, not entirely to you. You cannot release claims belonging to other beneficiaries without process.”
“Who benefits?”
“Richard and Evan’s estate, after expenses.”
“So Richard may owe money to an estate he partly inherits.”
“Yes.”
Bill would have appreciated the absurdity.
The mediator returned with a new proposal.
Richard would withdraw the deed and will challenges. He would acknowledge that Bill had capacity and that Althea’s care complied with hospice directives. He would repay twenty-five thousand dollars to the estate over five years. In exchange, the estate would not seek additional civil recovery related to the bank transfers, and all parties would refrain from public accusations.
“What about the criminal review?” Althea asked.
The mediator shook his head. “The prosecutor is not a party. Richard can present the settlement as evidence of restitution.”
“Will he admit the transfers were unauthorized?”
“He will admit they were disputed.”
“That means nothing.”
“It means enough for settlement.”
Althea asked to speak directly with Richard.
Gordon objected. Miriam did not.
They met in the main conference room with attorneys present.
Richard looked thinner. Marcy sat beside him, one hand on her handbag. Claire had not come.
Althea placed Bill’s letter on the table.
Richard stared at it.
“You kept the last lines from me,” she said.
“I was angry.”
“You let me think the money was a gift.”
“It was.”
“It was Evan’s truck.”
“Some of it.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Richard rubbed his forehead. “Because none of it changes what Dad did.”
“It changes what you did.”
“He gave me the money.”
“Which money?”
“The truck proceeds. The company transfers. All of it.”
“Then say that under oath and let the judge decide.”
Gordon shifted. “This conversation is for settlement purposes.”
Althea ignored him.
Richard looked at Bill’s handwriting.
“Did you search the wall compartment?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Marcy turned toward him.
Gordon said, “Richard.”
He continued anyway.
“I found the box last summer. The ledger was inside. I took photographs.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know what he had written about me.”
“Did you take anything?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the beneficiary deed?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the pillow money?”
“I knew he had cash. Not how much.”
“How?”
“He told me he was keeping it where nobody could reach it.”
“And you pulled the pillow away.”
Richard looked at her.
“I thought the papers might be there.”
“While he was dying.”
“I thought he was unconscious.”
“That made it better?”
“No.”
The word was quiet.
Marcy’s hand dropped from her handbag.
Richard said, “I thought if I found the deed before he died, I could stop it.”
Althea felt the room narrow.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You would have destroyed it?”
“It was already recorded. I didn’t know that.”
“So yes.”
“I said I don’t know.”
“You knew enough to pull his pillow from under his head.”
Richard’s face tightened. “And you knew enough to keep him home with infected wounds because the hospital might ask questions.”
Miriam said, “Careful.”
Althea held up a hand.
“No,” she said. “Let him.”
Richard leaned forward. “You liked being necessary. Evan died, and Dad gave you a reason not to decide what came next. You call it sacrifice because that sounds better than hiding.”
The words landed where he intended.
Althea’s first instinct was to strike back with the bank records, Claire’s silence, Bill’s final grip.
Instead, she looked at him and said, “That is partly true.”
May you like
Richard blinked.
“I did hide there,” she said. “I let his needs fill every hour because I didn’t know what to do with my own life. I made mistakes. I signed checks I shouldn’t have signed. I kept bad records. I hated him sometimes. I was relieved when he died, and then I hated myself for that too.”
