Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Needed Money
We met Detective Lila Moreno that afternoon at the county station. She was patient without being warm, the sort of person who let silence do its job.
"Before I ask about the money," she said, "tell me exactly what happened in the hallway. Start before your daughter called 911."
Ruth corrected her gently. "Beth called the nonemergency line first. She told the dispatcher Walter had assaulted her."
I described our argument about Rosebridge, the coat rack, and the accusations. I didn't pretend I'd been calm. I'd raised my voice when Beth demanded we sell the house, and I regretted it. But anger wasn't a punch, and the camera had recorded what followed.
Moreno watched the clip with headphones, then asked for the original files. She said investigators would verify the footage rather than treating a recording as magic proof. They also needed to identify the man and establish whether the threat was serious or bragging.
"It sounded serious to me," Micah said.
"That's why we're here," Moreno answered.
Beth's text arrived while we were still talking. I showed it to the detective. She photographed the screen for her notes and asked Ruth not to answer without first discussing safety.
"We cannot promise a guard at every door," Moreno told us. "But we can respond to threats, examine the documents, and advise you about protection orders. Keep your family together and your plans private."
In the parking lot, Ruth finally broke. "Beth used to sleep by my door when she was afraid of thunder. How could she do this?"
"We don't have to solve why before we protect everyone," I told her.
Anita called as we returned to the inn. Beth had received three large transfers from Orchard Gate Holdings, not one. The earliest was six months old. Around the same time, she'd quietly stopped paying several creditors and begun pressuring Ruth to change her will.
Micah listened on speaker, his face draining. "She asked me to testify that Mom was forgetting things. I said no."
Ruth closed her eyes. "You didn't tell me."
"I thought she was being dramatic. I didn't know there was a plan."
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Anita took a breath. "There's something else. The option document claims Ruth signed in front of a notary who died eight months ago."
For the first time, the lie had a paper trail with a dead man's name on it.
