Chapter 15 - Claire's Mother
Linda looked ten years older than I remembered.
She sat at my kitchen table with both hands around a cup of tea she never drank.
"Diane called me the morning after Claire died," she said.
"What did she offer?"
"One hundred thousand dollars."
I stared at her.
"For what?"
"To sign a statement saying I believed you were emotionally unfit. And to agree not to seek visitation."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Linda's eyes filled.
"Because I was ashamed."
"You took the money?"
"No."
She looked down.
"But I almost did."
That honesty hurt less than another lie.
Linda told us Martin had contacted her too. He claimed he wanted to "rebuild the biological family Claire had been denied."
She told him Claire had denied nothing. Claire had chosen her family.
"He didn't like that," Linda said.
Officer Lee asked whether Martin had threatened her.
"Not directly. But he knew things he shouldn't have known. My mortgage balance. My medical bills. My sister's address."
Claire's files suddenly made more sense.
She hadn't been hiding one threat.
She had been documenting a network.
Diane wanted control of the trust and revenge over an old family grievance.
Martin wanted access to the grandson Claire had refused to give him.
Thomas wanted money.
Each wanted something different.
Noah was the single door that opened all three rooms.
Then Linda gave me a small envelope.
"Claire mailed this to me two weeks before she died. She told me to open it only if Diane ever tried to separate you from the baby."
Inside was a copy of an email exchange between Diane and Thomas.
THOMAS: Once you have guardianship, sell the Vale shares first.
DIANE: I know.
THOMAS: Keller will expect his part.
DIANE: He gets access, not money.
THOMAS: He thinks otherwise.
DIANE: Then he thinks wrong.
I looked at Olivia.
"They were going to turn on each other."
She nodded.
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
EVAN, YOUR MOTHER ISN'T THE ONE WHO BROKE INTO THE HOUSE.
A second message followed.
I DID.
Then a third.
WE NEED TO TALK BEFORE DIANE FINDS ME.
May you like
It was signed: THOMAS.
The Message on Grandma's Phone
