Chapter 8 - The Mother-in-Law
Margaret Reed had called Lily her daughter.
She had thrown her a baby shower.
She had posted ultrasound photos online with captions about “our precious grandson.”
And now we were looking at a photograph of her arriving at Lily’s house with Charles Whitmore less than half an hour before Lily died.
I wanted to break something.
“Call her,” I said.
Detective Alvarez shook her head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d rather know what she does when she doesn’t realize we have the footage.”
I stared at her.
“You think she’s involved?”
“I think she was there.”
That was all Alvarez would say.
But her officers moved quickly.
A patrol unit was sent to watch Margaret’s house.
Another went to Whitmore Construction.
Charles was gone.
His assistant claimed he had left for Dallas early that morning.
Margaret wasn’t answering her phone.
Then Daniel’s cell rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face tightened.
“Speak of the devil.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Margaret.”
Alvarez held up a hand.
“Answer. Speaker.”
Daniel did.
“Margaret.”
Her voice was shaky.
“Daniel, I need to speak with you.”
“About?”
“Lily’s will.”
“What about it?”
“What did she leave Jason?”
Daniel glanced at us.
“You attended the funeral. You heard part of the letter.”
“I left before the end.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“I saw you standing outside afterward.”
Margaret’s tone changed.
Harder.
“I want to know what my son is entitled to.”
“Nothing.”
I almost smiled.
Margaret stopped breathing for a beat.
“What?”
“Lily amended her will four months ago.”
“You can’t cut a husband out of everything.”
“Under certain circumstances, assets can be structured in ways that do not pass directly to a spouse. And Lily took several steps.”
“What steps?”
“That conversation can happen with your own attorney.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Margaret snapped.
“You don’t understand what she was doing.”
There it was.
Daniel’s eyes lifted.
“What was she doing?”
“She was destroying Jason.”
“How?”
“She was unstable.”
My mother shot out of her seat.
I grabbed her before she could speak.
Margaret continued.
“The pregnancy changed her. She became suspicious.”
Daniel’s voice stayed flat.
“Suspicious of the affair that existed?”
A pause.
“Jason made mistakes.”
“And the forged documents?”
Another pause.
“What forged documents?”
Too fast.
Daniel looked at Alvarez.
She wrote something down.
Then he said, “Margaret, where were you the night Lily died?”
The call went silent.
When she answered, her voice was barely audible.
“At home.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
Daniel looked straight at me.
“Interesting.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I think you should contact Detective Alvarez.”
Margaret hung up.
Ten seconds later, Alvarez’s radio crackled.
A deputy spoke.
“Detective, we have movement at the Reed residence.”
“What kind?”
“Margaret just came out carrying two suitcases.”
Alvarez grabbed her jacket.
“Stop her.”
The response came thirty seconds later.
“She’s refusing.”
Then shouting exploded over the radio.
Another deputy yelled something.
A car engine roared.
Alvarez ran for the door.
“What happened?” Dad called.
The radio answered for her.
“She rammed the patrol car!”
Alvarez froze.
Then the deputy shouted one more thing.
“She’s heading north.”
I looked at the photograph of Margaret getting out of Whitmore’s sedan.
May you like
And suddenly I understood.
Jason wasn’t the only person running.
