Chapter 3 - The Locked DrawerI walked into my home office.
Melissa followed.
“Daniel, don't.”
I opened the first drawer.
Nothing.
Second.
Nothing.
Third.
Locked.
I turned.
“I didn't lock this.”
Melissa said nothing.
Mom stood behind us.
“She has the key.”
I looked at Melissa.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Melissa.”
“You're invading my privacy.”
“In my desk?”
Her confidence cracked.
I took out my phone.
“I'm calling my attorney.”
“You don't have an attorney.”
“I will in five minutes.”
Then Mom spoke.
“There is something else in there.”
Melissa suddenly shouted:
“Eleanor!”
I turned.
Mom's voice trembled.
“Your life insurance policy.”
My heart stopped.
“What about it?”
“She changed something.”
Melissa shook her head.
“She is confused.”
Mom reached into her cardigan.
She produced a bank notice.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Transferred from her savings.
To an account belonging to Eric.
Melissa's younger brother.
My stomach dropped.
“How much?”
Melissa stared at the floor.
Mom answered.
“Forty-seven thousand dollars.”
I looked at my wife.
She began crying.
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“No.”
Then she ran upstairs.
Not toward the front door.
Toward our bedroom.
I followed.
She reached the closet.
I grabbed the door.
A black bag fell onto the carpet.
Bank statements.
Cash.
A second phone.
Prescription bottles.
And an envelope bearing my name.
Inside was a home-equity application.
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
My signature was at the bottom.
Except I had never signed it.
I looked at Melissa.
“You forged me.”
She began shaking.
Then Mom saw one of the bottles.
May you like
Her face drained of color.
“That's what she's been putting in my tea.”
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