Chapter 8: What Petra Had Been Holding
Petra Voss came to Ruth's office two days later.
I was not there.
I was still at Lenox Hill, cleared for discharge but waiting on one final check for Nora.
Ruth called me from the conference room and put the phone on speaker so I could listen.
Petra was thirty-four.
Ruth told me afterward that she had arrived early, sat in the waiting area without looking at her phone, and when Ruth came to collect her she stood up immediately and said, "I should have called someone months ago."
"Tell me why you left Ms.
Vale's employment," Ruth said.
"She asked me to do something I wouldn't do," Petra said.
"What did she ask?"
"She had a phone.
A second phone, not her regular one.
She asked me to take it to a repair shop under my name.
She said it had water damage and needed the storage recovered.
She told me to say it was mine."
"Did you?"
"I took it to the shop.
But when I got there, I looked at the repair form.
It asked for the device owner's name.
And I thought — if this goes wrong, my name is on this.
So I called her from outside the shop and told her I wasn't comfortable."
"How did she respond?"
"She told me I was being dramatic.
She said it was just a backup phone with personal photos.
She said if I cared about my job I would handle it." Petra paused.
"I told her I quit."
"What happened to the phone?"
"I don't know.
I gave it back to her."
"Did you ever see what was on it?"
"Once.
By accident.
She left it open on her desk.
I saw a message thread.
It was with someone I didn't recognize.
The name at the top was just initials.
Two letters."
"What were the initials?"
"D.H."
Ruth was quiet for a moment.
"Did you see any of the content of the messages?"
"One line.
She scrolled past it when she realized I was behind her.
But I saw one line." Petra paused.
"It said, 'The medical record is gone.
She won't find it.'"
The room on the phone went very still.
"When was this?" Ruth said.
"About eight months ago," Petra said.
"Maybe a little more."
Eight months ago.
Two months before Grant filed for divorce.
One month after my doctor's message would have arrived in the shared email account.
"Petra," Ruth said.
"Would you be willing to provide a formal statement?"
"Yes," she said.
"I've been willing since the day I quit.
I just didn't know who to call."
Ruth thanked her and ended the call with me still on the line.
"D.H.," I said.
"I know," Ruth said.
"Philip Harte's middle name is David.
His full name is Philip David Harte."
I held Nora against my chest and looked at the rain on the hospital window.
"Grant's own attorney," I said.
"Former attorney as of this morning," Ruth said.
"Grant terminated the engagement when I told him what Petra said.
Philip has been referred to the state bar."
"He was feeding her information."
"Almost certainly.
The question is how much.
We'll know more when the bar investigation begins." Ruth paused.
"Claire.
This is bigger than we thought."
"Yes," I said.
"She didn't just want the trust.
She wanted to make sure there was no one left who could stop her.
Not you.
Not Grant.
Not anyone advising him who wasn't already on her side."
I thought about Philip Harte in my hospital room two days ago.
His slightly wrong tie.
His eyes moving to the baby.
The way he had asked Grant, very carefully, whether he had authorized any part of the trust filing.
He had been in that room, listening, trying to understand how much we knew.
"Ruth," I said.
"The negotiation offer.
The one Sienna withdrew."
"Yes."
"Philip drafted it."
A pause.
"Yes."
"And then she withdrew it.
Right after he was in my room and heard everything."
Ruth was quiet for a long moment.
"He told her," Ruth said.
"He told her what we had.
And she changed strategy based on what he reported."
"Which means the counter-statement — the one claiming the baby isn't Grant's — that came from Philip too.
He told her the paternity result was the strongest piece.
So she attacked it."
"Yes," Ruth said.
"I think that's right."
Nora made a small sound.
I adjusted her against my shoulder.
"Can we use that?" I said.
"The timeline of the counter-statement versus Philip's visit to your room?" Ruth said.
"Yes.
We can use that.
It supports the argument that the counter-statement was strategically motivated, not evidence-based.
It weakens her credibility with the DA significantly."
"Good," I said.
"Claire.
Are you all right?"
I looked at Nora.
Her eyes were closed again.
Her breathing was steady and slow.
"I will be," I said.
"When is the DA meeting?"
May you like
"Friday," Ruth said.
"I want you there."
