Chapter 4 - The Dead Woman's Trust)
Claire waited until Daniel left for work.
Then she called Julia.
“What do you mean you recognize it?”
Julia hesitated.
“The Bennett Family Heritage Trust was created by Eleanor Bennett.”
“Who is Eleanor Bennett?”
Silence.
Claire thought the connection had dropped.
“Julia?”
“Daniel’s aunt.”
“I’ve never heard of her.”
“That is what concerns me.”
Claire looked toward the hallway.
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor Bennett disappeared from public records eight years ago.”
Claire frowned.
“Disappeared how?”
“She was declared dead.”
Claire gripped the phone.
“Declared dead?”
“After a car accident.”
“And she created Daniel’s trust?”
“Not exactly. She created several trusts involving the Bennett family. Your husband was one of the beneficiaries.”
“Why would Daniel hide that?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Is there something illegal about it?”
“There may be.”
Claire heard papers moving on Julia’s side.
“I pulled an old probate case this morning. Eleanor had a significant estate. Most of it was supposed to be distributed through a series of family trusts when certain conditions were met.”
“What conditions?”
“Marriage. Children. Death. Incapacity.”
Claire felt sick.
Julia continued.
“One provision appears to activate when Daniel has a biological child. Another changes management if his spouse is legally incapacitated.”
“My baby.”
“Yes.”
“What happens when the baby is born?”
“I’m still reviewing the documents.”
Claire touched her belly.
The baby moved.
A small roll beneath her palm.
“Daniel wants me declared unstable before delivery.”
“That would give Margaret enormous influence over trust management if Daniel supported the petition.”
Claire whispered, “They’re using me.”
“I believe they’re trying to.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“What about Eleanor?”
“That is where things become strange.”
Julia paused.
“Three weeks before she supposedly died, Eleanor filed a sealed amendment.”
“To the trust?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I can’t access it.”
“Why not?”
“It was entrusted to a private attorney who died two years ago. His records went to a legal archive.”
Claire looked at Daniel’s closed office door.
“What does this have to do with the notary?”
“I don’t know.”
A car door slammed outside.
Claire moved toward the window.
Margaret.
“I have to go.”
“Claire, listen to me. Do not confront them.”
The front lock turned.
Claire disconnected.
Margaret entered carrying a bakery box.
“Good morning.”
Claire placed the tablet beneath a sofa cushion.
“What are you doing here?”
“Checking on my grandson.”
“Granddaughter.”
Margaret smiled.
“We don’t know that.”
Claire did.
She had chosen not to tell Daniel the sex because it was one of the only things that still belonged to her.
Margaret set down the box.
“You look pale.”
“I’m tired.”
“You’re always tired.”
“I’m seven months pregnant with a broken leg.”
Margaret laughed lightly.
“Always an explanation.”
Claire studied her.
“You really think I’m unstable?”
Margaret’s smile faded.
“I think you are inconvenient.”
Claire’s heartbeat changed.
Margaret seemed to realize she had said too much.
But then she shrugged.
“You came into this family with opinions. Boundaries. Separate accounts. You make Daniel question things.”
“Like what?”
“His obligations.”
“To you?”
“To blood.”
Claire stared.
Margaret opened the bakery box.
Inside were lemon pastries.
Daniel’s favorite.
“Family survives because people know their place.”
“And mine?”
Margaret closed the lid.
“You could have had a beautiful life if you had stopped trying to control what never belonged to you.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“The baby belongs to me.”
Margaret’s eyes dropped to Claire’s stomach.
Then lifted again.
“That remains to be seen.”
Claire felt a flash of pure terror.
Margaret turned away.
Something white protruded from the side pocket of her handbag.
An envelope.
Claire saw a blue raised seal.
The same seal she would later see in Rebecca Collins’s folder.
Margaret caught her looking.
She pushed the envelope deeper into the bag.
“What is that?”
“Nothing.”
“Why do you have sealed legal papers?”
Margaret’s expression turned flat.
“You ask too many questions.”
She took the bag.
Then she left.
Claire stood motionless until the front door closed.
She immediately called Julia.
“Margaret has a sealed document with a blue seal.”
Julia stopped speaking.
“Describe it.”
Claire did.
When she finished, Julia exhaled slowly.
“Claire, I think I know what that is.”
“What?”
“The sealed amendment.”
Claire looked toward the street where Margaret’s car was disappearing.
“How would Margaret have it?”
“She shouldn’t.”
“Then why does she?”
May you like
Julia’s voice became very quiet.
“Because either someone gave it to her illegally, or Eleanor Bennett never died.”
