Chapter 9 - THE PINK STAR
“Her first-grade field trip,” Emily said. “Lily drew that star on the permission slip after I signed it.”
Dana laid the letter flat inside a clear sleeve.
“Don't mark it.”
“I wouldn't.”
“I meant James.”
I took my hands off the table.
The letter said she had chosen to separate from her family. She trusted Ryan to handle her business. She did not want her brother involved in her care.
The signature looked right because it was hers.
But the star had come along with it.
Beth found a scan of the old school form in Emily's personal folder on the office computer. Dana sent both documents to an examiner through the proper channels. It wasn't a complete case by itself. It was a place to start pulling.
The sale packet contained a declaration that Emily had discussed the transaction in person. On that date, her therapy records placed her at Cedar House, struggling through a session and asking for a rest halfway through.
The witness listed on the declaration was Vanessa.
“She wasn't just planning a wedding,” I said.
Emily shut her eyes.
“She used to bring me soup.”
“You knew her?”
“Ryan hired her to help with accounts last year.”
I looked back at the signature page. A woman who had stood beside a seven-year-old and demanded a happy face.
My phone rang. An unfamiliar number.
I let it go to voicemail.
Then a message appeared.
This is Vanessa. Ryan lied to me too. We need to talk alone.
I showed Dana.
“You won't meet her alone,” she said.
“I wasn't going to.”
Across the room, Lily was coloring beside Emily. Her drawing had four people in it this time.
She pointed to the smallest one.
“That's me.”
“I know,” Emily said.
“That's you. That's Uncle James. That's Rosa.”
“It's beautiful.”
Lily hesitated over the blank space beside them.
“Do I have to put Daddy in?”
“No, baby.”
“Will somebody tell him?”
Emily pulled the page closer.
“This picture belongs to you.”
My phone buzzed again.
May you like
Vanessa had sent a photograph of a cracked blue cell phone.
The message underneath read: Emily recorded him the night of the accident.
