Chapter 9: What Evelyn Did Next
Carol came back in four minutes.
She sat down, folded her hands on the table, and looked at Gerald.
"Raymond Holt was stopped at the airport this morning at six-fifteen," she said.
"He had a one-way ticket.
My contact at the financial crimes unit flagged him last night after your call, Gerald.
He's in custody."
Gerald exhaled.
"And Evelyn?" Daniel asked.
Carol was quiet for a moment.
"She was with him," she said.
The room didn't react right away.
It took a few seconds for the words to arrange themselves into meaning.
"She was at the airport," Daniel said.
"Yes."
"With Raymond."
"Yes.
She had a bag.
She had a ticket on the same flight."
Gerald stood up.
He walked to the window, the same window Daniel had stood at twenty minutes earlier.
He put one hand on the glass.
Nobody spoke.
"She was leaving," Daniel said.
Not a question.
"It appears so," Carol said.
"With him."
"Yes."
Daniel looked at his father's back.
Gerald hadn't moved.
His hand was still on the glass.
"Dad."
"I'm fine," Gerald said.
He didn't turn around.
"Dad—"
"I said I'm fine, Daniel." A pause.
"Give me a moment."
We gave him the moment.
When he turned around, his face was composed.
Not cold.
Not broken.
Composed in the way of someone who had made a decision and was now simply living in it.
"What happens to her now?" he asked Carol.
"She'll be questioned.
Raymond is the primary target — he's the one facing fraud charges.
Evelyn's exposure depends on what she knew and when.
If she knew Raymond was fraudulent and helped him move the money anyway, she could face charges as well." Carol paused.
"If she was also a victim of Raymond — if he manipulated her into believing this was legitimate — her situation is different."
"She was at the airport with him," Daniel said.
"Yes," Carol said.
"That complicates the victim argument considerably."
Gerald sat back down.
"She called me last night," he said.
"After you left.
She said she was sorry.
She said she wanted to fix things." He looked at the table.
"I believed her."
I thought about the sound I'd heard as Daniel and I walked toward the hallway.
The quiet crying.
The sound I'd almost turned back for.
"She was buying time," Daniel said.
"Yes," Gerald said.
"I think she was."
Carol gave us a moment before she continued.
"Gerald, I need to advise you on next steps.
The freeze order on Raymond's account went through at seven this morning.
That forty percent is secured.
We'll begin the offshore trace today." She looked at her notes.
"On the personal side — the investigator's report, the assault, the threatening message — those remain your decisions.
But I'd recommend at minimum filing a formal report on the threatening message.
Whoever sent it, it needs to be on record."
"We'll do that today," Daniel said.
"Good." Carol closed her folders.
"I know this is a great deal to absorb.
Do you have questions?"
Gerald looked at me.
"Sarah," he said.
"I owe you more than an apology.
I know that.
I don't know yet what the right form of that is.
But I want you to know — whatever you decide, about the civil case, about any of it — I will support it."
"Thank you, Gerald," I said.
He nodded.
We left Carol's office at ten-fifteen.
The morning was bright and cold.
Gerald stood on the pavement outside and looked at the street for a moment.
"I'm going to call a locksmith," he said.
"And then I'm going to call my accountant."
"Do you want company?" Daniel asked.
Gerald looked at his son.
"No," he said.
"Not today." He put his hand briefly on Daniel's shoulder.
"But tomorrow.
Come for dinner tomorrow.
Both of you."
He walked to his car.
Daniel and I stood on the pavement and watched him go.
"She was going to leave him," Daniel said.
"She was going to take the money and leave him."
"Yes."
"For a man she'd known eight months."
"Yes."
He was quiet for a while.
"I keep thinking I should feel something different than what I feel," he said.
"Something bigger.
But mostly I just feel tired."
"That's allowed," I said.
He looked at me.
"Are you okay?"
I thought about the investigator's report.
My name at the top.
Six months of being watched.
"I will be," I said.
May you like
He took my hand.
We walked to the car together.
