Chapter 9: What Fell Apart and What Was Built
The charges were filed on a Wednesday.
Preston was charged with aggravated battery of a minor, evidence tampering, and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Gerald Holt was charged with conspiracy.
Carver, the investigator, was charged with harassment and unlawful surveillance.
The DA's office described the case in a press statement as premeditated and extensive.
I read the statement on my phone in Ruth's waiting room and then put my phone face-down on my knee.
Ruth came out of her office and looked at me.
"You saw it."
"Yes."
She sat down beside me, which was not something I had seen her do before — she was a woman who operated from behind her desk.
"How are you?"
"I don't know yet," I said honestly.
She nodded as though this was the correct answer.
"The estate matter is moving.
Your father's counter-affidavit was filed this morning along with Sophie's medical records from March.
The false witness statement from Patricia Soo has effectively collapsed — she called Reeves yesterday and retracted it.
In writing."
"She retracted it?"
"Apparently she was not aware that you had documentation placing you elsewhere that evening.
When Reeves informed her, she retracted within the hour." Ruth paused.
"Your mother's statement is still on file.
But without corroboration, and with your father actively contradicting it, it carries very little weight."
I thought about my mother.
I had not spoken to her since the ballroom.
She had not called.
"What happens to her?" I said.
Ruth was quiet for a moment.
"That depends on what the DA decides to pursue.
Submitting a false affidavit is a serious matter.
Whether they choose to act on it is their decision, not ours."
I nodded.
"Evelyn." Ruth's voice was careful.
"I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer now.
But at some point — when this is further along — you may want to think about what kind of relationship, if any, you want with your parents going forward.
Both of them."
"My father came to the house again last week," I said.
"He and Sophie did a puzzle together.
A five-hundred-piece one with birds on it.
It took them two hours."
Ruth looked at me.
"He cried when he left," I said.
"He didn't think I saw.
But I did."
She was quiet for a moment.
"And your mother?"
I didn't answer right away.
"I don't know," I said finally.
"I genuinely don't know."
Ruth nodded.
She stood up and straightened her jacket.
"That's an honest answer," she said.
"Come in when you're ready."
Claudia called me that evening.
She had moved out of the house she and Preston had shared and was staying with her sister in Evanston.
She had filed for an annulment.
She sounded, on the phone, like someone who had put down something very heavy and was still figuring out how to stand up straight without it.
"I wanted to tell you," she said, "that I testified to the DA's office today.
Everything I knew.
The document, the timeline, what he told me in the weeks before the wedding."
"Thank you," I said.
"I'm sorry I didn't stop it sooner." Her voice was quiet.
"I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough before that night."
"You were brave enough when it counted," I said.
A silence.
"How's Sophie?" she said.
"The stitches are out.
She's back at art club." I paused.
"She asked about you, actually.
Last week.
She said she hoped you were okay."
Claudia didn't say anything for a moment.
"She's a remarkable kid," she said finally.
"I know," I said.
"She gets it from somewhere."
Claudia laughed — a small, surprised sound, like she had forgotten she could.
"Take care of yourself, Evelyn."
"You too."
I set the phone down on the kitchen counter.
From Sophie's room, I could hear her talking to her stuffed animals, assigning them roles in some elaborate scenario that involved a great deal of negotiation and at least one formal apology.
She had been doing this since she was four.
The cast of characters changed.
The structure never did.
Someone always had to say sorry and mean it before the game could continue.
I leaned against the counter and listened to her for a while.
Then I went to the cabinet and took out two glasses.
Poured one.
Put the second one back.
May you like
Sat down at the kitchen table alone.
Didn't mind.
