Chapter 6 - THE DRIVE TO REED'S OFFICE
Before anyone opened the 1986 file, Daniel wanted one current question answered.
“Why were you two in the car together yesterday?”
Walter looked at Eleanor.
Eleanor answered.
“He asked me to come to New York.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He said he was done waiting.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“After forty years.”
Walter did not correct the number.
That mattered.
Eleanor continued.
Walter had called after finding an old envelope while clearing Grace's desk.
The mansion?
No.
A modest house in Westchester Walter had lived in for thirty-five years.
Daniel was preparing to sell it after Walter moved into a smaller apartment.
Walter hated the move.
Daniel called it practical.
Another disagreement they had not resolved.
Inside Grace's desk was a note.
Not sealed.
Not dramatic.
Walter, if Daniel turns forty and you still have not told him, then the silence is yours. Stop blaming me.
Daniel had turned forty six months earlier.
Walter found the note eight weeks later.
Then delayed another four months.
Finally called Eleanor.
They arranged to meet Reed.
Why Reed?
Because his father's old law practice had handled the original family file.
Harold Reed had inherited it.
Also because Walter had another reason.
Estate planning.
Daniel leaned forward.
“The amendment.”
Walter nodded.
“What were you changing?”
Reed answered only after Walter gave permission.
“A proposed specific bequest to Eleanor.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Eleanor looked shocked.
“I told you I didn't want money.”
Walter said:
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Grace wanted me to.”
Eleanor stared.
“Grace has been dead nine years.”
“Yes.”
“Then this is you.”
Walter looked away.
There.
He had been using Grace too.
Daniel stood.
“Were you going to sign it yesterday?”
“No.”
Reed answered.
“We were going to review a draft. I told Walter I would not supervise execution until I had spoken with him privately and was satisfied there was no undue pressure and his capacity was intact.”
Good.
No bedside will rewrite.
No magic lawyer.
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“Did you know about the money?”
“No.”
“I believe her.”
Reed said.
Daniel turned.
“You don't get a vote.”
“No.”
Reed accepted that.
Then Daniel asked the question under all of it.
“Why lie about driving alone?”
Walter rubbed his forehead.
“Because you watch my car.”
Daniel stared.
“I get safety alerts.”
“Same thing.”
Walter's car had an emergency location service Daniel helped install after Walter fainted two years earlier.
Daniel had app access.
Useful.
Then intrusive.
Walter had started turning location sharing off when visiting people Daniel did not approve of.
“I don't approve of people?”
Daniel asked.
Walter looked at him.
“You called the bank over Eleanor.”
Silence.
Eleanor turned.
“You what?”
Daniel's expression tightened.
He had noticed three transfers from Walter to Eleanor over eighteen months.
$15,000.
$22,000.
$18,000.
Then a pending $60,000 transfer.
He contacted the bank's elder-fraud department.
The bank paused the final transfer.
Daniel did not have authority to cancel it.
He had raised a concern.
Why?
Because Walter refused to explain who Eleanor was.
“That isn't irrational.”
Daniel said.
“No.”
Walter answered.
“It isn't.”
Then:
“But I made it look worse by refusing to tell you.”
There.
The present mess had not grown only from Daniel's control.
Walter had created secrecy.
Daniel responded with suspicion.
Walter answered suspicion with more secrecy.
Then Eleanor looked at Walter.
“Was the sixty for me?”
Walter nodded.
She closed her eyes.
“I told you no.”
“I was going to put it into the house repair.”
“My house is not your problem.”
“It was Grace's request.”
“Stop.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Stop making Grace responsible for what you want.”
Walter looked hurt.
Good.
Sometimes hurt meant somebody finally found the right sentence.
Daniel looked at Reed.
“Open the 1986 file.”
Reed did not.
Not yet.
He held up one document first.
“Before we do that, Daniel should know the record is not going to match everything either of you remember.”
Walter looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Reed answered:
“My father kept contemporaneous notes.”
Eleanor went still.
Walter did too.
May you like
Reed continued.
“And according to his notes, Eleanor did not disappear after the adoption.”
