Chapter 15 - Helen's Missing Page
When investigators confronted Mallory with the camera image and the home health aide's account, she stopped denying she had touched the envelope. Her lawyer turned over the missing page from a folder of estate papers. Detective Moreno showed Daniel a copy.
"Mallory is my daughter," Helen had written. "I will always love her. But I will not let her call my fears confusion or call my money hers. She owes me an explanation for the payments. I have asked Claire to help because Claire listens when I say no. I wish my children could hear that word without believing it means I love them less."
Underneath was a list of the dates Helen had tried to discuss her accounts with Mallory. The last entry read: SHE SHOUTED AT CLAIRE. I ASKED HER TO GO. SHE SAID WE WOULD BOTH REGRET IT.
"Did Mallory know about the note?" he asked Moreno.
"She saw part of it. She says she took the last page because she didn't want anyone thinking she stole from her mother."
"So she stole the page instead."
At the hospital, Claire read a copy with Daniel beside her. Her face tightened at the sentence about Helen saying no.
"She was scared," Claire whispered. "And I kept telling her you would help if she told you."
"I should've listened when you tried. We can both wish we'd done things differently. Neither of us threw that pot."
Claire pressed the letter to her chest. "I wanted the cross at the funeral because she asked. Not because I needed Mallory to see it."
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A nurse came in with the rehabilitation transfer plan. Claire would move to an inpatient program the following week if she continued improving.
As the nurse left, Daniel's attorney called. The prosecutor was ready to offer him an agreement on his own charge. He had until the next hearing to decide whether to accept it.
