Chapter 17 - The Story She Couldn't Control
Daphne's threat didn't stop Nico from speaking to investigators the next morning. June had warned him to get his own attorney. He did, and he took copies of the records with him.
Asha also gave a formal statement. Mrs. Daley supplied her photographs. Pamela supplied her notary journal and messages. It wasn't one dramatic piece of evidence that changed things. It was dozens of ordinary details Daphne had expected nobody to connect.
The financial records were ugly. Harbor Care had billed Mom for transportation on days she had not left the house. Daphne had transferred money to pay credit-card balances and deposits on an apartment Mom had never heard of.
The bank continued reviewing the loan and disputed withdrawals. June sought court protections against further misuse of Mom's property. Nobody could tell us how much restitution might eventually be recovered.
Daphne called me from a blocked number that afternoon.
"You've turned everybody against me," she said.
"I haven't said anything that didn't happen."
"Your mother was impossible. You try living with someone who needs help every hour."
"Then you ask for help. You don't starve her."
"She had food. She could've used a chair if she hadn't made everything so difficult."
I looked across the kitchen. Mom was teaching Biscuit to wait while she filled his bowl. She heard enough of the call to know who it was.
"Tell her I don't need to argue anymore," Mom said.
I relayed the words. Daphne swore and disconnected.
That night Mom asked for a notebook. She wrote a long statement in her careful schoolgirl handwriting. It included the insults, the missed medicine, the stolen money, and the times she had stayed quiet to protect Nico.
She read it aloud, then added one last sentence.
"I am not asking anyone to punish my son because I stopped loving him. I am asking them to believe that I matter, too."
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The following day, June called with news from the prosecutor's office.
The investigation would now include Nico as a possible defendant.
