Chapter 13 - NOAH ASKS THE OBVIOUS QUESTION
Noah asked me at breakfast:
“Why did Mr. Daniel come to school?”
I had been waiting.
I still hated the question.
“Someone sent him a message pretending it was from you.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Adults were fighting about money and a company.”
“That's stupid.”
“Yes.”
“Did Aunt Rebecca do it?”
I had to be careful.
“She sent one fake message.”
“Why?”
“She wanted Daniel to do something that would look bad.”
Noah thought.
“Did it work?”
I looked at my son.
“Partly.”
He took a bite of toast.
“Are you mad at Daniel?”
“I was.”
“Are you now?”
“Some.”
“Because he came?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad at you?”
That one hurt.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
Children can tolerate complicated answers better than adults expect when adults stop making them carry the complication.
Then:
“Can I talk to him?”
I froze.
“Why?”
Noah shrugged.
“I remember him.”
That was all.
I did not immediately say yes.
I did not say no because I was scared of history.
I called Daniel.
“We can do a supervised coffee at the park.”
Silence.
Then:
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
He laughed quietly.
“Fair.”
Noah met him Saturday.
I stayed twenty feet away.
Daniel did not mention trusts.
Andrew.
Rebecca.
Bluebird.
He asked Noah about baseball.
Noah told him baseball was boring now and robotics was better.
Daniel looked personally betrayed.
That was the entire first meeting.
Good.
Afterward, Daniel approached me.
“Thank you.”
“Don't make it bigger.”
“I won't.”
Then:
“Elliot found something.”
Of course.
We met that afternoon.
The cyber firm had identified who created the VOIP number.
Not a name.
Payment source.
A prepaid corporate expense card.
Issued by Carter & Hayes eight years earlier.
Cardholder:
Andrew Carter.
My husband.
The card remained open after his death because family office used it for legacy subscriptions.
Rebecca did not use it.
Emily did not.
Daniel did not.
Who had access?
Old executive-services staff.
Accounting.
Family office.
Dozens over years.
Elliot looked frustrated.
“This does not mean Andrew arranged anything.”
Obviously.
Dead men do not call attorneys.
But somebody had deliberately chosen his old card.
Why?
To hide?
Or to make the trail point back to him?
Then the card ledger showed one recent charge before the VOIP purchase.
Three months earlier.
A storage facility in White Plains.
I recognized the name.
Andrew had kept old company archives there before we renovated our house.
I thought the unit was closed after his death.
It wasn't.
May you like
Someone had been paying for it using his old corporate card.
For four years.
