Chapter 12 - A PLAN OLDER THAN GRIEF
The date changed everything. Jessica hadn't grabbed at a chance after Frank died. She had been gathering his records while he was still alive.
I remembered her offering to reorganize our files when his heart trouble grew worse. I'd called her thoughtful. Frank hadn't liked people opening his desk, but he was too tired to argue.
Priya sent the photograph to a forensic document examiner. “We need independent evidence,” she said. “Not guesses about the handwriting.”
Meanwhile Jessica's lawyer called to discuss a settlement. She sounded less certain than before.
“Mrs. Hart, my client wants a clean resolution.”
“So do I. Start with correcting the public story and returning what was borrowed.”
“Mrs. Hart—”
“I won't pretend a forgery is a gift.”
That afternoon, a former event planner named June asked to see me. She had done occasional organizing work for Jessica and had been fired three months earlier for refusing to falsify invoices.
“I saw the birthday plan on Jessica's calendar,” June said. “It wasn't labeled as a party task. It said 'family incident—camera angle.'”
She handed me a printed screenshot and the email header showing when she'd forwarded it to herself. There was another line: MAKE ELEANOR LOSE CONTROL. GET MICHAEL TO SIDE WITH ME.
I felt the blood leave my face. “She planned to hurt the picture?”
“I don't know what she meant to break. I know she talked about making you look unstable.”
I thanked June and called Priya. She arranged to preserve the emails and have June interviewed properly.
Then Jessica called from a private number. Her voice was softer than I'd heard in years.
“I didn't want this to happen,” she said. “I wanted one good life with Michael.”
“So why make me the price?”
A long silence. “Because you were never going to get out of the way.”
The line went dead. An hour later, someone smashed the glass panel beside my back door.
May you like
