Chapter 5: The Letter Saved From the Fire
Richard pulled Vanessa away from the fireplace while Samuel smothered the flames with a wool blanket.
“Let go of me!” Vanessa shouted.
“You tried to destroy legal records.”
“I burned private family papers.”
Miriam knelt beside the hearth and lifted a scorched envelope with the poker.
“The seal is still intact.”
Vanessa stopped struggling.
I saw my mother’s name across the front.
“Eleanor Caldwell,” I whispered.
Arthur reached for it, but Miriam drew it away.
“You had twenty-three years to read this.”
“It was addressed to me.”
“And someone just tried to burn it.
We open it with witnesses present.”
Vanessa smoothed her dress.
“You are all behaving as if Grace has already proved something.”
Richard released her.
“You knew where the letter was.”
“I saw Miriam put it there years ago.”
“You weren’t in this family then.”
Vanessa’s face stiffened.
Miriam turned to me.
“Grace, did Vanessa arrange your employment here?”
“The agency sent me.”
Richard looked down.
“Tell her,” Vanessa said.
I turned to him.
“Tell me what?”
Richard rubbed one hand across his mouth.
“I saw your photograph in the agency files.
You looked like Eleanor, so I requested you.”
“You brought me here because you thought I might be your niece?”
“I wasn’t certain.”
“Then why didn’t you ask me about my mother?”
“I was afraid I was seeing what I wanted to see.”
Vanessa smiled at me.
“There.
Your kind protector used you as an experiment.”
My hand tightened around Agnes’s scarf.
“You watched me serve your guests while you investigated me behind my back.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
“That was cruel.”
“Yes,” he said.
“And I’m sorry.”
Miriam placed the scorched letter in a clear evidence sleeve.
“We need independent DNA samples from Grace and Arthur.
I can have a certified technician here within the hour.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Arthur will refuse.”
Arthur looked at me for a long moment.
“I’ll do it.”
Vanessa’s smile vanished.
“You cannot be serious.”
“You produced a false report and burned Eleanor’s letter.”
“I was protecting your legacy.”
“You were protecting your place in it.”
Vanessa followed me into the hallway once the others entered the library.
“Grace, wait.”
I faced her.
“What else do you want to take from me?”
She opened her handbag and removed a check.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Leave tonight and sign a statement saying you invented the claim.”
I stared at the amount.
“You think I can be bought?”
“I think you grew up with nothing.
Be practical.”
“And if I refuse?”
Vanessa slipped the check back into her bag.
“Your foster records will be delivered to every newspaper in Boston.
Every mistake, every home that sent you away, every accusation anyone ever made.”
“You already have those records?”
“I know everything about you.”
I stepped closer.
“Except the one thing you needed to know.”
“What is that?”
“I survived people who had more power than you.”
The certified technician arrived before sunset.
He opened sealed kits in front of Miriam, took samples from Arthur and me, then locked them inside a numbered case.
“When will we know?” I asked.
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
A car door slammed outside.
Two uniformed officers came up the front steps.
Behind them stood a man in an expensive blue suit.
Vanessa opened the door and smiled.
“My attorney, Marcus Vale.”
Marcus handed one officer a folder.
“Grace Miller is accused of stealing a Caldwell family heirloom and attempting inheritance fraud.”
The officer looked at the pendant in Richard’s hand.
“Miss Miller, we need you to come with us.”
May you like
Vanessa leaned toward me.
“I warned you to leave before the lawyer saw you.”
