Chapter 5 - The Document With Phoebe's Name
I brought Margot to my house, where her favorite blue blanket lay folded on the living-room sofa.
She asked for warm milk and the old picture album of her mother.
I sat beside her while she turned its thick pages.
She pointed to Phoebe wearing a graduation cap, Phoebe holding a birthday cake, Phoebe kissing the forehead of a newborn baby.
“Mommy liked pink too,” she said.
“She did.”
“Do you think she would like my dress?”
“She would have loved it.”
When she fell asleep, I carried her to the guest room and returned to the mysterious email.
I replied, asking who had sent it.
Within minutes a response arrived.
My name is Mara Ellison, and I used to work for Claire.
Don't call the number she gave you for her lawyer.
I stared at the screen.
Mara explained that she'd worked as an office assistant for a real-estate firm where Claire handled client relations.
She had seen documents being prepared under Emmett's name despite never meeting him.
The files included an application describing Claire as Margot's primary caregiver and seeking permission to make major decisions about the child's residence and schooling.
Mara did not know whether anything had been filed.
She did know that one signature page appeared to bear Phoebe's name.
My daughter had been dead for three years.
I called Emmett.
He answered on the third ring, sounding hollow.
“I'm still at the estate,” he said.
“Claire and Vivian are arguing with the manager about the remaining charges.”
“Listen carefully.”
I told him about Mara and the documents.
His silence frightened me more than shouting would have.
Finally he spoke.
“Claire asked me to sign an emergency contact form for Margot's new school last week.”
“Did you read it?”
“She showed me only the last page.”
I closed my eyes.
“Don't sign anything else.”
“I won't.”
He promised to come directly to my house.
Twenty minutes later, a car pulled up across the street, but it wasn't Emmett's.
A woman got out and stood beneath the streetlight.
She looked toward my windows and held up a plain manila folder.
My phone buzzed.
It's Mara.
May you like
Please come outside alone.
