Chapter 4: The Account He Said Didn't Exist
Patricia called at seven exactly.
I had already been awake for two hours.
Rachel was in the kitchen with Lily, and I could hear my daughter asking for the cereal with the stars in it, her voice bright and ordinary in a way that made my chest hurt.
"The statement you sent me," Patricia said.
"Tell me where you found it."
"In our home filing cabinet.
A folder with no label, pushed to the back."
"And you've had sole access to that cabinet?"
"David always said he kept his work files at the office.
He never used it."
A pause.
"The account shows deposits going back at least eighteen months.
The co-holder's name — do you recognize it?"
"No.
I've never heard it before last night."
"Her name is Vanessa Cole," Patricia said.
"I ran a preliminary search this morning.
She's listed at a residential address in Millfield.
About twenty minutes from your house."
I was quiet.
"The deposits are regular," Patricia continued.
"Same amount, same date each month.
It's not a business account.
The category codes show restaurant charges, hotel stays, retail."
I looked at the ceiling.
"He was supporting her."
"That's what the pattern suggests.
We'll need a forensic accountant to go deeper, but what you found last night is significant.
It establishes financial concealment during the marriage.
That affects the divorce settlement considerably."
"How considerably?"
"Considerably in your favor," Patricia said.
"I'll explain the full picture when we meet.
Can you come in Thursday?"
"I'll be there."
I hung up and lay still for a moment.
Then I heard the front door camera alert ping on my phone.
David and Eleanor were back.
I watched them on the screen.
David was dressed for work, which surprised me.
Eleanor stood slightly behind him, arms folded, wearing the expression she reserved for people she considered beneath her.
David pressed the intercom.
"I know you're home," he said.
"I just want to talk.
Five minutes.
That's all I'm asking."
I pressed the intercom button.
"My lawyer has advised me not to speak with you directly."
"Your lawyer." He laughed, but it was a hollow sound.
"You called a lawyer over one bad night?
I was stressed, okay?
I panicked.
That doesn't mean—"
"David." I kept my voice level.
"I found the bank account."
The camera was high-resolution enough that I could see the exact moment the color left his face.
Eleanor touched his arm.
He shook her off.
"That's — that's a business account," he said.
"It's for a project.
It has nothing to do with—"
"Vanessa Cole," I said.
His mouth closed.
Eleanor turned to look at him.
Even through the camera I could see that she hadn't known the name either.
Or she was performing not knowing it.
With Eleanor, the difference was hard to measure.
"David," she said quietly.
"What is she talking about?"
He didn't answer her.
"Five minutes," I said.
"That was what you asked for.
You've had them."
I switched off the intercom.
From the kitchen, Rachel appeared in the bedroom doorway.
She had heard enough.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
"Eighteen months of payments to a woman twenty minutes from here." I set the phone down.
"While I was raising his daughter and running this house."
Rachel sat down slowly on the edge of the chair by the window.
She looked out at the street where David and Eleanor were still standing by the front door, not speaking to each other.
"Does Lily know any of this?" she asked.
"No.
And she won't.
Not yet."
"What do you need?"
I thought about it.
"I need you to take her to the park this afternoon.
I have a call with Patricia at two, and I don't want Lily in the house while I'm on it."
Rachel nodded.
She looked back at the window.
David and Eleanor had gone.
But on the doorstep, wedged under the mat where I almost missed it, my camera caught something.
A small white envelope.
David must have placed it there before he pressed the intercom.
I sent Rachel to retrieve it.
She brought it in without opening it and handed it to me.
Inside was a single card.
David's handwriting.
Four words.
*Please.
Let me explain.*
I photographed it and sent it to Patricia.
May you like
Then I put it in the unlabeled folder where I had found the bank statement.
It belonged there.
