Chapter 15 - Paige Changed Sides
Paige did not want forgiveness.
At least that was what her lawyer said.
I did not trust it.
People ask for deals when consequences become real, and deals can sound a lot like remorse when spoken in the right room.
I reminded myself that cooperation and character were separate questions.
Paige could tell the truth now and still have done terrible things then.
She could be afraid of Margaret and still have enjoyed humiliating Gwen.
She could have been manipulated and still be responsible for choices she made while holding more power than the person she hurt.
I needed those truths to coexist.
Otherwise, family loyalty would start simplifying the story again.
And simplification was how this had survived for so long.
She wanted a deal.
That distinction became clear in the first thirty seconds of the call.
Elena insisted the conversation happen through attorneys.
Daniels insisted police be informed.
Paige insisted Margaret not know.
Her criminal-defense lawyer arranged a meeting at a law office in Columbus the next afternoon.
Gwen did not attend.
She was too sick after treatment.
I almost stayed with her.
She told me to go.
"I need to know what Paige knows."
"So do I."
"Then go."
"You sure?"
Gwen looked at me.
"For two years, everybody made decisions because they said I couldn't handle the truth."
"Don't start doing the same thing because you love me."
That landed exactly where it needed to.
"Fair."
"Tell me everything when you get back."
"Everything."
The law office conference room was too cold.
Paige sat across from me beside her attorney.
She looked smaller without the champagne glass and expensive clothes.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Gray sweatshirt.
But I did not mistake vulnerability for innocence.
I had seen the video of her dragging Gwen by the hair.
I had seen her push my wife down the steps.
I had read the messages about pills.
Paige looked at me once.
Then looked away.
Her lawyer began.
"My client is prepared to provide information relevant to the investigation."
Daniels sat beside Elena.
"In exchange for?"
"Consideration from the prosecutor."
Daniels gave him a tired look.
"I'm a detective."
"Not the prosecutor."
"You know that."
"We do."
Paige spoke.
"I want protection from Mom."
I almost laughed.
"Now you're afraid of her?"
Elena touched my wrist under the table.
Paige looked at me.
"You think I don't know what I did?"
"I think you knew exactly what you were doing when you threw that magazine."
Her face reddened.
"I shouldn't have done that."
"The magazine is the least interesting thing you've done."
Her lawyer leaned forward.
"Mr. Carter."
I ignored him.
"Did you push Gwen down the stairs?"
Paige looked at the table.
"Yes."
The word was quiet.
"Did you drag her by her hair?"
"Yes."
"Did you cancel her cancer treatment?"
Paige started crying.
Gwen had been right.
She cried before the story.
"Mom told me the treatment was making Gwen unstable."
"Did you cancel it?"
"Yes."
"Seven times?"
"I don't know how many."
"Did you give her sleeping pills?"
Paige wiped her face.
"Sometimes."
My chair creaked under my hands.
"Why?"
"Mom said Gwen needed to rest."
"Did a doctor tell you to give them to her?"
"No."
"Did you know they were yours?"
"Yes."
"Did you know she was medically fragile?"
Paige cried harder.
"Yes."
I looked away because I could feel rage climbing into my throat.
Elena took over.
"Why are you here now, Paige?"
Paige stared at her.
"Because Mom is going to say Evan and I did everything."
"Did you?"
"No."
"What did Margaret do?"
Paige took a shaky breath.
"She planned it."
Nobody moved.
"Which part?" Elena asked.
"All of it."
"Start at the beginning."
Paige rubbed both hands across her face.
"Mom was angry before David even left."
I already knew that.
"She thought Gwen controlled his money."
"She kept saying wives come and go but mothers are forever."
"I thought she was being dramatic."
"Then my business failed."
That was new.
"What business?" I asked.
"Online clothing store."
"I owed almost forty thousand dollars."
"You never told me."
"I was embarrassed."
"So you stole from me instead."
Paige flinched.
"Mom said you wouldn't care."
"She said you were making more than you could spend overseas."
"She said family money should stay with family."
"Gwen is family."
Paige looked at me.
"Mom didn't think so."
The sentence was simple.
It explained years of cruelty.
Not justified.
Explained.
Paige continued.
At first, Margaret moved small amounts.
Five hundred dollars.
A thousand.
Then more.
Gwen noticed.
Margaret created MP Family Services and began labeling transfers as household management fees.
Evan entered the picture when Paige needed help hiding debt from creditors.
He knew how to create documents.
He knew how bank systems worked.
He knew where procedures were weak.
Margaret saw him as useful.
"Whose idea was the fake power of attorney?" Elena asked.
Paige hesitated.
"Mom's."
"Who created it?"
"Evan."
"Who forged David's signature?"
"Evan built it from scans."
"Who submitted it?"
"Mom."
"Who changed the bank contact information?"
"Evan showed Mom how."
"Who took Gwen's phone?"
Paige looked at me.
"I did."
"Who sent the fake messages from David?"
"Me."
That one hurt differently.
I leaned forward.
"You made my wife believe I hated her."
Paige's face collapsed.
"Mom wrote most of them."
"But you sent them."
"Yes."
"You watched Gwen read them."
"Yes."
"You watched her get sicker while thinking I wanted her gone."
"Yes."
I wanted to ask why.
The word felt too small.
Paige answered anyway.
"At first I thought we were just scaring her so she'd stop asking about money."
"Then she got cancer."
"Everything changed."
"How?"
Paige's eyes moved to Daniels.
"Mom realized the cancer could solve the problem."
The room went silent.
My skin went cold.
"Say that again."
Paige started crying harder.
"She said if Gwen was too sick to manage anything, the guardianship would be easier."
"She said if Gwen died..."
Paige stopped.
I heard my own voice from a distance.
"If Gwen died what?"
"The house would be easier to move."
"And David would still be overseas."
I stood.
Elena immediately stood too.
"David."
I walked to the window.
I did not hit anything.
I did not speak.
Behind me, Daniels asked,
"Did Margaret ever say she wanted Gwen to die?"
Paige hesitated.
"Not exactly."
"What exactly did she say?"
Paige swallowed.
"She said nature was already doing the hard part."
The room became silent again.
I stared through the window at traffic twenty floors below.
Nature was already doing the hard part.
I would remember that sentence for the rest of my life.
Daniels continued.
"Whose idea was the insurance policy?"
"Mom's."
"Why list David as beneficiary?"
"Because it looked normal."
"How was Margaret supposed to get the money?"
"The power of attorney."
"And if the insurer challenged it?"
"Evan said we'd figure it out later."
"Whose idea was the separation agreement?"
"Mom's."
"Purpose?"
"To make it look like Gwen planned to leave David."
"Why?"
Paige looked at me.
"Because Mom wanted David angry when he came home."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
"She wanted a scene."
"She said if David came home and saw Gwen half-dead, he'd go crazy."
"She said soldiers come back messed up anyway."
"If he hit one of us, we'd call police."
"Then nobody would believe Gwen if she defended him."
I closed my eyes.
Gwen had understood the plan before I did.
She wants you angry.
Paige continued.
"Mom wanted a protective order against David."
"Then she'd keep control over Gwen even after he came home."
"And the house?" Elena asked.
"Transferred to MP Family Services before the hearing."
"The deed wasn't completed."
Paige nodded.
"Gwen wouldn't sign the final page."
That was another act of resistance nobody had known about.
"So what was supposed to happen on the scan date?"
Paige looked sick.
"Mom thought the scan would show treatment could still work."
"Dr. Lin had said something during a call about changing medications if the disease responded."
"Mom was afraid Gwen would get stronger."
"She wanted the deed and separation papers signed before then."
"And if Gwen refused?"
Paige stared at the table.
"Mom said we'd increase the medication."
My hands curled.
Daniels's voice hardened.
"What medication?"
"Sleeping pills."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Were you willing to do that?"
Paige looked at him.
"No."
I laughed once.
"You already did."
She flinched.
"Not enough to..."
She stopped.
"To what?"
Paige looked at me.
"Not enough to kill her."
There it was.
The line Paige had drawn for herself after crossing every other one.
Daniels asked whether she had evidence beyond her own testimony.
Paige nodded.
"Evan recorded Mom."
Everyone leaned forward.
"Why?"
"Insurance."
"For himself."
"He didn't trust her."
"Where are the recordings?"
"On a hard drive."
"Where?"
Paige hesitated.
"At Mom's lake cabin."
I stared at her.
"What lake cabin?"
Paige looked confused.
"You don't know?"
"No."
She gave a bitter laugh.
May you like
"Then you don't know where another thirty-two thousand dollars went."
