Chapter 8: Joel Marsh
He called on a Saturday morning.
I was in the back garden with the girls.
Lily was reading on the bench by the fence.
Emma was trying to convince a robin that she had something worth eating in her closed fist, which she did not.
The number was different from the one that had sent the messages.
But when I answered, I knew immediately who it was.
"Mrs.
Calloway.
My name is Joel Marsh.
I think you've been receiving some messages from me."
I walked to the far end of the garden.
"I have," I said.
"I want to be clear about something before we talk.
I'm not doing this to protect myself.
I already have an attorney and I've already made my own disclosure to the relevant parties.
I'm calling because what Ethan did involved people who didn't know they were involved.
And I think you deserve to understand what you're actually dealing with."
"Tell me."
A pause.
"The Alderman Group was set up eighteen months ago.
Ethan approached me about it as a vehicle for a real estate investment fund.
Small group of private investors, short-term commercial deals, fast returns.
I helped him structure it.
I put in capital." His voice was steady but careful.
"What I didn't know — what I found out eight months ago — was that Ethan was using the fund's accounts to move money for three other investors who had no idea their funds were commingled.
He was running returns on paper that didn't exist in practice.
And he was pulling fees on transactions that never closed."
I stood very still in the garden.
"How much?" I asked.
"Across all accounts, just over one point four million dollars."
Emma had given up on the robin.
She was walking toward me with her empty fist open, showing me the nothing inside it, delighted.
I held up one finger.
She stopped and waited.
"Why didn't you go to the authorities eight months ago?" I asked.
"I tried to handle it directly first.
I confronted Ethan.
He told me I had misunderstood the structure.
That everything was compliant.
He was very convincing." A pause.
"Then he threatened to tell the other investors that the fund's problems were my fault.
That I had mismanaged the capital.
He had documentation prepared.
I don't know when he made it, but it looked real."
"He had leverage on you."
"Yes.
Until I found my own attorney and started building my own record." His voice tightened slightly.
"The party last weekend.
The estate.
That was funded partly through Alderman Group accounts.
He used investor money to throw a party for his business contacts.
I saw the vendor invoices."
I thought about Diane in her ivory pantsuit.
All of it paid for with money that wasn't his.
"Mr.
Marsh," I said.
"Are you willing to provide a statement to my attorney?"
"I've already provided one to mine.
I'll authorize a copy to be shared with yours." A pause.
"Mrs.
Calloway.
I want to say something and I want you to hear it plainly.
I should have pushed harder eight months ago.
I was protecting myself and I let it go on longer than it should have.
I'm sorry for that."
I watched Emma wander back toward Lily on the bench.
"I appreciate that," I said.
"There's one more thing.
The three investors whose money was commingled — one of them has already retained a litigation attorney.
The other two are being notified this week.
Ethan is going to have more than a divorce to manage very shortly."
"Does he know that?"
"He will by Monday."
After I ended the call, I stood in the garden for a long moment.
Lily looked up from her book.
"Mom?
You okay?"
"Yes," I said.
"Come inside.
I'll make lunch."
I sent Patricia the full summary before I started the sandwiches.
She called back in eleven minutes.
"Joel Marsh's attorney contacted mine yesterday," she said.
"I was going to tell you Monday.
His statement corroborates everything.
Combined with the disclosure motion and the investor complaints that are about to be filed—" She stopped.
"Ethan's attorney is going to know by end of week that the offer he made was his best one.
And we already declined it."
"Good," I said.
"Maren.
He may try to contact you directly.
Outside of channels.
Possibly through Diane.
Do not engage without me on the line."
"Understood."
"And if he contacts the girls—"
"He won't get near them without a custody order in place."
A pause.
"You've thought this through," she said.
May you like
"I've had eleven years to think," I said.
"I just finally started acting."
