Chapter 14 - The Letter She Couldn't Destroy
Rebecca wanted the envelope treated as potential evidence. We photographed the packaging, recorded the time, and took it to the investigator. June asked if her mother's birthday letter had been ruined.
"Not if I can help it," I said.
She decided she wanted to open it on her birthday, exactly as Hannah intended. That choice belonged to her. Rebecca arranged for it to be preserved and returned when the investigators finished documenting it.
The threatening message had one useful feature: a shipping label printed beneath the outer wrapper. A fragment of the original tracking code remained. The package had passed through a print-and-mail shop partly owned by one of Victor's companies.
Meanwhile Tessa handed over the recording she had promised. In it, Victor sat across a table from Celia and Leonard Price. Tessa's phone lay between a water glass and a stack of contracts.
"After the wedding," Victor said, "Grant will be the problem. Not the child. We need him to seem unstable, and we need the girl somewhere nobody can ask questions."
Price objected that a court would not remove a child based on a few arguments. Victor leaned forward.
"Then we give the court more than arguments. Videos. Evaluations. Statements. That's why I'm paying you."
Celia spoke next. "And when we have the box, we destroy Hannah's files."
I watched the woman I had kissed goodnight for eighteen months discuss my daughter as if she were a piece of furniture.
Rebecca stopped the playback. "There is enough here to ask for stronger protective measures. And it may connect to the financial investigation."
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My phone rang. It was an investigator from the district attorney's office.
"Mr. Ellis," she said, "we need to talk about a money transfer that was scheduled for your wedding day."
