Chapter 9 - elizabeth’s second record)
Margaret Shaw was eighty-six years old and living in Asheville, North Carolina.
Rebecca found her through an online directory and called from Nora’s office.
A woman answered on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Shaw?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Rebecca Mercer. My grandmother was Elizabeth Lawson.”
Silence.
Then Margaret said, “It took you long enough.”
Rebecca almost dropped the phone.
“You know who I am?”
“Of course I know who you are.”
“Did my grandmother leave something with you?”
Margaret was quiet for several seconds.
“Are Gerald and Patricia listening?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then come see me.”
Rebecca flew to North Carolina the next morning with Nora.
Margaret lived in a small brick house surrounded by hydrangeas.
She opened the door before they knocked.
Age had bent her posture but not diminished her sharp expression.
She hugged Rebecca immediately.
“You have Elizabeth’s eyes.”
Rebecca cried.
Again.
She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.
Margaret led them into a living room filled with books and old photographs.
One showed Elizabeth and Margaret laughing beside a lake in the 1980s.
Margaret noticed Rebecca looking.
“Your grandmother was much more fun before Gerald started making money.”
Rebecca smiled weakly.
Margaret did not waste time.
“Elizabeth gave me a sealed package six weeks before she died.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“I did.”
Rebecca stared.
Margaret explained that she called Patricia after Elizabeth’s funeral.
Patricia told her Rebecca had suffered what she described as “a severe emotional collapse.”
“She said doctors had advised the family to keep financial stress away from you.”
“That never happened.”
“I know that now.”
“Why did you believe her?”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“Because she was convincing.”
That was becoming the story of Patricia’s life.
Margaret had kept the package anyway.
She walked to a cabinet.
Removed a small safe.
Inside was a sealed yellow envelope with Rebecca’s full name written across it.
Rebecca recognized her grandmother’s handwriting.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
Inside were three items.
A letter.
A flash drive.
And a notarized copy of the original trust.
The letter began:
Rebecca,
If you are reading this, then either I was overly cautious or your parents proved me right.
Rebecca stopped.
Nora waited.
Rebecca continued.
Elizabeth described Gerald’s earlier theft.
Patricia’s role in pressuring Elizabeth not to involve law enforcement.
Then came a detail no one had known.
Patricia had once tried to have Rebecca removed as a beneficiary.
Not after Elizabeth died.
Before.
Rebecca was twenty-two.
Patricia told Elizabeth that Rebecca was reckless, immature, and easily manipulated by boyfriends.
She suggested the trust should pass directly to any future grandchildren instead, with Gerald and Patricia managing it.
Elizabeth refused.
Rebecca stared at the page.
The guardianship plot had not begun after Daniel died.
The strategy was more than a decade old.
If Rebecca could not be controlled financially, they would eventually try to control the money through her child.
Nora read the trust copy.
“This is notarized and includes Samuel’s original appointment.”
“Is that enough?”
“It is very significant.”
“What’s on the flash drive?”
Margaret answered.
“Elizabeth called it insurance.”
They opened it on Nora’s laptop.
The first folder contained bank statements.
The second contained photographs of company ledgers.
The third contained audio.
A conversation between Elizabeth and Patricia.
Rebecca pressed play.
Patricia’s younger voice filled the room.
“Gerald only borrowed the money.”
Elizabeth answered.
“He took it without authorization.”
“He intended to replace it.”
“That is what people say when they are caught.”
“You will destroy the family over money?”
“No, Patricia. Gerald risked the family over money.”
Rebecca glanced at Nora.
The argument continued.
Then Patricia said:
“Rebecca should never control those shares herself.”
Elizabeth answered:
“Why?”
“She has no judgment.”
“She is twenty-two.”
“She has always been emotional.”
“She is your daughter.”
“Exactly. I know her.”
Elizabeth’s reply came slowly.
“No. You know how to frighten her.”
Rebecca shut her eyes.
Patricia continued.
“If you leave those shares to Rebecca, Gerald will spend the rest of his life cleaning up after her mistakes.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“No. Gerald is afraid she will discover his.”
The recording ended soon afterward.
There were seven more.
Together they established a pattern stretching years.
Patricia discussing Rebecca as an obstacle.
Gerald discussing trust assets as though they belonged to him.
Elizabeth repeatedly warning both of them.
The final file was recorded four days before Elizabeth died.
She sounded weak.
“If something happens to these records, Margaret has copies.”
Rebecca looked at Margaret.
“You were her insurance.”
Margaret nodded.
“And now you are yours.”
When Rebecca returned home, the investigation accelerated.
Forensic accountants matched Elizabeth’s records to Daniel’s findings.
The numbers aligned.
Gerald had not merely mismanaged trust property.
Investigators believed he had committed fraud, forgery, and theft.
Patricia’s messages and recordings suggested conspiracy.
Then Detective Cole called with a development concerning Daniel’s death.
Rebecca almost did not answer.
Every time someone said Daniel’s name in connection with the case, hope and terror collided inside her.
Cole spoke carefully.
“We found evidence Gerald met Daniel on the morning of the crash, as the recorder suggested.”
“I know.”
“There’s more.”
Rebecca waited.
“A traffic camera captured Gerald’s vehicle following Daniel’s car about forty minutes before the collision.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Following him where?”
“Toward the industrial district.”
“Did he follow him all the way to the crash?”
“No.”
Rebecca exhaled.
Cole continued.
“But we found a witness.”
“What witness?”
“A former employee at the Lawson warehouse.”
Rebecca gripped the phone.
“He remembers an argument between Daniel and Gerald in the parking lot.”
“What did he see?”
“He saw Gerald take something from Daniel’s car.”
Rebecca stood.
“What?”
“We don’t know.”
“Did Daniel leave?”
“Yes.”
“Was Dad following him?”
“The witness says Gerald drove out approximately two minutes after Daniel.”
Rebecca felt cold.
Cole paused.
“Rebecca, there is still no evidence your father caused the collision.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because the witness remembers one more person being there.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
May you like
“Who?”
“Patricia.”
