Chapter 8: The Brother in the Shadows
I sat in my car in the estate driveway for a long time after Diane's call ended.
Richard Hargrove.
My father's brother.
A name Thomas had never once mentioned during the seven days we spent together.
A name that appeared in no document Gerald had shown me.
A name on a joint account that had received the money meant for me before I was old enough to know money existed.
I went inside.
Caroline was in the sitting room with a man I didn't recognize — mid-fifties, expensive jacket, a leather portfolio open on his knee.
They both looked up when I walked in.
"Susan." Caroline's voice was careful.
"This is David Alcott.
My attorney."
Alcott stood and extended his hand.
"Ms.
Hargrove.
I was hoping we might have a chance to speak informally before things become adversarial."
I shook his hand once.
"I have my own attorney."
"Of course.
This wouldn't be a formal discussion.
Just a conversation."
"Then have it through Diane Holloway." I gave him her card from my pocket.
"Everything goes through her from now on."
Alcott looked at the card.
Something moved across his face — recognition, or something close to it.
"You retained Diane Holloway."
"Is that a problem?"
He glanced at Caroline.
She was looking at the window.
"Not at all," he said.
He sat back down and closed his portfolio.
"We'll be in touch with her office."
I went upstairs.
I called Gerald.
"Richard Hargrove," I said when he picked up.
A long pause.
"Your father never spoke about him to you."
"No.
Who is he?"
"Thomas's younger brother.
They had a significant falling-out approximately thirty-two years ago.
Richard left the country — he's been living in Portugal for the past decade, as far as I know.
Thomas cut off contact entirely.
He never explained why, not to me."
"Thirty-two years ago," I said.
"That's one year before I was born."
Silence.
"Gerald.
Did you know about the joint account?"
"No," he said.
"I did not." His voice was careful in a way it hadn't been before.
"Susan, I have to be honest with you.
Your father kept certain things from me as well.
I believe he was protecting me from information that could have complicated my position as his attorney.
I think he gathered what he could, documented what he could prove, and left the rest for someone else to find."
"He left it for me to find."
"Yes."
"Because he knew I would look."
"Because," Gerald said quietly, "he believed you were the only one who had a reason to."
I stood at the window of the guest room.
The grounds below were empty and still.
Long shadows from the trees.
"Is Richard still alive?"
"I believe so.
I can make inquiries."
"Please." I paused.
"And Gerald — Caroline's attorney recognized Diane Holloway's name.
Immediately.
His whole manner changed."
"Diane has a reputation," Gerald said.
"She handled a case several years ago — an estate dispute not unlike this one.
She won.
Comprehensively.
The opposing attorney was David Alcott."
I closed my eyes briefly.
"So he knows exactly what she's capable of."
"Yes.
And now he knows you do too."
I hung up and sat on the edge of the bed.
Downstairs, I could hear voices — Caroline's, lower and faster than usual, and Alcott's, steady and measured.
I couldn't make out words.
My phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
*You spoke to Diane Holloway.
That was a mistake.
There are things your father never told you that will destroy this case before it begins.
Meet me.
Alone.
Margaret.*
I screenshotted it.
I sent it to Diane.
Her reply came in under two minutes.
*Don't respond.
Don't delete it.
That text just became evidence.
— D.H.*
I set the phone down on the bed.
Downstairs, the front door opened and closed.
Alcott leaving.
Then Caroline's footsteps on the stairs, slow and deliberate, stopping outside my door.
A knock.
"Susan." Her voice through the door.
"We need to talk.
Not as attorneys.
Just us."
I looked at the door.
"About Richard?" I said.
May you like
The footsteps outside didn't move for a long moment.
Then they walked away.
