Chapter 6 - Twelve Seconds Before the Scream
"Don't touch anything else," Daniel told Ben. "Take pictures of where it was and call Detective Moreno."
Ben had found the envelope under the recipe box, just as Ruth described. The flap had been torn, not neatly opened. The letter inside remained folded, but its last page was missing. A pale indentation showed where a paper clip had been.
Meanwhile Ruth tracked down the woman with the phone. Her name was Evelyn Price, a substitute organist who had come to the funeral to support the family. Evelyn had recorded part of the courtyard because Emma had been throwing rose petals toward the path, a sweet moment she meant to send to Helen's old friends.
The recording was longer than the clip online.
In it, Claire stood near the cemetery gate holding Emma. Mallory marched toward her and grabbed at the silver chain. Claire turned sideways, moving Emma away. Mallory released the chain, lifted the heavy planter with both arms and hurled it.
Evelyn's camera jerked toward the screaming crowd. Twelve seconds later, Daniel appeared and struck Mallory.
When Moreno watched the original, Daniel asked, "Why did she grab at Claire first?"
"We're looking into that," Moreno replied. "The recording answers one question. It doesn't answer motive."
At home that evening, Daniel found Emma sitting on the kitchen rug, tearing a tissue into tiny pieces.
"Aunt Mallory said Grandma wanted her necklace back," she said.
"When did she say that?"
"At church. Before she threw the flower thing. She told Mommy, 'You won't wear it when I'm done.'"
Daniel kept his voice steady, then wrote down Emma's words without asking more. He didn't want her to feel responsible for solving an adult crime.
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His phone buzzed. Ben had sent a photograph of the missing page's paper clip. Caught beneath it was a receipt from Helen's bank, dated four days before she died.
Across the top, Helen had written one sentence: MALLORY MUST NOT GET ACCESS AGAIN.
