Chapter 12 - The Policy
Emily stared at Detective Pierce across the shelter’s small conference table.
“Linda?”
Pierce nodded.
“The policy lists your mother-in-law as primary beneficiary and Grant as contingent beneficiary.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It was opened fourteen months ago.”
“I never signed that.”
“We’re examining the signature.”
Emily stood and paced.
Ellie was in another room with a counselor.
Sarah had arrived with coffee nobody touched.
Emily turned.
“Fourteen months ago was when I told Grant I wanted a separate bank account.”
Sarah’s face tightened.
Pierce wrote that down.
“What happened after you told him?”
“He laughed. Then he apologized. Then for two months, he was perfect.”
“Perfect how?”
“Flowers. Dinner. Family pictures. He booked a weekend at a lake house.”
Sarah whispered, “I remember that.”
Emily nodded.
“I thought we were fixing things.”
Pierce asked, “Did anything unusual happen at the lake house?”
Emily thought.
Then her expression changed.
“There was a form.”
“What form?”
“Grant said the rental company needed an emergency contact and insurance waiver. He handed me papers at dinner. I signed without reading all of it.”
Pierce leaned back.
“Do you remember how many pages?”
“Maybe six.”
“Could a signature page have been substituted?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Sarah cursed under her breath.
Pierce remained measured.
“We don’t know yet if that’s what happened.”
“But you think it could be.”
“I think we verify everything.”
Emily sat again.
“How does Derek Vale fit into this?”
“We found him.”
“And?”
“He wants an attorney before he talks.”
“Does that mean he’s involved?”
“It means he wants an attorney.”
Emily almost smiled at the detective’s refusal to speculate.
Then Pierce’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“What?” Sarah asked.
Pierce looked at Emily.
“The financial team traced part of your missing savings.”
Emily leaned forward.
“Where?”
“Eighteen-five went to Linda.”
“We know that.”
“Another twelve thousand went to a contractor account tied to Derek Vale.”
“And the rest?”
Pierce looked back at the message.
“Nineteen thousand four hundred went to a storage company under a false name.”
Sarah frowned.
“What was stored?”
May you like
Pierce stood.
“We’re about to find out.”
