Chapter 7: Marlene's Second Move
The detective who came to the house that afternoon was a woman named Reyes.
She was unhurried and thorough and she listened to everything without writing anything down until Claire had finished talking.
Then she wrote for a long time.
"The payments," she said.
"You made them how?"
"Bank transfer.
Three times.
The last one was six weeks ago."
"To an account in his name?"
"To an account he gave me.
I don't know whose name it was in."
Reyes nodded.
"That's actually helpful.
Transfers leave records." She looked at the photographs spread on the table between us.
"These were in your mother-in-law's possession?"
"Yes," I said.
"And she told you she had made direct contact with Forsythe."
"She admitted it on the phone this morning.
She said she gave him the name of our daughter's school."
Reyes looked up from her notes.
"She said that directly?"
"She said she 'may have mentioned the school in passing.' Those were her words."
Reyes wrote that down word for word.
"All right," she said.
"I want to be straightforward with you both.
Forsythe is the primary concern.
Blackmail with documented payments is a serious charge and the transfer records will help us move quickly.
Your mother-in-law's situation is more complicated — what she did to your daughter in that bedroom is something we take seriously, but it will depend on Lily's account and what the physical evidence supports." She paused.
"Is Lily willing to talk to someone?"
I looked at Claire.
Claire looked at me.
"Yes," I said.
"Whatever she needs."
Reyes left with the photographs, the marriage certificate, and Marlene's notepaper.
She said someone would be in touch within forty-eight hours.
The house felt quieter after she left.
Not peaceful.
Just emptied out.
Claire was washing the coffee cups.
I was standing at the kitchen window watching the street.
My phone rang.
Marlene.
I let it ring through.
She called again immediately.
I declined it.
Then a text came through.
*I spoke to a lawyer this morning.
He says what I did in that room could be considered a misunderstanding between family members.
He also says that if Claire is investigated for financial dealings with her ex-husband, it will not look good for either of you.
Think carefully before you make this worse than it needs to be.*
I read it twice.
Then I took a screenshot and emailed it to Detective Reyes.
Claire had come to stand beside me.
She read the text over my shoulder.
"She's threatening us," Claire said.
"She's trying to."
"She has a lawyer already.
She knew this was coming."
I set the phone down.
"She's been planning this for longer than we knew."
Claire was quiet for a moment.
Then: "She contacted Daniel, didn't she.
Not just to find out who he was.
She contacted him to use him.
To build a case against me."
I had been thinking the same thing since the morning.
"It would explain why he escalated when he did.
Four months ago.
Right around the time she started the surveillance."
"She pointed him at me."
"I don't know that for certain."
"But you think it."
I didn't answer.
Which was an answer.
Claire sat down at the kitchen table.
She put both hands around an empty cup.
"Your mother has hated me since the day we met," she said.
"I always knew it.
I just never understood why."
"She doesn't think anyone is good enough."
"It's more than that." Claire looked up.
"She told me once — early on, before Lily was born — that you had been engaged before me.
That the woman left because of her.
That she had 'protected' you." She paused.
"I remember thinking it was a strange thing to say.
Like a warning."
I stared at her.
"She told you that?"
"At your parents' anniversary dinner.
You were in the garden with your father.
She leaned over and said it very quietly, like she was sharing a confidence." Claire's voice was steady.
"I never told you because I didn't want to make things harder."
I sat down across from her.
We looked at each other.
"How many people has she done this to?" Claire said.
I didn't have an answer.
My phone buzzed again.
Not Marlene this time.
It was a number I didn't recognize.
I answered it.
"Mr.
Hartwell." A man's voice.
Smooth.
Careful.
May you like
"My name is Daniel Forsythe.
I think it's time we talked directly."
