Chapter 4 - the woman in my robe knew less than I thought)
Jennifer called me at 6:43 that evening.
I almost ignored it.
Then I remembered the way she had looked when Theo mentioned the stranger.
Not guilty.
Not exactly.
Terrified.
I answered.
“What?”
Her breathing was shaky.
“Please don't hang up.”
“You have ten seconds.”
“Solomon lied to me.”
I said nothing.
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds irrelevant.”
“Claire, I didn't know about Theo.”
That got my attention.
“What about Theo?”
“The man. The camera thing. Whatever they were doing.”
“Who is they?”
She hesitated.
“Solomon and his mother.”
“And you?”
“I thought it was financial.”
I laughed once.
“You slept with my husband and helped him steal from me?”
“No.”
“Then choose your words very carefully.”
She began crying.
It did not move me.
“I work in corporate compliance, Claire. Solomon asked me to help him review old access structures connected to Bennett Medical. He said you were trying to cut him out of everything.”
“He was already cut out.”
“I know that now.”
“What did he ask you to do?”
“Look at administrative recovery procedures.”
“For Theo's trust?”
“I didn't know it was Theo's.”
I walked into Margaret's guest room and closed the door.
“Jennifer.”
“Yes?”
“If you lie to me once, I hang up.”
Silence.
Then, “Okay.”
“How long have you been sleeping with him?”
“Eleven months.”
Three months.
Another lie from Solomon.
I felt surprisingly little.
Maybe I had already moved past heartbreak.
“What did Charlotte want?”
“I never dealt with her directly.”
“She's in my house with you.”
“She came today because Solomon called her after you arrived.”
“So she wasn't there last night?”
“No.”
That contradicted Theo.
My pulse quickened.
“Jennifer, did you see Charlotte this morning before I arrived?”
“No.”
“Was anyone else there?”
A long silence.
“Solomon made me stay in the bedroom.”
“Why?”
“He said a contractor was leaving.”
“What contractor?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“Did you hear him?”
“Yes.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
“What did he say?”
“I heard Solomon downstairs. Then another man's voice.”
“What words?”
“I couldn't make out most of it.”
“Most?”
She hesitated.
“One sentence.”
“What sentence?”
“He said, ‘The boy's print is clean. Hers isn't.’”
My stomach tightened.
“And Solomon?”
“He said, ‘Then get another one.’”
I sat down.
“Another what?”
“I don't know.”
“You stayed after hearing that?”
Her voice cracked.
“I thought they were talking about paperwork.”
“You heard a stranger talking about my son's fingerprint at three in the morning.”
“I didn't know Theo was involved.”
“You just said he said ‘the boy.’”
“I thought maybe it was something from Solomon's office.”
I closed my eyes.
Cowards always find ways to make their ignorance sound accidental.
“What else?”
“Charlotte hates me.”
“That isn't useful.”
“She told Solomon two months ago that I was temporary.”
I frowned.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“What did Solomon say?”
“He said I knew my role.”
Something about that sentence was wrong.
Not emotionally.
Structurally.
I opened my eyes.
“What role?”
“I thought she meant the affair.”
“Did Solomon ever tell you he was leaving me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Almost every week.”
Of course.
“Did he tell you when?”
“After the board restructuring.”
I went still.
“What board restructuring?”
Silence.
“Jennifer.”
“He said Bennett Medical was going through a governance transition.”
“It isn't.”
“He said once you stepped back for health reasons, he would have more influence.”
My blood went cold.
“What health reasons?”
She started breathing faster.
“He said you were exhausted. Unstable.”
I stood.
“What exactly did he say?”
“That you were under too much pressure. That your father dying had affected you. That you had anxiety. That your doctor was concerned.”
“My doctor has never said that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I saw the draft.”
I could barely hear myself.
“What draft?”
“A physician statement.”
The room tilted.
“Where?”
“Solomon's laptop.”
“Who wrote it?”
“I don't know.”
“Was it signed?”
“Not yet.”
I paced to the window.
My marriage had stopped being a private betrayal.
This was architecture.
A structure built over time.
A fake medical narrative.
Unauthorized trust access.
Security blackouts.
Intercepted mail.
Biometric attempts.
Someone had been preparing to make me look incapable.
“Jennifer, listen to me.”
“Okay.”
“Do not tell Solomon you called.”
“He already knows I'm upset.”
“Do not delete anything.”
“I haven't.”
“Do not go back to my house.”
She laughed weakly.
“I am definitely not going back.”
“Where are you?”
“At a hotel.”
“Good.”
I paused.
“Do you have access to Solomon's laptop?”
“No.”
“His work cloud?”
“Some shared files.”
“Preserve them.”
“What does that mean?”
“Do not edit them. Do not forward them yet. Take screenshots of filenames and access dates. Then call a lawyer.”
Her voice dropped.
“You think I'm in trouble.”
“Yes.”
That answer seemed to sober her.
“For the affair?”
“No.”
“For helping him research recovery procedures connected to an eleven-million-dollar trust.”
She said nothing.
I continued.
“And because if you knew anything about an attempt to falsify my mental health or change legal guardianship, you need advice before you speak to anyone.”
Her breathing steadied.
“Claire?”
“What?”
“There is something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Solomon has a second phone.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“No. But now I do.”
She ignored the sarcasm.
“He keeps it at his mother's house.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw him use it there.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I wrote that down.
“Anything else?”
“I saw a name on one message.”
My pulse quickened.
“What name?”
“Miles Avery.”
I repeated it.
Nothing.
“Who is he?”
“I searched him once.”
“And?”
“He used to work in private security.”
My hand went cold.
“Used to?”
“He lost his license.”
“For what?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
“I think fraud.”
I ended the call ten minutes later.
Then I searched the name.
Miles Avery, forty-six.
Former digital security consultant.
License revoked after a civil case involving unauthorized access to residential surveillance networks.
Two dismissed criminal investigations.
One sealed employment dispute.
And a photograph.
The same face from my camera restart image.
The man who had entered Theo's room.
I immediately called Eleanor.
“I know who he is.”
“Who?”
“Miles Avery.”
Silence.
Then Eleanor said something I had not expected.
“I know that name.”
My heart accelerated.
“From where?”
“Your father.”
I stood absolutely still.
“What did Miles Avery have to do with my father?”
Eleanor's answer opened a door I had not known existed.
“Richard investigated him five years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because Avery tried to sell confidential access credentials belonging to Bennett Medical.”
I closed my eyes.
“Was Solomon involved?”
“I don't know.”
“Was Charlotte?”
Another pause.
Then Eleanor said, “Claire, your father left a sealed memorandum.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because he gave me instructions not to release it unless someone attempted to alter Theo's trust.”
I could hear my heartbeat.
“That happened six weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“So open it.”
“I already did.”
I gripped the phone.
“And?”
“Your father named three people he believed might eventually try to gain control through you or Theo.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
Eleanor's voice softened.
“The first was Miles Avery.”
I waited.
“The second was Charlotte Bennett.”
My eyes closed.
“And the third?”
May you like
A pause.
“Solomon.”
