Chapter 6 - THE MERCER LEDGER
Allison chose a hotel conference lounge with cameras in the hallway and too many people nearby for anyone to pretend the meeting was private.
Good.
She arrived with an attorney.
Also good.
Claire appreciated people becoming less casual about boundaries.
Allison was forty-two.
Same woman from the television.
In person she looked less mysterious.
More tired.
Daniel sat across from her.
Claire beside him.
Noah nowhere near it.
Daniel began:
“You entered my house yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Without permission.”
“Yes.”
“Used an old key.”
“Yes.”
“Put a camera in our laundry.”
“Yes.”
“Activated cameras we didn't know existed.”
“Yes.”
“Were you inside today while we were watching the television?”
Allison hesitated.
Then:
“Yes.”
Claire stared.
Allison explained.
She hid beyond the dining-room wall near the pantry door.
The second live camera couldn't see that angle.
She moved the dining chair herself to prove the feed was live.
Then exited through the mudroom while Claire and Daniel were staring at the screen.
Her voice came through the television from a phone interface.
Claire leaned forward.
“You deliberately made my son think somebody invisible was inside his house.”
Allison looked down.
“Yes.”
“That was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“Do not call it desperate.”
Allison stopped.
Then:
“I won't.”
Good.
No excuse before fact.
Police were already reviewing the trespass and recording-device issues.
Allison had surrendered the bridge credentials through counsel and agreed not to enter the property again.
Then Daniel asked:
“What video did you want us to see?”
Allison opened a folder.
Not the video.
A ledger page.
Richard Bennett's handwriting.
Column:
MERCER CUSTODIAL
Money in.
Money out.
Tuition.
Dental.
Rent.
Car.
Then two large entries.
HOUSE PRINCIPAL — 92,000
ADDITION / CONTRACTOR — 94,000
Daniel stared.
“What is this?”
Allison looked at him.
“Money my mother left me.”
Judith had mentioned a custodial account.
After Karen Mercer died, approximately $264,000 remained from insurance, the sale of her townhouse and savings.
Richard became custodian for Allison.
He used part for her legitimate support.
Then transferred $186,000 into household and property accounts.
Allison said:
“Some of the room you're sitting in now was paid for with money that was supposed to be held for me.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“You're saying you own part of my house.”
“No.”
Good.
Allison shook her head.
“I'm saying your father wrote down that he owed the account back.”
“Was that legal?”
“I don't know.”
“Was it repaid?”
“Not all.”
“Why didn't you make a claim years ago?”
“I did.”
“Then?”
“Your mother said the seventy-five-thousand-dollar settlement resolved it.”
“Did it?”
“My lawyer says not clearly.”
Judith's lawyer said the opposite.
Of course.
Daniel asked:
“What does the surveillance footage prove?”
Allison looked toward him.
“Your father talked about the ledger in this living room.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Why do you know?”
“Because he told me he recorded the conversation.”
“With Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Allison's expression changed.
“Because Judith kept saying the ledger was just notes.”
Claire frowned.
“And Richard wanted evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he just sign an accounting?”
“He said he would.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Dead men and future paperwork.
Always a bad combination.
Allison continued.
Richard later gave her one archive password.
It stopped working after his death.
Two months ago, an old estate box was released to her attorney after a storage dispute.
Inside was the HearthSight service code.
She tested it remotely.
The house system answered.
She found clips.
Not the full one.
Only indexes.
She needed a local bridge to retrieve longer archives.
Hence the laundry camera.
Hence yesterday.
Hence everything Claire now wanted removed from her walls.
Daniel asked:
“What did Mom mean about you taking the Mercer ledger?”
Allison looked down.
“When I left at nineteen, I took one paper copy.”
“From Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Without permission?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“How?”
“I lost it during a move years ago.”
Daniel stared.
Allison did not ask him to believe that.
Then she said:
“But Richard made another.”
“Where?”
May you like
Allison looked toward Claire.
“In the house archive.”
