Chapter 10 - WHY RICHARD CALLED
When I showed Richard the guarantee, he didn’t pretend it was news.
“I signed it last year,” he said. “Michael said the project was solid.”
“And then you discovered they were using my land.”
“I found out Thursday.”
“You waited until Daniel hit me on Friday to say anything.”
Richard accepted that without argument. “I was afraid of losing my house.”
I looked around Grandma’s kitchen. “So was I.”
He nodded once, his face red with shame.
Richard brought us more records: loan statements, notes from Michael’s investor meetings, and a copy of the first proposal. In that proposal, Michael had planned to approach me openly with an offer for the orchard.
Margaret had crossed out the paragraph. Beside it, in her neat handwriting, she had written: Daniel will handle Emily.
“Did you see this?” I asked Richard.
“Not until yesterday.”
I no longer knew how much to believe. Nora asked him to give the records directly to her and to the detective. He agreed.
That night, someone knocked on Grandma’s front door. Rachel and I were inside, sorting papers. I checked the camera Nora had helped me install that morning.
Margaret stood on the porch.
I spoke through the door. “What do you want?”
“To talk without an audience.”
“You can talk from there.”
She glanced at the camera. “You think Daniel started all this? My son fell in love with you. That complicated everything.”
“You knew about the plan before we married.”
“He thought he could persuade you.”
“By signing my name?”
Margaret’s face hardened. “If you stop the development, the money is gone. Richard could lose his house. People who work for Michael could lose their jobs.”
“Then you should have asked me about the land.”
“You would’ve said no.”
“Yes.”
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Margaret said, “June kept something that belonged to Richard. Ask him what’s buried beneath the old apple tree.”
She walked away before I could answer.
Rachel came into the hallway. “Do you think she’s telling the truth?”
May you like
“I think she wanted me to hear it.”
We went out with flashlights. Beneath the older tree, where Grandma used to plant daffodils, the soil looked recently disturbed.
