Chapter 6: What Gerald Knew
They sat in Noah's car.
Gerald in the back, Claire in the passenger seat turned sideways, Lily buckled in the middle with a second piece of cake Noah had thought to bring out in a napkin.
Gerald had not questioned the child's presence.
He had simply adjusted his voice and chosen his words accordingly, which told Claire something about him.
"Marcus came to me six weeks ago," Gerald said.
"He had questions about the family trust.
Specifically about a clause his mother had invoked eighteen months earlier."
"What clause?" Claire said.
"A guardianship provision." Gerald kept his voice even.
"The trust was established by Marcus's father before he died.
It includes a clause that allows the primary trustee — Evelyn — to petition for guardianship of any minor beneficiary if she can demonstrate that the child's parent is unfit or absent."
The word sat in the air.
"Evelyn was building a case," Claire said.
"She had been building it for approximately two years." Gerald opened his coat and removed a folded document.
"She hired a private assessor.
She had reports written.
She had statements from Amanda describing Marcus as volatile, unreliable, emotionally unstable." He held the document out.
"She also had a letter, allegedly from a physician, stating that Lily had reported being frightened of her father."
Claire took the document.
She looked at the physician's name.
She didn't recognize it.
"Is this doctor real?" she asked.
"The license number is real.
The doctor retired four years ago and has no record of ever treating Lily." Gerald's voice didn't change.
"Someone used his credentials."
"That's fraud," Noah said from the driver's seat.
"Yes," Gerald said simply.
Claire set the document on her knee.
"Marcus found out about this."
"He found most of it.
He came to me with what he had and asked me to help him understand what Evelyn could legally do." Gerald looked at his hands.
"I told him that if she filed the petition and the falsified documents were accepted at face value, she had a reasonable chance of being granted temporary guardianship of Lily.
Especially if Marcus could not be located."
"Especially if Marcus could not be located," Claire repeated.
Gerald nodded once.
"So she needed him gone," Noah said.
"She needed him gone long enough to file.
Once the petition is accepted and temporary guardianship is granted, the burden shifts.
It becomes much harder to reverse." Gerald looked at Claire.
"Marcus told me he was going to find proof that the physician's letter was falsified.
He said he had a contact who could verify the signature.
He said he would call me within forty-eight hours."
"That was three days ago," Claire said.
"That was four days ago," Gerald said.
"He has not called."
The car was quiet.
Outside, a bird landed on the stone wall at the edge of the parking area and then lifted away again.
"Has Evelyn filed the petition?" Claire asked.
"Not yet.
I've been monitoring the court system." Gerald looked at her directly.
"But I believe she intends to file within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
The birthday party today was not a birthday party."
Claire looked at him.
"It was a documented event," Gerald said.
"With photographs.
With witnesses.
Showing Lily in Evelyn's care, happy and celebrated.
Showing Amanda as an involved, loving aunt." He paused.
"Except that you walked in."
Claire thought of the scattered hair on the polished floor.
The silver party blower lying beside it.
"She was going to use today as evidence," Claire said.
"She was going to use today as the final piece." Gerald reached into his coat again and produced a business card.
"Which means the footage Noah found may have just changed the timeline considerably."
He held the card out to Claire.
"I need to see that footage," he said.
"All of it.
The hallway recording and whatever is on the camera account Marcus set up in Lily's room." He glanced at Lily, who was carefully separating the frosting from the cake with the edge of her fork.
"And I need to know where Marcus is.
Because if we cannot produce him, Evelyn's attorney will argue that his absence alone is sufficient grounds."
Claire looked at the card.
Then she looked at the small card from Marcus's envelope, still in her hand.
The email address.
The password.
She pulled out her phone.
"Then let's start with the forty-two clips," she said.
She opened the browser, typed in the address, and logged in.
The account loaded.
A grid of video thumbnails filled the screen.
Lily's bedroom.
The small white camera in the corner of the ceiling.
Timestamps going back eleven weeks.
Claire tapped the most recent clip.
The footage was from four days ago.
3:14 in the morning.
The room was dark except for the pale glow of Lily's nightlight.
Evelyn was standing at the foot of Lily's bed.
She was holding Lily's stuffed rabbit by one ear.
She set it down on the floor, just out of reach of the bed.
Then she stood there for a long moment, watching the sleeping child.
Then she leaned down and said something.
Too quiet for the microphone to catch fully.
But the last word was clear.
*Behave.*
Lily stirred in her sleep.
Reached for the rabbit.
Found nothing.
Her small hand moved across the empty space and then she pulled it back and curled tighter.
Evelyn watched for another moment.
Then she left.
Claire stopped the video.
Nobody in the car said anything.
Then Lily looked up from her cake.
She had heard the audio.
She recognized the room.
She looked at Claire's phone screen and then looked away again, back at the napkin in her lap.
May you like
"She does that a lot," Lily said quietly.
"I thought it was a dream."
