Chapter 3 - A Statement Against Me
The name written on Leona's cardboard box was THOMAS HART.
Inside lay a photograph of my parents on their wedding day, a folded map of the shoreline, and a letter in Mom's slanted handwriting. Across the envelope she'd written: IF THOMAS FORGETS, REMIND HIM WHAT HE PROMISED.
I reached for the letter, but headlights rolled over the bait shop windows. A county patrol car parked beside us.
Deputy Cole stepped out. He had a calm voice and a tired expression. "Emily Hart? We had a call about an altercation at Foxglove Point."
"From my grandmother."
"Your father made the call. His mother says you pushed her over a porch railing."
Leona stepped forward. "I witnessed the aftermath. Thomas shoved this young woman onto the lawn."
Cole separated us for statements. I described the missing jewelry, Clara's hand on my arm, and the fall. He photographed the marks on my wrist and said Clara would need to make her own statement.
"Am I under arrest?" I asked.
"No. And nobody has a court order forbidding you from going to the property. But I recommend staying somewhere else tonight while we sort this out."
Dad called while the deputy was still there.
"You embarrassed your grandmother in front of the police," he said.
"You called them."
"She could've broken her neck."
"And I could've broken mine when you threw me."
He made a sound like he'd swallowed something sharp. "Don't twist this."
I almost told him about Leona's box. Instead I asked whether he'd opened Mom's green velvet jewelry case recently.
"Why?"
"Because it's gone."
"Clara said you took it last month."
There it was. A theft accusation waiting behind the first accusation. I could picture Clara laying out small lies like traps along a hallway.
"Dad, do you even remember the last thing Mom asked of you?"
He said nothing.
Leona opened the letter as he listened on speakerphone. My mother's handwriting filled half a page. Then Leona pointed to one sentence and went pale.
May you like
"Emily," she whispered, "your father promised never to sign away that house."
Dad heard her. The line went dead.
