Chapter 5: Nine O'Clock
I smiled back at him.
"Almost," I said.
"I just need to check on Leo first."
Julian nodded.
He didn't move from the wall.
I walked to the room where Leo was sleeping, closed the door behind me, and went straight to the window.
My hands were steady.
I dialed the number from the letter.
It rang twice.
"I was hoping you'd call." The voice was low, careful.
The same voice from the bus.
"Did you find the envelope?"
"Yes.
Are you Robert?"
"I am."
"Arthur told me about the letter Julian is using.
He says it's a forgery."
"It is.
I can prove it.
I have the original draft Julian sent me — he wanted me to sign it voluntarily.
I refused.
He made his own version." A pause.
"I have it with me.
I've had it for three weeks."
"Where are you?"
"Pine Ridge.
I came yesterday.
I'm at the inn on Merchant Street." Another pause.
"I didn't come inside the house because Julian knows my face.
If he sees me before you're ready, he'll move faster than you can stop him."
Leo stirred on the bed.
I turned slightly away and lowered my voice.
"The solicitor arrives at noon.
Julian wants my signature at nine."
"Then we have three hours.
But I need you to do something before nine.
Something that can't wait."
"What?"
"In the study — Julian's working from Arthur's study.
On the desk, or in the top drawer, there will be a folder.
Gray, with a red tab.
That's the document package he's presenting to you and to Hale at noon.
Inside it is the forged letter and the draft will amendment.
I need you to photograph every page before Julian brings it to you.
Once Hale has it, it becomes part of a formal proceeding and it's much harder to challenge."
I looked at the door.
"Julian is in the corridor."
"Is there another way into the study?"
"I don't know this house well enough."
"Martha does."
I was quiet for a moment.
"Martha is scared of him."
"I know.
But she's more scared of what happens to Arthur if Julian wins." He paused.
"Tell her Robert says hello.
Use those exact words.
She'll understand."
The line was quiet for a second.
"One more thing," he said.
"Whatever Julian says to you at nine — whatever he offers, whatever he threatens — don't react.
Just listen.
The more he talks, the more he gives you."
"And if he asks me to sign before noon?"
"Tell him you're dizzy," Robert said.
"You haven't eaten.
You need an hour.
He'll allow it.
He thinks he has everything locked down.
Confident men give you time because they don't believe you can use it."
Leo sat up in bed and looked at me with sleep-heavy eyes.
"Mum?"
"I'm here, love." I kept my voice easy.
"Go wash your face.
We'll get breakfast."
He slid off the bed and padded to the bathroom.
I turned back to the window.
"I'll call you when I have the photographs," I said.
"I'll be ready," Robert said.
"And — I'm sorry.
For the bus.
I needed to pass the note without anyone seeing.
It was the only way I could think of."
"It worked," I said, and ended the call.
I stood at the window for ten seconds.
Below, the garden was gray with early morning light.
A blackbird was pulling something from the lawn.
The house was quiet in the way that means people are listening.
I went to find Martha.
She was in the dining room, setting out cups for breakfast.
She moved slowly, deliberately, like a woman trying to make ordinary things last.
"Martha," I said quietly.
"Robert says hello."
She set the cup down.
Her hand didn't shake, but she held the saucer a moment longer than she needed to.
"He's here?" she said.
Not a question exactly.
"Nearby."
She looked at the door.
Then back at me.
"What do you need?"
"The study.
Is there another way in besides the main corridor?"
"Through the library.
There's a connecting door behind the far bookcase.
Julian doesn't use it — he doesn't know I had it unblocked last year when Arthur's legs got bad." She folded her hands in front of her.
"The key is on the hook inside the pantry.
Blue handle."
"Is Julian still in the corridor?"
"He went downstairs two minutes ago.
He'll be in the kitchen." She looked at me steadily.
"You have perhaps eight minutes."
I was already moving.
The pantry key was where she said.
The library door opened without a sound.
The connecting door behind the bookcase was stiff but quiet if pushed slowly.
The study was dim, curtains half drawn, smelling of old paper and something sharper underneath — Julian's cologne.
The gray folder with the red tab was on the desk.
Not in a drawer.
On top, squared neatly with the edge of the blotter, the way a man leaves things when he wants them found at exactly the right moment.
I opened it and started photographing.
Seven pages.
The forged letter was on page four.
I could see immediately that the signature didn't match the photograph Arthur had shown me — Robert's handwriting in the letter he'd sent, careful and slightly left-leaning.
The signature on Julian's document slanted right.
I photographed all seven pages twice.
I closed the folder.
Replaced it exactly.
Pushed the connecting door back into position.
Walked through the library and returned the key to the pantry hook.
I was back in the dining room when Julian came in from the kitchen, carrying his own coffee.
"Leo up?" he said.
"Getting dressed."
He looked at me over the rim of his cup.
Reading my face the way Arthur had warned me he would.
I thought about the blackbird on the lawn.
I thought about Leo's slow, even breathing in the night.
I gave Julian nothing.
May you like
"Nine o'clock, then," he said.
"Nine o'clock," I agreed.
