Chapter 12 - The Blue Ledger
My mother had known about the blue ledger for months.
She hadn't hidden it to protect Eliam.
She'd hidden it because Dad asked her to keep it out of the estate proceedings until an accountant could review it.
When Eliam arrived, he told her a court required him to retrieve the book.
He brought papers with a lawyer's name printed at the top.
Mom had handed it over.
Naomi examined a photograph of the papers.
The supposed court order had no case number and no seal.
We reported the incident and asked Mom to write down exactly what Eliam said.
I was furious, but yelling at her would not recover the ledger.
Mom started crying.
“He told me you were having another breakdown,” she whispered.
I had once taken a short leave from work after a miscarriage, and Eliam knew how little I liked anyone discussing it.
He had turned private grief into a weapon.
“Did you believe him?” I asked.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
Mom covered her mouth.
The ledger, however, wasn't the only copy.
Dad had a habit of scanning his handwritten records every December.
We found old external drives in the attic.
Tessa recovered image files showing twenty-six pages of numbered payments.
The entries linked Northline to a series of withdrawals.
One column held initials.
E.B.
Another held M.H.
Eliam Bennett and Martin Hale.
Then we reached the final page.
A notation beside eighty-four thousand dollars read: FOR ELLEN—KEEP SEPARATE.
Ellen was my name.
The transaction was not repayment of a loan.
Dad had set aside the money for me.
The ledger suggested that money was redirected before it reached the intended account.
I heard the front door open downstairs.
Naomi was at the office.
Mom was beside me.
No one else should have been inside the house.
Footsteps crossed the hall.
A voice called up the stairs.
“Ellen, we need to settle this before the police get involved.”
May you like
Martin Hale had let himself in.
