Chapter 11 - Beneath the Painted Bird
June refused to let me take the blue box away. She held it close against her pajamas while Rebecca waited in the doorway.
"Mommy made it," June said.
"I know, sweetheart. I'm not taking it. I just want to see whether she tucked anything inside."
She studied me. "Celia tried to pry the bird off the top. I told her she couldn't."
The blue bird was a tiny piece of carved wood glued to the lid, or so I'd always thought. Under its wing was a narrow seam. I pressed gently. The bird slid free, revealing a compartment no larger than a matchbox. Inside, wrapped in tissue, was a memory card and a folded note.
The note was Hannah's. Her handwriting angled hard to the right when she was tired.
Grant, if you find this, don't assume anything bad has happened to me. I kept copies because the people signing these invoices have powerful friends. Give the records to Vera. And tell our girl that truth is not something she needs permission to speak.
I sat on the edge of June's bed, holding the paper. Hannah had hidden the card in plain sight before her surgery, probably thinking she'd retrieve it once she recovered. Then she never came home.
Rebecca photographed everything before we moved it. Vera joined us by video call while we made a forensic copy. The card held spreadsheets, invoices, and a short recording of Hannah speaking into her phone.
"They billed the charity for children who were never there," Hannah said. "Every invoice carries Victor Voss's approval. The same consultant appears under three business names. I need one more bank statement before I take this to the board."
Her voice, clear and familiar, broke my heart in a way I hadn't expected.
At the end of the recording, she added, "If anyone asks why I've kept this quiet, tell them I'm protecting a witness."
May you like
Then she said the witness's name.
"Tessa Kane."
