Chapter 6: Forty-Eight Hours
The courtroom was small enough for me to hear Daniel tapping his shoe beneath the table.
Claire sat behind him, twisting her wedding ring.
Daniel’s attorney stood.
“Mrs.
Walsh has become suspicious, impulsive, and hostile toward the daughter who has cared for her.”
“I cooked for that daughter eight hours before she sent me into the kitchen,” I said.
The judge raised her hand.
“Mrs.
Walsh, your lawyer will speak for you.”
Martin stood.
“We have an independent medical assessment, bank records, a recording, and disputed signatures.”
Daniel’s attorney lifted Dr.
Bell’s letter.
“We also have a physician’s conclusion that Mrs.
Walsh lacks capacity.”
Dr.
Bell took the witness chair.
“Did you examine Mrs.
Walsh?” Daniel’s attorney asked.
“I did.”
“When?”
He gave a date.
Martin walked to the witness box.
“Mrs.
Walsh was visiting her sister in Toronto that week.
Her passport records are attached as Exhibit Six.”
Dr.
Bell swallowed.
“Then I may have entered the wrong date.”
“Did you enter the wrong patient too?”
Daniel whispered sharply to his attorney.
The judge looked over her glasses.
“Mr.
Bennett, remain quiet.”
Martin played Elaine’s recording.
Daniel’s voice filled the courtroom: “By the time she objects, nobody will believe she understands the paperwork.”
Daniel stood.
“That recording is incomplete.”
His attorney pulled him back down.
“Sit.”
“It was edited,” Daniel said.
“Claire can confirm it.”
Every face turned toward my daughter.
Claire walked to the witness chair.
Daniel watched her with a tight smile.
“Did your mother authorize the transfer?” his attorney asked.
Claire looked at me.
“She offered to help us.”
“That was not the question.”
Her fingers closed around the edge of the witness box.
“I believed she would agree.”
“Did Daniel pressure you?”
“He told me we would lose our home.”
Daniel’s smile returned.
Martin approached.
“Claire, did you tell the bank your mother could not understand her finances?”
“Yes.”
The word emptied the air from my chest.
“Was it true?”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel leaned back as if he had already won.
Martin returned to our table.
The judge studied the documents.
“The court cannot dismiss concerns simply because family relationships have broken down,” she said.
“The temporary freeze will remain while I review—”
“Wait,” Claire said.
Daniel turned.
“Don’t.”
She removed a second phone from her handbag.
“I found this in Daniel’s desk last night,” she said.
“He used it for messages he didn’t want on our family account.”
Daniel rose again.
“That phone belongs to my company.”
Claire held it against her chest.
“There are messages to Dr.
Bell.
There are copies of Mom’s signature.
There’s also a photograph of Daniel practicing it.”
His attorney whispered, “Mr.
Bennett, did you disclose this device?”
Daniel pushed away from the table.
“She stole it.”
“You forged my mother’s name,” Claire said.
“I saved our family.”
“You emptied our mortgage account.”
“For us!”
“You planned to put Mom in a care facility and take her house.”
Daniel pointed at her.
“If you hand over that phone, you lose the house.
You lose me.
You lose everything.”
Claire removed her wedding ring and placed it beside the phone.
“I already lost everything when I became like you.”
The judge ordered the clerk to secure the device.
Daniel’s attorney asked for a recess.
In the corridor, Claire leaned against the wall and began to cry.
I stood several feet away.
“Mom,” she said, “I don’t deserve you to hold me.”
“No,” I answered.
“But you shouldn’t have to stand alone.”
I put my arms around her, and she folded against me.
Martin emerged from the courtroom holding his own phone.
“Daniel transferred the last of their joint savings ten minutes ago,” he said.
“And the bank says he purchased an international ticket.”
Claire pulled away from me.
“He’s running,” she whispered.
Martin shook his head.
May you like
“Not yet.
His flight leaves tonight—and he still has the original deed to your mother’s house.”
