Chapter 11 - What Helen Changed
Nadia traced the anonymous photograph to a former Harbor House employee named Leah Hart. She didn't guess or demand that Leah confess. She asked the accountant to meet investigators with counsel present.
Leah arrived carrying a canvas bag and the posture of someone who hadn't slept in days. "I sent the picture," she said. "I needed you to know it existed."
The red ink belonged to Helen. She had circled transfers that made no sense and written one word beside them: FAMILIES.
"I questioned Mallory in June," Leah explained. "She said Victor Sloane was arranging bridge financing. When I asked what we were bridging, she took my access away."
"Why didn't you call the police?" Daniel asked.
"I should have. But I was paying my son's medical bills. I kept telling myself I could fix one more thing before quitting." Leah wiped her face. "Helen told me being afraid didn't make me bad. Staying silent forever would."
The will was less mysterious than the message suggested. Helen had changed the executor from Mallory to an independent trustee and instructed that proceeds from selling her house, if it ever became necessary, should support vulnerable tenants. A later document purporting to reverse that decision carried a signature Leah believed was forged.
"Mom wasn't trying to punish Mallory," Daniel said.
"No," Nadia replied. "She was trying to stop her."
Reyes documented Leah's statements and arranged to secure her records. Daniel went home and found Emma sitting at the kitchen table drawing flowers with dark centers.
"Why are all the flowers black?" he asked.
"Because that's what they looked like when Mommy fell."
He pulled out a chair. For once he didn't rush to tell her everything was fine.
"They scared me too," he said.
Emma looked up. "Can people who love you do bad things?"
May you like
"Yes. And they're still responsible for what they do."
That night Leah called Nadia again. She had remembered the location of the original loan authorizations. They were locked in Victor's office, and he had just ordered the whole room cleared by morning.
