Chapter 10: What Diana Finally Said
Emily called Diana herself.
She didn't go through Grace.
She used the number Diana had pressed into her hand at the end of the garden party, written on the back of a small card that Emily had kept in her coat pocket for six days without using.
Diana answered on the first ring.
"I've been waiting," Diana said.
"Richard wants to meet with you alone," Emily said.
"Before you agree to that, I need you to know what we have."
She told her.
All of it.
The notebook.
The tape.
The court ruling.
The files being released.
The foundation under review.
Diana was quiet for a long time after Emily finished.
"He called me this morning," Diana said.
"He said it was getting out of hand.
That I needed to think about my family's name."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him I needed time to think." A pause.
"I've been thinking for thirty years, Emily.
I don't need more time."
"Then meet with me.
Not him."
"Where?"
They met at a café two towns over, the kind of place where nobody knew either of them.
Diana arrived first.
She was already seated when Emily walked in, with a cup of tea she hadn't touched.
Emily sat across from her.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Diana reached into her bag and placed something on the table between them.
A bracelet.
Silver, with a small clasp.
Identical to the one on Emily's wrist.
"I never took mine off either," Diana said.
"Until the day I found out what my father had done.
And then I couldn't wear it anymore." She looked at it on the table.
"I've carried it in my bag ever since.
I don't know why.
I think I was waiting for a reason to give it back."
Emily looked at the bracelet.
"Diana," she said.
"I need you to give a statement.
Everything you know.
Your father's contract.
What you found out at nineteen.
The lawyer you hired three years ago.
All of it."
"I know."
"It will be difficult for your family."
"My father is gone," Diana said.
"My children are adults.
My husband knows everything.
I told him last week." She looked up.
"He said I should have done this years ago."
"Will you?"
"Yes." Diana's voice was steady.
"I'll give a full statement.
To Grace.
On the record." She paused.
"There's one more thing.
Something I didn't tell you at the house because Richard was too close."
Emily waited.
"The social worker," Diana said.
"The one who first approached your mother.
Her name was Patricia Vane.
She worked for a private placement agency that Richard's family funded.
She wasn't a county social worker.
She had no public oversight." Diana looked at her hands.
"She's retired now.
She lives in the same county.
And she still has her files."
"How do you know that?"
"Because my father paid her.
And I found the payment records when I went through his estate." Diana looked up.
"I have copies."
Emily sat back in her chair.
"You've been building this too," Emily said.
"Quietly.
For three years.
I didn't know how to start.
I didn't know if you were findable." Diana's voice cracked slightly.
"And then Daniel walked across a garden and held out a photograph."
Emily looked at her for a long moment.
"I'm not going to tell you it's all right," Emily said.
"What happened to me wasn't all right.
And you knowing and staying quiet for years wasn't all right either."
"I know."
"But what you do now matters." Emily reached across the table.
Not for the bracelet.
She put her hand over Diana's.
"Give Grace everything.
The payment records.
Patricia Vane's name.
All of it."
Diana nodded.
Her eyes were full.
"Emily," she said.
"I'm sorry.
I know that's not enough.
I know it doesn't fix anything.
But I am."
Emily looked at her.
"It's not enough," Emily said.
"But it's a start."
She picked up the bracelet from the table and held it for a moment.
Then she set it back down in front of Diana.
"Put it back on," Emily said.
"You're going to need to remember why you're doing this."
Diana looked at the bracelet.
Then she picked it up and fastened it around her wrist.
They sat together for another hour.
Diana told Grace everything over the phone while Emily sat across from her and listened.
When it was over, Diana looked exhausted and lighter at the same time.
Outside, Emily's phone buzzed.
A message from Grace.
*Patricia Vane.
I already have her address.
She called us first.*
Emily read the message twice.
Then she showed it to Diana.
Diana closed her eyes.
"She's been waiting too," Diana said softly.
May you like
"A lot of people have been waiting," Emily said.
"It's time to stop."
