Chapter 10 - The Other Helena
The woman in the video had Mom's silver hair, her glasses, and a lavender cardigan.
From a distance she looked close enough to fool someone who didn't know her.
But Mom's right shoulder had been stiff since a fall five years ago.
The woman in the recording lifted her right arm easily.
Her voice was similar, though not identical.
The defense said age and compression explained the differences.
June asked the judge to permit forensic examination before the video was relied upon.
The request was granted.
At home, Mom watched the clip without speaking.
I finally stopped it.
"You don't have to see it again," I said.
"I want to know who agreed to pretend to be me."
The question carried a kind of humiliation I hadn't considered.
Somebody hadn't merely stolen her signature.
They had hired another human being to wear her life.
Investigators traced the rental of the cardigan and hairpiece to a local theatrical supplier.
A production assistant had bought them in cash.
The assistant's car had appeared outside Hartwell Closing Services three times.
Her name was Nora Pike, a freelance actor who also worked as a caregiver.
When approached, Nora asked for a lawyer and later gave a detailed statement.
She said she had been paid to recreate a family training video for an estate-planning presentation.
A man from Eastmark Strategies told her the real woman had already agreed.
Nora claimed she had not known the footage would be passed off as an authentic signing.
That account, too, would have to be tested.
Meanwhile, the true source of the video became more disturbing.
The background image was not a real room.
It had been assembled from photographs taken during a private tour of Mom's house.
The tour had been scheduled through Evelyn Price.
I found myself thinking about every family gathering where I had introduced Evelyn as someone we could trust.
Then Rachel shared a limited update through June.
Investigators had located the missing wildlife camera.
It had been placed in a storage unit rented to Arthur.
The memory card was gone.
But a technician found that it had once been paired with Mom's old laptop, and the pairing history showed the last synchronization time.
The camera had recorded on the night Brooke attacked Mom.
The timing established an opportunity for additional footage, not its contents.
Still, it was another thread.
At the hearing, Martin Keene unexpectedly withdrew as Arthur's lawyer, citing an ethical conflict.
Arthur looked abandoned.
Brooke stared at the empty chair beside her.
A replacement attorney requested more time.
The judge granted only what was necessary for fair representation.
Outside the courtroom, Evelyn caught up with me.
"I never meant for anyone to be hurt," she whispered.
I looked at her.
"That is not the same as saying you told the truth."
She pressed something into June's hand.
It was a bank deposit slip.
Across the memo field, someone had written one word.
May you like
Helena.
