Chapter 10 - The Woman at the Gate
I didn't answer the anonymous message. Naomi did. She asked the sender to identify themselves and bring any evidence through lawful channels. The reply came the next morning from a woman named Cora Bell, who had managed Diane's rental properties for eleven years.
Cora met us at Naomi's office carrying a battered cardboard folder. "Diane fired me when I refused to backdate a lease," she said. "I kept copies of the documents I was asked to prepare."
Westbrook Family Services, the business billing Lily's trust, was registered at a rental house that had stood empty for most of the year. Diane had used Cora's name as the property manager on forms without permission. Cora brought utility bills and maintenance records proving the building never operated as a care facility.
"She told me it was a temporary address," Cora said. "Then she wanted me to sign a statement that children received services there."
"Did Ryan know?" I asked.
Cora took a sealed letter from the folder. It was addressed to Diane in Ryan's handwriting, and Cora said she'd found a copy left in a leasing file. Naomi read it first, careful not to treat an unauthenticated copy as established fact.
Ryan had written that he could not keep paying interest to Keller, and that the trust reimbursements needed to increase before his lender demanded full repayment. He also asked whether the custody petition would let them appoint Diane to approve future expenses.
"He knew," I said.
Cora nodded. "There's one reason I came. Diane told me your husband agreed to make you look dangerous. But I heard him say something she didn't like."
May you like
"What?"
"He told her he'd pull out if she touched Lily again. And Diane said she'd tell the bank where the first missing forty thousand dollars went."
