There was no apology anywhere in those ninety-three messages for the paper plate. No mention at all of what Madison had said in front of the entire family. No explanation whatsoever for his own hand in my office at midnight, or his daughter’s attempt to move my money without my knowledge.
Eleanor left eleven separate voice messages. In the first eight, she demanded I immediately withdraw the default notice on her house. In the ninth, she reminded me, with real venom in her voice, that family forgave family. In the tenth, she called me selfish. In the eleventh, she was simply crying.
I listened to every single one without answering a single call.
Then Nina set a new document down on the table between us.
The forensic accountant had uncovered something even worse. Richard hadn’t actually planned to use the entire eight hundred thousand dollars just for the company’s survival. Three hundred thousand had been earmarked for outstanding business debts. The remaining five hundred thousand had been assigned to a newly created account, one controlled solely and entirely by him.
