Chapter 7: The Counter-Attack
Carol filed at 8:47 Monday morning.
By 9:15, Jason's attorney had filed a counter-petition alleging marital misconduct, citing an "ongoing emotional relationship outside the marriage" and requesting an emergency custody evaluation.
Carol called me as I was dropping Lily at Renata's sister's house, where Lily had spent the morning playing with two older children who treated her like a small celebrity.
"They filed," Carol said.
"I know.
I got the notification."
"The misconduct allegation is thin.
One email, no corroborating evidence, no witness.
But they've also filed something else." A pause.
"They're alleging that you engineered the guardianship document through deception.
They're calling it fraud."
I stood on the sidewalk outside Renata's sister's building.
A bus went past.
"They're calling my document fraud."
"Yes.
While simultaneously hoping no one looks too carefully at the mortgage refinance." Carol's tone was dry.
"The forensic accountant came back this morning with preliminary findings.
The equity transfer was structured in a way that required a licensed financial advisor to sign off on the legality.
Paull signed off.
There's a problem with that signature."
"What kind of problem?"
"The kind that ends licenses."
I exhaled slowly.
"What do we do about the misconduct allegation?"
"We respond with the truth.
I need the name of the colleague."
"Daniel Marsh.
He works at my firm.
He transferred to the Seattle office fourteen months ago."
"Has he been contacted by anyone from the Bennett family?"
I hadn't considered that.
"I don't know."
"Find out.
Today." Carol paused.
"There's one more thing.
The mandatory report from Dr.
Howard triggered a DCFS investigation.
A caseworker will contact you this week to schedule a home visit."
"That's — that's good, isn't it?"
"It's good for you and very bad for Diane.
A DCFS finding of substantiated @buse against a grandparent is significant in a custody proceeding." She stopped.
"But Emily, they will also evaluate your home environment.
You're currently staying with a friend."
"I know."
"You need a stable address before that visit."
I looked up at the building in front of me.
Third floor.
Two bedrooms.
Coffee and old paperbacks.
"I'll handle it," I said.
I called Daniel Marsh at noon.
He picked up on the second ring.
"Emily." His voice was careful.
"I was wondering if you'd call."
"Has anyone contacted you?
From Jason's family or their attorneys?"
A pause that lasted one second too long.
"A man called my office last Thursday," Daniel said.
"He said he was doing a background check for an insurance matter.
He asked about our professional relationship.
He asked if we had ever met socially."
"What did you tell him?"
"The truth.
That we had coffee three times during a project in 2021 and that was the extent of it."
"Daniel, I need you to write that down.
Exactly as you just said it to me.
Date it, sign it, and email it to my attorney today."
"Emily, what's happening?"
"They're trying to use our coffee meetings to allege I was having an affair."
Silence.
Then: "That's insane."
"I know.
Will you send the statement?"
"Give me her email address," he said.
"I'll send it in the next twenty minutes."
He did.
The statement arrived in Carol's inbox at 12:34 p.m.
It became Exhibit Forty-Two.
That afternoon, Carol received a call from Richard Paull's attorney.
Paull was, his attorney said, prepared to cooperate fully with any regulatory inquiry in exchange for not being named as a defendant in civil proceedings.
Carol called me immediately after.
"Paull is going to flip," she said.
"On Jason?"
"On Diane.
It was her instruction.
Jason was the signatory but Diane directed the entire transfer.
Paull has emails."
I sat down on the edge of Renata's spare bed.
"She moved our money," I said.
"She moved our money and used her own son to do it."
"Yes."
"Does Jason know she used him?"
May you like
Carol was quiet for a moment.
"That," she said, "is the question you're going to have to decide whether you want answered."
