Chapter 15 - ELEANOR’S PRICE
I had no desire to share a room with Eleanor Vale.
I wanted to imagine her only as a cold figure behind forged contracts and threatening messages.
Daniel reminded me that an interview was not a trial and that investigators, not my anger, should determine what could be proved.
I agreed to attend only after counsel confirmed the setting and procedures.
Eleanor looked ordinary when I entered.
She wore a gray sweater and carried a paper cup of tea.
Nothing in her expression suggested the panic she had caused.
"Bruce," she said, as if greeting an old neighbor.
"Don't use my first name."
She smiled faintly.
"Patricia was always protective of you."
"Patricia refused you."
Eleanor stirred her tea.
"She understood business."
"She understood coercion."
Her eyes narrowed.
The investigators asked about the disputed contracts, hospital recording, and recent messages.
Eleanor gave carefully limited answers.
She claimed the fees were legitimate, the documents had been supplied by clients, and any communication that seemed threatening had been misunderstood.
When they showed her the photograph of Lily, she looked away.
"I didn't take that," she said.
"Did you send it?" an investigator asked.
"I won't speculate."
I felt anger rise, but Daniel's hand on the table reminded me to remain quiet.
Eleanor finally leaned toward me.
"You could end the entire family disaster by paying what your children owe."
"No," I said.
"You have more than enough."
"That's not the same as owing you."
For the first time she looked genuinely irritated.
"Patricia was smarter about protecting her children."
I took the last letter from my briefcase and placed it in front of me without handing it over.
"She knew the difference between protecting them and teaching them to lie. I learned it late, but I learned it."
The conversation ended without a confession.
Outside, Daniel told me not to expect a clean, cinematic victory.
Documents would need authentication, witnesses could disagree, and authorities would make independent decisions.
I accepted that.
What mattered was refusing another private settlement designed to bury the truth.
Two days later Rachel moved into a smaller rental apartment with Lily while she and Adam worked through a difficult separation.
Justin announced layoffs after making arrangements for wages owed.
Brittany signed a repayment plan for the scholarship funds.
None of it was painless.
But for the first time, each person was facing a problem rather than placing it on my doorstep.
Then a registered letter arrived from a lawyer representing a woman named Claire Sutton.
She claimed Patricia had once promised her a share of an estate.
Attached was the photograph from the cedar chest.
And beneath it was a sentence that made me sit down.
May you like
I am the child in your wife's arms.
