Chapter 49

49

Irena pulls her cat up onto her lap and listens to it purr as night falls.

She was grateful when Catherine called her last night about the will, but it would have been nice if she’d come in person with the news. Irena knows she’s peripheral to their lives now. It smarts a little, after all she’s done for them. But she pushes the wounded feelings aside.

Irena has just returned from going to Catherine’s herself this evening. She wanted to know what was going on, how everyone was holding up, and Catherine was the one most likely to know. When Catherine told her that Lisa had called to tell her the police had a witness putting Dan in Brecken Hill the night of the murder, Irena had felt a chill roll up her spine.

She remembers her last interview with the detectives, her reluctant admission that any one of those kids might be capable of murder.

She remembers how Fred used to delight in pitting them against one another. He believed in a zero-sum game, Fred did. There could only ever be one winner in any situation. He would set them up in competition, and it was never fair.

Things look bad for Dan, Irena thinks. She’s not so sure Catherine cares, despite her protestations. Or Jenna either. Dan, as always, has been left hung out to dry.

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•   •   •the next morning, Wednesday, Ellen is bracing herself for a difficult conversation. Audrey is on her way over for coffee, and she doesn’t think Audrey is going to like what she has to say. She’s not going to like hearing that Ellen’s daughter, Rose, is her brother’s daughter. And that Rose will get more from Fred Merton’s estate than Audrey will. But she will undoubtedly hear it sooner or later, and it’s better that it come from her.

She tells herself that, on the other hand, Audrey might be pleased that those spoiled kids are going to have to share their fortune with an outsider. They don’t like to share. And Audrey has always been fond of Rose. Perhaps she will be pleased, after all, that she is Rose’s aunt, and that Rose is her niece.

Ellen thinks it might get a little ugly with the Merton kids—maybe not with Catherine, who’s so fond of Rose, but with the other two—and she’s hoping Audrey will be on her side.

But Audrey has been so different lately, a more extreme version of herself; Ellen is quite nervous.

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•   •   •rose doesn’t bother going to the office, for the second day in a row. She calls her assistant, Kelly, and tells her again to hold the fort and cancel any appointments. She tells her she has a cold.

She’s hiding. She doesn’t want to face anyone, knowing that she will soon be prosecuted for fraud. Her law career will be over anyway, and the practice will fold. She hopes she can avoid prison. With her inheritance money she can make restitution, throw herself on the mercy of the court.

She’s going to have more money than she’s ever dreamed of, so she really doesn’t need to go into her shitty little practice ever again.

Her mind turns uneasily to those detectives, to her meeting yesterday with Walter Temple. She tells herself that everything is going to be fine.

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•   •   •later in the morning, Reyes is notified that Audrey Stancik is at the front desk and wants to speak to the detectives.

She looks better than the last time they’d seen her in the hospital, Reyes thinks. There’s more color in her cheeks.

Audrey barely waits until they’re seated before she says, “Have you made any progress on who tried to kill me?”

“There was definitely antifreeze in the iced tea,” Reyes says, “but no evidence of who was in your home and might have put it there.”

She sighs dramatically, clearly disappointed. “Last night, Dan Merton was sitting in his wife’s car, watching my house.”

“You’re certain it was him?” Reyes asks.

“Yes.” She adds, “He does that, you know, I told you that.” She leans forward. “I have some other information that I think will be of interest to you. I imagine you already know that Rose Cutter is Fred’s natural daughter, and that she’s named in his will.”

“Yes.”

She gives a little snort. “Well, I just found out.” She takes a moment to smooth her ruffled feathers. “Her mother, Ellen Cutter, is a friend of mine. I’ve known her for almost forty years. She worked for my brother as his secretary a long time ago—that’s where we met. We both worked for Fred’s company then.”

She continues. “It’s just that—Ellen knew that Fred was going to change his will to give me half right before he died. Because I told her—the same night he told me.” She adds, “And I don’t believe for a second, no matter how much she pretends otherwise, that Ellen and Rose didn’t know Rose was in the will. Fred would have told Ellen, and Ellen would have told Rose.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because Fred liked to let people know when he was doing them a favor. Just like he enjoyed letting people know when he was doing something to hurt them. He liked the feeling of having power over people, of being able to give things and take things away. If you’d known him, you’d understand what I mean.”