Chapter 8: On Record
Dana Ferris arrived at the house at one-thirty.
She was forty, sharp-eyed, and carried a small recorder she placed on the kitchen table without asking.
Grant nodded at it.
She turned it on.
Thomas sat at the head of the table.
Martin sat to his left.
Grant stood near the window.
Lily had been asked if she wanted to be present.
She had said yes.
She sat at the far end of the table in her school uniform, hands folded, and did not look away from the reporter once.
Dana looked at Thomas first.
"Mr.
Whitaker, your wife's representative contacted my outlet last night with claims about your mental fitness and allegations that the girl in your care has made false statements.
Would you like to respond?"
"Yes," Thomas said.
"I would."
He spoke for eleven minutes without stopping.
He described the evening clearly and in sequence.
He did not editorialize.
He did not raise his voice.
He described what he had seen on Lily's face, what Dr.
Reeves had found, what Mrs.
Dolan's notebook contained, and what Martin had determined about the financial transfers.
When he finished, Dana looked at Martin.
Martin confirmed the legal facts on record.
He named the sum.
He named the account.
He confirmed that a formal report had been filed with child protective services that morning and that the financial matter had been referred to a forensic accountant.
Dana wrote without looking up.
Then she looked at Lily.
"You don't have to say anything," Dana said.
"But if you want to, I'm listening."
Lily looked at Thomas.
He gave her the same small nod Grant had given her the night before.
She turned back to Dana.
"She told me once that I should be grateful," Lily said.
"That nobody else would have taken me in.
That I was lucky she allowed it." She paused.
"I believed her for a long time.
I thought if I was quiet enough and careful enough, she'd stop." Another pause.
"She didn't stop."
Dana set her pen down.
"How long?"
"About eight months after I moved in.
So almost a year."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No." Lily looked at her hands.
"I didn't want Mr.
Whitaker to regret bringing me here."
The kitchen was very quiet.
Dana picked her pen back up.
She wrote one more line.
Then she turned off the recorder.
"I'll run the full story," she said.
"I'll need to give her representative a chance to respond.
Standard practice."
"Of course," Martin said.
Dana stood.
She looked at Lily one more time.
"You did the right thing," she said.
"Keeping that letter."
Lily nodded once.
After Dana left, the kitchen stayed quiet for a long moment.
Then Mrs.
Dolan, who had been standing near the stove the entire time, set a plate of toast on the table without a word.
Thomas looked at it.
Then at her.
"Thank you, Ellen," he said.
It was the first time Grant had ever heard his father use the housekeeper's first name.
Mrs.
Dolan went back to the stove.
Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
Grant's phone buzzed.
A message from Martin, sent from two feet away, which meant it was for the record.
*Vanessa's attorney called while Dana was here.
They're requesting a settlement meeting.
No more press threats.*
Grant showed it to Thomas.
Thomas read it.
Set the phone down.
"Tell them Friday," he said.
"After the forensic report."
Grant typed the reply.
May you like
Lily reached across the table and took a piece of toast.
It was the first time all morning she had moved without checking whether it was allowed.
