Chapter 13 - Julianne Changes Sides
David’s attorneys built their defense quickly.
He had relied on employees.
He misunderstood trust restrictions.
He believed Maya signed the authorizations.
Rebecca acted independently.
Martin Keller mishandled insurance paperwork.
Richard Sloan mismanaged company finances.
Everyone was responsible.
Except David.
Then Julianne changed everything.
Three days after David’s arrest, she requested another interview.
This time, she arrived with her own lawyer.
She looked nothing like the woman who had entered my mansion carrying designer shopping bags.
No makeup.
Dark sweater.
Hair tied back.
She handed investigators a second phone.
David had given it to her six months earlier.
A private phone.
One he believed Maya would never discover.
There were hundreds of messages.
Affair messages.
Hotel reservations.
Photographs.
Cruel jokes about me.
At first, none of that mattered legally.
Then investigators found the financial conversations.
David had told Julianne his company was temporarily short on cash.
She asked whether they could still buy the condominium.
David replied:
Relax.
Lily’s money is basically mine until she’s old enough to understand it.
Julianne had answered:
That sounds illegal.
David:
Only if Maya finds out.
Another message was dated two weeks before the Bahamas trip.
Julianne:
Why are you stressed about that insurance thing?
David:
Because Keller is getting nervous.
Julianne:
About Lily?
David:
About paperwork.
Nothing is happening to Lily.
It’s just a policy.
That message supported what investigators already believed.
David had not expected Lily to die.
I should have felt relieved.
Instead, it made everything more tragic.
Her death had been random.
His betrayal had not.
Julianne gave them something else.
A voice memo.
She had accidentally recorded part of an argument with David on the yacht.
The date was the night Lily died.
In the background, his phone kept vibrating.
Julianne said:
“Maybe you should check.”
David replied:
“No.”
“What if Maya actually needs you?”
“She always needs me.”
Then came the sentence that eventually appeared in every newspaper covering the case.
“If I answer once, she owns the rest of my night.”
I heard it only once.
That was enough.
Julianne asked to see me afterward.
I almost refused.
Then I agreed.
We met in a private conference room.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Finally she said:
“I thought he was leaving you.”
I laughed quietly.
“They always say that.”
“I know.”
She looked ashamed.
“I know that now.”
“Why are you helping?”
Julianne’s eyes filled.
“Because I heard Lily’s name on that yacht.”
I froze.
“When?”
“The night she died.”
My pulse accelerated.
“What did you hear?”
“David was drunk.”
“He was arguing with Rebecca.”
“He walked away, but I followed him.”
“I heard him say, ‘Lily is fine.’”
I leaned forward.
“What else?”
Julianne looked down.
“He said, ‘Maya just wants me scared enough to come home.’”
The room felt suddenly too small.
Julianne wiped her eyes.
“I should have made him call.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“No.”
She nodded.
“I’ll have to live with that.”
I looked at her for a long time.
May you like
Then I said the truth neither of us wanted.
“So will I.”
