Chapter 7 - THE FILE WITH HER NAME
“I’ve never seen a psychiatrist,” Elena said.
Nora’s expression stayed calm.
“Then we verify what he sent.”
The document was six pages long.
It described mood swings, paranoia, impulsive spending, and “persistent estrangement from supportive relatives.”
Elena read the last phrase twice.
Julian had blocked her friends.
Now he was calling their absence a symptom.
A doctor’s name appeared at the bottom.
Martin Bell.
She recognized it.
“He came to the house once.”
Gabriel looked up.
“When?”
“Last winter. Julian said he was a business friend. We had dinner.”
“Did he examine you?”
“No.”
“Did you agree to treatment?”
“No.”
Nora made another note.
“We’ll request his records and challenge the basis for this. A letter from a dinner guest doesn’t become true because someone prints it on letterhead.”
But Elena could already imagine Julian telling the story.
Her unstable wife.
Her frightening father.
His desperate attempts to help.
He had always loved an audience.
That afternoon, Detective Leah Ortiz came to take Elena’s statement about the disputed signatures and the incident at the house.
She asked clear questions.
When Elena struggled, she waited.
“Why didn’t you leave sooner?” Elena asked suddenly.
Ortiz frowned.
“I didn’t ask you that.”
“Everyone will.”
“Some people might. I’m asking what he did.”
Elena began again.
This time, she didn’t call it stress.
She didn’t say Julian could be wonderful.
She told the truth from the first missing bank card to the phone in his pocket while she begged for an ambulance.
When she finished, her hands had stopped shaking.
After Ortiz left, Gabriel placed a photograph on the blanket.
Elena at nine, sitting on her mother’s shoulders.
“I found it in my wallet.”
“You’ve carried that all this time?”
“Every day.”
She traced her mother’s smile.
Then noticed writing on the back.
For our girl. Let her choose.
Gabriel watched her read it.
“I haven’t done that well,” he said.
“No.”
“I want to do better.”
Before Elena could answer, Nora returned.
“The lender sent us the submission log.”
“And?”
“The refinance application was started seven weeks ago.”
Seven weeks.
The week Chloe moved in.
Nora placed a printout beside the photograph.
“The primary contact wasn’t Julian.”
Elena read the email address.
Chloe Davenport.
May you like
Under employer, Chloe had listed a company Elena had never heard of.
Bell Residential Care.
