Chapter 8 - WHAT MY MOTHER DID
My mother did not deny being in the video.
By sunrise, she had stopped denying almost anything.
We met her in an interview room at the Newport police station.
She looked smaller beneath fluorescent lights.
No chandeliers.
No wedding flowers.
No family portraits.
Just a table and three chairs.
Detective Collins sat across from her.
I sat beside the wall.
Graham remained outside with Lily.
“What did you go to fix?” Collins asked.
Mom looked at me.
“Everything.”
“That isn’t specific.”
“I knew Thomas was dying.”
“That still isn’t specific.”
“He had become obsessed.”
“With proving Claire’s inheritance had been stolen?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t sound like an obsession.”
Mom winced.
“I know.”
“Why did you confront him?”
“Because Vanessa came to me.”
“When?”
“The same day.”
“What did she say?”
“That Thomas was going to the attorney general.”
“Was that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why did that frighten you?”
Mom’s lips trembled.
“Because Vanessa said if investigators opened the trust records, they would find my signatures.”
I felt sick.
“You signed transfers?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“How much money?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
My voice snapped through the room.
Mom looked at me.
“You knew enough to lie.”
“I thought the transfers were temporary.”
“You signed them.”
“Yes.”
“For Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She told me she needed liquidity for investments.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Liquidity.”
The woman who once clipped coupons because she said Dad’s medical bills wiped us out understood liquidity.
“She said the money would grow.”
“Did it?”
“For her.”
Mom began crying.
Detective Collins continued.
“What happened when you reached Thomas?”
“He was furious.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did you threaten him?”
“No.”
“What did ‘fix this’ mean?”
“I wanted him to wait.”
“For what?”
“To give Vanessa a chance to return the money.”
My hands curled.
“Did Dad agree?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
Mom shut her eyes.
“He said I had already chosen Vanessa over Claire too many times.”
The words cut even now.
“He said if I stopped him, Claire would lose years of her life to our cowardice.”
He had been right.
“What happened next?”
“He started coughing.”
“Badly.”
“There was blood.”
I stared.
“I panicked.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
The room went silent.
“Why?”
“He had a hospice nurse.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Mom’s face crumpled.
“He told me not to.”
“Why?”
“He knew he was dying.”
“That night?”
“He thought maybe.”
I could barely breathe.
“What did you do?”
“I helped him into bed.”
“He gave me the camera.”
“He told me to give it to Claire.”
My eyes closed.
“You hid it.”
“Yes.”
“For eleven years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa arrived.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“She came thirty minutes later.”
“Did Dad see her?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He told her everything was over.”
“That he had contacted the attorney general.”
“That she would need to repay the trust.”
“What did Vanessa do?”
Mom swallowed.
“She begged.”
“Then she became angry.”
“What did she say?”
“That Claire didn’t deserve the money.”
Of course.
“She said you had always gotten everything without trying.”
I stared at my mother.
“I got everything?”
“I know.”
“No, tell me.”
My voice shook.
“What did she think I got?”
“Dad.”
I stopped.
“She thought Thomas loved you more.”
There it was.
Not millions.
Not trusts.
A father.
“She was his biological daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And she hated me because he loved me?”
“She believed he loved you more because you weren’t his.”
That was so twisted I almost couldn’t understand it.
Mom continued.
“Thomas told her love wasn’t divided by blood.”
“Vanessa said that was easy for him to say because he had never had to watch another child replace his own.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Did he answer?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Mom looked directly at me.
“He said, ‘Claire never replaced you. You pushed everyone away and blamed her for the distance.’”
I could hear Dad saying it.
Calm.
Firm.
Vanessa would have hated every word.
“What happened after that?”
“Thomas asked us both to leave.”
“Did you?”
“I did.”
“Vanessa?”
“I thought she did.”
My stomach tightened.
“You thought?”
“She came home an hour later.”
“Where had she been?”
“She said driving.”
Detective Collins leaned forward.
“When did Thomas die?”
“The hospice nurse found him at 5:40 the next morning.”
“Cause?”
“Cancer complications.”
“Any autopsy?”
“No.”
My skin crawled.
“Are you saying Vanessa might have—”
“No.”
Mom said it too quickly.
“I am not saying that.”
“But you don’t know.”
“No.”
“Did you ask her?”
Mom looked at me.
“Years later.”
“What did she say?”
“She laughed.”
A chill moved through me.
“What exactly did she say?”
Mom’s voice cracked.
“She said, ‘Mom, if I killed everyone who disappointed me, you’d have been first.’”
I sat back.
Detective Collins made a note.
“Why did you hide the camera?”
“Fear.”
“Of Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Of legal consequences for your own signatures?”
“Yes.”
“Of the Ellisons?”
“Yes.”
“And perhaps because keeping Claire uninformed preserved your access to trust money?”
Mom began crying harder.
I looked away.
I needed that question asked.
Even if I hated the answer.
“How much did you personally take?” Collins asked.
“Nothing.”
I looked back.
“Nothing?”
“Not for myself.”
“That is a lawyer’s answer.”
“I used some for household expenses after Thomas died.”
“How much?”
“About eighty thousand.”
My stomach twisted.
“Claire’s money?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Mortgage.”
“Taxes.”
“Vanessa’s college debt.”
I laughed.
“Of course.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
I stood.
“Do you understand what eighty thousand dollars would have meant to me?”
She cried.
“I know.”
“No.”
“You don’t.”
“It would have paid every medical bill from Lily’s birth.”
“It would have kept me out of credit card debt.”
“It would have meant I didn’t teach summer school while she stayed with neighbors.”
“It would have bought time.”
“That is what you stole.”
“Not money.”
“Time.”
Mom lowered her face into her hands.
I left.
In the hallway, Graham stood beside the vending machines.
Lily slept across two chairs with his jacket under her head.
He handed me coffee.
I took it.
“Thank you.”
“How bad?”
“Bad.”
He nodded.
We stood in silence.
Then he said, “My father gave Collins the access code for the marina basement.”
I looked at him.
“Locker 27?”
“They found it.”
My heart jumped.
“And?”
“It was empty.”
I stared.
“Empty?”
“Recently.”
“How recently?”
“They found dust outlines.”
“Something large was removed.”
“Camera coverage?”
“Basement system was disabled last week.”
I almost laughed.
Of course.
“Vanessa?”
“Maybe.”
“Caleb?”
“Maybe.”
“Who else knew?”
“My father.”
“Your grandfather.”
“David.”
“Thomas.”
“Your mother.”
He stopped.
My mind caught on it.
“Your mother?”
Graham looked uncomfortable.
“My mom knew David kept a locker at the old club.”
“Where is she?”
“At home.”
“She left the wedding?”
“She wasn’t feeling well after the video.”
I stared at him.
“Graham.”
“I know.”
“Does your mother know who I am?”
He was quiet.
My stomach dropped.
“Does she?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since I was a teenager.”
I closed my eyes.
Another one.
Another adult who knew.
“Why?”
“My mother overheard Dad and Grandpa arguing about David.”
“Did she know David had a daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know it was me?”
“Not until eleven years ago.”
I laughed softly.
“I am apparently the last person in Rhode Island to find out who I am.”
Lily stirred.
I lowered my voice.
“Call your mother.”
Graham hesitated.
“Claire.”
“Call her.”
He did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Third time.
Voicemail.
Graham frowned.
“She always answers me.”
“Try the house.”
He called.
Nothing.
Then his phone buzzed.
A text.
He read it.
His face changed.
“What?”
He showed me.
The message was from his mother.
Graham, I am sorry.
Do not come home.
He immediately called.
No answer.
Then another message arrived.
Claire deserves the truth.
Locker 27 was not empty when I checked it yesterday.
My pulse jumped.
Graham typed back.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
A final message arrived.
Caleb knows where I am.
May you like
After that, her phone went offline.
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