Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
The wedding ended at eleven forty-five.
Emily refused to let David’s betrayal steal the rest of her night.
She danced.
She cut the cake.
She laughed when Ryan accidentally smeared frosting across her cheek.
She hugged me three times before leaving.
Each time, she held on longer than usual.
Before climbing into the car with Ryan, she whispered one thing.
“Do not go home alone.”
I promised I would not.
Anne drove me to her house.
I barely slept.
At six fifteen the next morning, I called Rebecca Sloan.
By seven, she had reviewed the photographs Melissa sent.
By eight thirty, I was sitting in her office.
Rebecca was fifty-two, silver-haired, precise, and almost unnervingly calm.
She placed the forged agreement on the desk.
“If this is fabricated, your husband has a serious problem.”
“What kind?”
“Potentially several kinds.”
She pointed toward the notary seal.
“Fraud.”
Then the asset list.
“Concealment.”
Then the trust records.
“Possible breach of fiduciary duty.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happens now?”
“We preserve evidence.”
“And divorce?”
“We file.”
I had expected that word to hurt.
It did not.
The marriage had ended six months earlier.
This was only paperwork catching up.
Rebecca looked at me.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She slid a legal pad toward herself.
“Tell me everything from the beginning.”
I did.
The affair.
The messages.
The separate bedrooms.
The trust.
The wedding.
The account transfer.
The condo.
Melissa’s photographs.
When I finished, Rebecca leaned back.
“Does David know Melissa contacted you?”
“No.”
“Keep it that way.”
She looked at the forged document again.
“Now tell me about Karen Whitlock.”
“She has worked for David for almost twenty years.”
“Would she recognize your signature?”
“Absolutely.”
“Would she have access to copies?”
“Yes.”
“Could she notarize documents?”
“She became a notary for the company years ago.”
Rebecca tapped her pen once.
“Then we need to know whether Karen knowingly participated or whether her seal was used.”
“You think David could have copied it?”
“I think we assume nothing until we know.”
At nine forty, my phone rang.
Karen.
Rebecca looked at the screen.
“Answer.”
I put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
Karen’s breathing was uneven.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“I heard what happened last night.”
“How?”
“David called me.”
Rebecca began writing.
“What did he say?”
“That you embarrassed him.”
I almost smiled.
“Did he mention the forged postnuptial agreement?”
Silence.
Rebecca looked up sharply.
Karen finally whispered.
“Claire…”
“You know about it.”
“I can explain.”
My heart sank.
Some part of me had still hoped the seal had been copied.
“You notarized my signature.”
“No.”
I froze.
“No?”
“I notarized a document.”
Her voice began shaking.
“But you were not there.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“What happened, Karen?”
Karen heard the unfamiliar voice.
“Who is that?”
“My attorney.”
“Oh God.”
“Tell me.”
Karen started crying quietly.
“David brought me a document three years ago.”
“Three years?”
“He said you had signed it at home.”
“A notary must witness the signature,” Rebecca said.
“I know.”
Karen sounded ashamed.
“He told me it was a formality.”
My throat tightened.
“You knew I wasn’t there.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know the signature was fake?”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
“Karen.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Did you ever ask me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She broke.
“Because I was afraid of him.”
That sentence changed the room.
I looked at Rebecca.
She stopped writing.
“Afraid how?”
Karen breathed heavily.
“Claire, there are things you don’t know about David.”
I stared at the phone.
“I’m beginning to understand that.”
“No.”
Her voice became almost a whisper.
“You don’t.”
“What things?”
“I can’t say this over the phone.”
“Then come here.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because David is outside my house.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Rebecca stood immediately.
“Karen, lock your doors.”
“They’re locked.”
“Do not open them.”
“He keeps calling.”
“Do not answer.”
Rebecca grabbed another phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Karen started crying harder.
“Please hurry.”
Then we heard pounding through the speaker.
Three heavy strikes against a door.
David’s voice followed.
“Karen.”
Another pounding sound.
“I know you’re in there.”
Karen whispered my name.
May you like
Then David shouted something that made Rebecca and me look at each other.
“You don’t want Claire finding out what else you signed.”
