Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WHO WALKED IN
Rosa’s photograph didn’t solve everything.
It gave investigators a plate number, a time, a place to begin.
Her building’s camera gave them more.
By the end of the week, they had identified a private investigator who had previously worked for Adrian’s attorney on unrelated matters.
The attorney denied authorizing any approach to Rosa.
The investigator said he had been conducting routine interviews.
Rosa had recorded enough of the conversation to make “routine” sound ridiculous.
Still, there were steps.
Interviews.
Phone records.
Questions I wasn’t entitled to answer just because I wanted someone arrested.
Learning that justice could move slowly without standing still was its own kind of work.
Then Vanessa asked to meet.
Through her attorney.
At Leah’s office.
“No,” my father said.
Leah looked at me.
“What do you want?”
I wanted to see whether she could look at me without Adrian beside her.
“Yes. With counsel present.”
Vanessa arrived wearing a cream sweater and no jewelry.
She looked ordinary.
That unsettled me more than the champagne ever had.
Her lawyer started.
“My client is exploring cooperation.”
Leah folded her hands.
“With investigators. Evelyn cannot offer immunity or negotiate charges.”
“We understand.”
Vanessa looked directly at me.
“He lied to me, too.”
I waited.
“He said you knew about the accounts.”
I waited longer.
“He said your marriage was over.”
“Were we divorced when you counted?”
Her eyes dropped.
“I’m trying to help.”
“Then start with the truth.”
She picked at a loose thread on her sleeve.
For once, nobody rescued her from the silence.
Finally, she said, “He kept a second phone.”
Leah made a note.
“Where?”
“In the safe behind the office cabinet.”
“The office was searched.”
“He moved it. Before that night.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me to take it.”
My pulse changed.
“Do you have it?”
Her lawyer spoke before she could.
“That can be addressed through the proper channels.”
Leah’s voice hardened.
“If your client has relevant evidence, preserving and providing it should not depend on Evelyn’s reaction.”
Vanessa looked at me again.
“I didn’t think he would go that far.”
I saw her on the sofa.
Again, she had said.
Again.
“You kept asking him to.”
Tears appeared.
I felt nothing resembling victory.
Just exhaustion.
As she stood to leave, Vanessa said one more thing.
“The letter wasn’t my idea.”
“I know Adrian approved it.”
May you like
She shook her head.
“No. I mean neither of us wrote the first draft.”
