Chapter 6: What Willa Knew
Willa arrived at Renata's house the next morning at eight o'clock.
She was twenty-three, slight, with the careful posture of someone who had learned to take up as little space as possible.
She'd worked for Orson for fourteen months as a household assistant — scheduling, errands, managing the day-to-day running of the house.
She'd been given the job through a family friend.
She'd needed the income.
She'd stayed because of Juniper.
She sat at the kitchen table with both hands around a mug of tea and told us what she knew.
"About six weeks ago, I was filing some papers in Mr.
Orson's study.
He'd asked me to organise the cabinet by date.
I wasn't looking for anything." She paused.
"There was a folder with Renata's name on it.
And yours, Callum.
And Juniper's."
"What was in it?" I asked.
"A draft document.
It looked like a legal filing.
I don't know the proper terms, but it was about custody.
There was a section that described you as — " she stopped, swallowed — "as an unstable parent.
It said you had a history of emotional volatility.
It listed two incidents."
"What incidents?"
"One was the argument you had with Renata the Christmas before last.
At the family dinner."
Renata and I looked at each other.
There had been an argument.
A bad one.
About her family not being included in holiday plans.
It had been resolved by the end of the night.
We'd never spoken about it publicly.
"How would he know the details of that?" Renata said quietly.
"He was there," I said.
"He was in the next room."
"The document had details," Willa said.
"Specific things that were said.
It wasn't vague."
"And the second incident?" I asked.
"A night about eight months ago when Juniper had a bad asthma episode and you were called back from a work trip.
The document said you arrived in a — " she looked down at her hands — "in a state.
That you were aggressive with the paramedics."
"That's not what happened."
"I know.
I was there that night.
You were frightened.
You were short with one of them for about thirty seconds and then you apologised and stepped back.
It wasn't — it wasn't what the document described."
"He was there that night too," I said.
"Yes."
The kitchen was very quiet.
"Willa," Renata said carefully.
"Is the document still in that folder?"
"I don't know.
I put it back exactly as I found it.
I didn't take it because I didn't know what to do yet.
I was — I was scared." She looked up.
"I know I should have said something sooner."
"You said something when it mattered," I told her.
"Yesterday, when Juniper needed it."
She nodded, but she didn't look comforted.
"There's one more thing," she said.
"The folder had a name on it.
A firm.
I looked them up after.
They're family law specialists.
The document had a date at the top." She looked at me steadily.
"It was dated three months ago."
Three months.
Juniper's last bad episode had been four months ago.
He'd started building the case one month after that.
"He's been preparing this for three months," Renata said.
She wasn't asking.
"Yes," Willa said.
I stood up and walked to the window.
The garden outside was ordinary and still.
A bird moved across the lawn.
"He planned the whole thing," I said.
"The narrative, the incidents, the witnesses.
He was going to use Juniper's asthma as the evidence that I couldn't cope.
And if she didn't have a bad enough episode on her own—"
"He'd make sure she did," Renata finished.
I turned around.
"I need to call my solicitor right now."
Renata was already reaching for her phone.
"I'm calling mine."
Willa sat very still at the table.
Then she said: "I'll give a statement.
Whatever you need.
I'll say everything I just told you."
I looked at her.
"You understand what that means," I said.
"He'll know it came from you."
"I know." She wrapped both hands tighter around the mug.
"But she's four years old.
And she couldn't breathe."
That was all she said.
It was enough.
My solicitor answered on the second ring.
I walked into the hallway and closed the kitchen door behind me.
"I need an emergency appointment," I said.
"Today if possible.
I have a recording, seven pages of witness notes, a credible witness prepared to give a statement, and evidence of a premeditated attempt to manipulate a custody arrangement." I paused.
"And I think there may be a fraudulent legal document involved."
May you like
A brief silence on the other end.
"Can you be here at eleven?" she said.
