Chapter 7 - Walter’s first warning
Walter returned Lily before sunrise.
He claimed the baby had become restless and Vanessa needed sleep.
Judith watched him from the stairs, but she did not interfere.
Rebecca spent the morning acting confused.
She asked what time it was twice in front of Vanessa. She pretended not to remember coming downstairs. When Judith mentioned the custody form, Rebecca lowered her eyes and said she would think about it.
The performance disgusted her.
It also worked.
By afternoon, Vanessa stopped hiding her conversations.
Rebecca heard her speaking to someone in the conservatory.
“The doctor will sign it,” Vanessa said. “He signed the older file.”
A man answered through the phone, but Rebecca could not hear his words.
“No, she hasn’t found the room. Dad has the tape.”
Another pause.
“Then deal with him.”
Rebecca moved away before Vanessa saw her.
Walter was in the greenhouse pruning dead leaves from a rose plant.
She closed the door behind her.
“Vanessa knows you have the tape.”
“I assumed she would.”
“She told someone to deal with you.”
“They have been dealing with me for twenty-six years.”
“What does that mean?”
Walter placed the shears on the table.
“Judith did not become controlling after you returned. She has always controlled this family.”
“I know that.”
“No. You know the version she allowed you to see.”
He looked through the greenhouse glass toward the house.
“When Vanessa was six, Judith discovered that Evelyn’s trust would not pass automatically to the eldest child. It would pass to the first granddaughter judged capable by the trustees.”
“Why would that matter when we were children?”
“Because Judith had built her life around controlling the trust.”
“And I threatened that?”
“Not at first.”
Walter removed a small key from his pocket.
“You arrived at Ashford House when you were three years old.”
“Arrived from where?”
“A private children’s home two counties away.”
Rebecca’s stomach tightened.
“Was I adopted?”
“Not legally.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the documents were altered.”
“By Mom?”
“By Judith and a physician named Samuel Krell.”
The name was familiar.
Dr. Krell had signed Rebecca’s postpartum discharge papers.
He was also the doctor Judith planned to use against her.
“Why did you allow it?”
Walter’s eyes filled with shame.
“Because Judith told me your mother was dead and your father had abandoned you. She said formal adoption would create delays and expose you to a dangerous relative.”
“You believed her?”
“I wanted to.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the ugliest answer I have.”
He handed her the key.
“This opens the west nursery.”
Rebecca closed her fingers around it.
“What is on the cassette?”
“Your voice. Margaret’s voice. Judith’s voice.”
“What happened in that room?”
Walter looked at the ground.
“You kept asking for another little girl.”
“Who?”
“You called her Ellie.”
Rebecca felt a distant pressure behind her eyes, like a memory trying to surface.
“I don’t remember.”
“You were taught not to remember.”
“Drugs?”
“Medication, isolation, repetition. Krell called it adjustment treatment.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Walter continued before she could ask him to stop.
“Margaret discovered what they were doing and tried to take you out of the house. Judith accused her of kidnapping. Margaret was arrested, and you remained here.”
“What happened to Ellie?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. I expect you to hate me until I earn something else.”
A vehicle entered the drive.
Walter glanced through the glass.
Dr. Krell stepped out carrying a black medical bag.
“He wasn’t supposed to come until the party,” Rebecca said.
Walter took the garden shears and slipped them into a drawer.
“The plan has changed.”
Dr. Krell looked directly toward the greenhouse.
May you like
Vanessa emerged from the house and pointed at Walter.
Then she drew one finger across her throat.
