Chapter 6: The Lawyer, the Recording, and the Moment Dorothy Stopped Smiling
Rachel Osei had a corner office on the fourth floor of a building downtown, and she listened to everything I said without writing a single note for the first ten minutes.
She just listened.
When I finished, she picked up her pen.
"Play me the recording," she said.
I set my phone on her desk and pressed play.
Dorothy's voice filled the quiet office.
*Of course I knew it was there.
I put it there.*
Rachel's pen stopped moving.
*Because my son deserved to know what kind of woman he married.*
I watched Rachel's face.
It didn't change much, but her eyes sharpened in a way that told me what I needed to know.
The recording ran for four minutes and seventeen seconds.
When it ended, Rachel set her pen down.
"She confirmed placement of the device, confirmed intent, and confirmed duration of use," Rachel said.
"All in her own voice.
On a call she initiated."
"She thought I'd be too rattled to think clearly," I said.
"Most people would be." Rachel looked at the device in its plastic bag on the corner of her desk.
"This is a civil matter and potentially a criminal one.
Unauthorized audio surveillance in a private residence.
Depending on what was captured, we may also be looking at invasion of privacy, interception of private communications, and if any of those recordings were used to influence financial decisions or legal matters, it goes further."
"The missing money," I said.
"She knew about the cash I kept hidden.
It started disappearing after the clock arrived."
Rachel made a note.
"We'll need your bank records and any documentation of the withdrawals.
Do you have a joint account with Daniel?"
"Yes."
"Pull everything from the past fourteen months." She paused.
"Christine, I need to ask you directly.
Do you want to pursue this as a divorce proceeding, a criminal complaint, or both?"
I had thought about this in the car on the way over.
I had thought about it very carefully.
"Both," I said.
Rachel nodded once.
"Then here's what happens next."
She walked me through it in clean, precise steps.
A cease-and-desist to Dorothy.
A formal request for preservation of any recordings still in Dorothy's possession or on any device connected to her.
A civil filing for invasion of privacy.
A referral to the district attorney's office for the criminal component.
And a divorce petition, filed separately, citing the surveillance and the financial irregularities as grounds.
"Daniel knew," I said.
"He told me himself.
He said she sent him clips."
"That makes him a knowing recipient of illegally obtained recordings," Rachel said.
"That's relevant to both the divorce and the civil suit."
I sat with that for a moment.
"Will this actually go anywhere?" I asked.
"Or will it just be expensive and exhausting and end with nothing?"
Rachel looked at me steadily.
"You have a physical device recovered from your home.
You have a recorded confession from the person who placed it.
You have a prior victim with a contemporaneous written record.
And you have a husband who admitted on the same day to receiving recordings." She paused.
"I've worked harder cases with less."
I picked up my bag.
My hands were steady.
I noticed that.
"One more thing," I said.
"Dorothy is going to find out I've spoken to a lawyer.
Probably through Daniel.
What does she do when she feels cornered?"
Rachel's expression didn't shift.
"That's actually useful information for us.
Whatever she does next, do not respond without calling me first.
If she contacts you, record it.
If she shows up, don't open the door.
If Daniel tries to negotiate privately, tell him to speak to my office."
I nodded.
"She's going to be very angry," I said.
"Good," Rachel said simply.
"Angry people make mistakes."
I was in the elevator going down when my phone buzzed.
A text from Daniel: *Mom wants to meet.
Tomorrow.
She says she wants to clear the air and she thinks the three of us can sort this out quietly.*
I stared at the message.
Then I typed back one word.
*Sure.*
I sent it before I could second-guess myself.
Then I called Rachel from the lobby.
"She wants a meeting," I said when Rachel picked up.
"I heard," Rachel said.
"I assumed something like this would happen."
"I said yes."
A short pause.
"Good.
Come in tomorrow morning before you go.
We'll prepare."
I stepped out onto the street.
The afternoon had turned cold and the wind was sharp off the water and I stood on the pavement for a moment with my phone in my hand, thinking about Dorothy's voice.
*I was wondering when you'd finally find it.*
She had been so certain.
So completely, serenely certain that she was untouchable.
May you like
Tomorrow, I was going to sit across a table from her.
And I was going to let her keep thinking that.
