Chapter 9: What the Records Showed
Detective Reyes called the following morning.
I was in the kitchen making breakfast.
Claire was getting Lily ready for school — a different school, temporarily, one across town where nobody knew their faces yet.
Frank Okafor had made the call himself.
"We pulled the bank records," Reyes said.
"The account Claire transferred money into was registered to a shell company, but the beneficial owner traces back to Forsythe.
That's clean evidence of blackmail." A pause.
"We also pulled Marlene's phone records from the past eight months.
There are fourteen calls between her and Forsythe's number.
The first one was seven months ago, which matches what Forsythe told you."
"So his account checks out."
"So far.
He came in this morning.
Gave a full statement.
Brought screenshots of text messages between him and Marlene, including one where she explicitly offers him money to, and I'm quoting, 'make Claire's past impossible to ignore.'" Another pause.
"Mr.
Hartwell, your mother structured this.
She found Forsythe, she activated him, and she directed him toward your wife.
The blackmail was her idea.
Forsythe carried it out and he'll face charges for that — but Marlene is the origin point."
I set down the spatula.
"What does that mean for her?"
"Solicitation to commit extortion.
Possibly more depending on what the DA decides to do with what happened to your daughter." Her voice stayed level.
"We'll be bringing her in for questioning today.
I'd recommend you don't contact her before then."
"I haven't spoken to her since yesterday."
"Good.
Keep it that way."
I thanked her and ended the call.
Claire appeared in the kitchen doorway, Lily behind her with her backpack on.
"Reyes?" Claire asked.
"They're bringing Marlene in today."
Claire nodded.
No visible relief.
Not yet.
Lily looked between us.
"Who's Marlene?"
Claire and I both looked at her.
"Grandma," I said.
"Her real name is Marlene."
"Oh." Lily thought about this.
"Is she in trouble?"
"She made some bad choices," I said.
"People who make bad choices sometimes have to face consequences."
Lily considered that with the seriousness she gave most things.
"Like when I broke the kitchen window and had to use my birthday money to help pay for it?"
"A bit like that," I said.
"But bigger."
She nodded, apparently satisfied, and went to get her shoes.
Claire came and stood beside me at the counter.
"It's not over," she said quietly.
"No.
But it's moving."
"She's going to fight it.
She'll say Forsythe is lying.
She'll say I manipulated him.
She has a lawyer who's already building that story."
"She has fourteen phone calls and a text message that says otherwise."
Claire was quiet.
"I keep thinking about what you told me," I said.
"What she said to you at the anniversary dinner.
About the woman who left before you."
"Her name was Patricia," Claire said.
"I looked her up once, years ago.
She's married now.
Lives in Vermont.
Has three kids." A pause.
"I always wondered what Marlene did to her."
"Maybe we'll find out."
Claire looked at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Reyes asked me if I knew of anyone else Marlene might have done this to.
I gave her Patricia's last name.
The one I remembered from before."
Claire was still for a moment.
Then something in her face shifted — not quite relief, but something adjacent to it.
The look of someone who has been carrying a weight alone and has just felt another pair of hands take hold of it.
"You did that this morning?" she said.
"Last night.
After you went to bed."
She looked at me for a long moment.
"Daniel," she said.
"I'm sorry.
For all of it.
For not telling you.
For thinking I could manage it alone."
"I know."
"I should have trusted you."
"Yes," I said.
"You should have." I picked up the spatula again.
"But I understand why you didn't."
She leaned her head against my shoulder for just a moment.
From the hallway, Lily called: "I can't find my left shoe!"
Claire straightened up.
"It's under the bench," she called back.
"Where it always is."
We heard Lily check.
A pause.
"Oh."
May you like
Claire almost smiled.
Almost was enough.
