Chapter 10 - THE LEDGER
Rebecca Lane entered the police station with an attorney and a red leather notebook.
I watched the interview later from a recorded copy my attorney obtained.
Rebecca looked nothing like the woman I had imagined.
She was frightened.
Exhausted.
Ashamed.
She began with the house.
“Brandon told me he owned it.”
She said.
“He told me Claire knew about me?”
Detective Mason asked.
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“That they had a private marriage.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said they stayed together for business.”
I laughed when I heard that part.
Of course he did.
Rebecca continued.
“He said the money came from his investments.”
“Did you know about the Hale trust?”
“Not until two months ago.”
“What happened then?”
“Margaret came to the house.”
Rebecca’s hands tightened.
“She told me I needed to sign paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
“A confidentiality agreement.”
“Why?”
“She said Claire was unstable.”
Mason glanced at his notes.
“And the ledger?”
Rebecca opened the red notebook.
“Margaret left it in the guesthouse.”
“Why did you keep it?”
“Because I recognized Brandon’s name.”
The ledger was old-fashioned.
Dates.
Initials.
Amounts.
No digital trail.
Dozens of payments.
Some legitimate.
Some clearly not.
One entry stood out.
J.H.
$350,000.
Dana traced it.
Judge Jonathan Hale.
No relation to my family.
He had presided over several trust disputes.
Including one involving Margaret’s foundation.
Then another payment.
D.M.
$120,000.
Dr. Mercer.
The physician who signed my fake insurance exam.
Another.
C.P.
$75,000.
A police lieutenant.
Mason immediately left the room.
The case moved beyond family fraud.
Federal investigators were contacted.
The district attorney created an independent team.
By evening, Brandon’s passport had been flagged.
Margaret’s accounts were frozen.
Then Rebecca revealed the final piece.
“Brandon told me we were leaving Saturday.”
Mason nodded.
“Zurich.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said Claire was going to have an accident.”
Silence.
Mason stared at her.
“He used that word?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca started crying.
“I thought he meant divorce.”
She wiped her face.
“Then Margaret came over.”
“What did she say?”
“She told Brandon not to lose his nerve.”
Mason leaned closer.
“Did she say anything else?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She said they had done harder things before.”
The room became completely still.
Mason asked.
“What harder things?”
Rebecca looked toward her attorney.
May you like
Then back at the detective.
“She said something about Claire’s father.”
