Sandra kept her eyes on me.<\/p>\n
Roy did not.<\/p>\n
He stared at his sister with the rigid stillness of someone who had just realized another person might ruin a carefully prepared lie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you take?\u201d I asked again.<\/p>\n
Sandra pressed her fingertips together on the table. Her nails were neatly polished, the same muted pink she had worn to Arthur\u2019s funeral. I remember noticing that because grief had made my mind attach itself to useless details.<\/p>\n
\u201cA letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad had it in his desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy shifted in his chair. \u201cSandy, stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
She finally looked at him. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this has nothing to do with anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know exactly what you took.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silenced the room.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s eyes moved to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just said you knew exactly what your sister took.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant I know the kind of thing she\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind is that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
Sandra answered instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cA sealed envelope with my name on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brass key in my palm suddenly felt colder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you take it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout three weeks before Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n
My first thought was practical and almost ridiculous.<\/p>\n
Three weeks before Arthur died, I had been sleeping in two-hour stretches and measuring morphine doses beneath the yellow light over our kitchen sink. I had been changing sheets, answering hospice calls, helping Arthur stand, helping him sit, pretending not to notice how much weight he had lost.<\/p>\n
Sandra had been searching his desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you going through his things?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going through everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking for documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
Roy gave a short, bitter laugh. \u201cHere we go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra turned sharply. \u201cYou told me to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words landed harder than anything she had said so far.<\/p>\n
I looked at Roy.<\/p>\n
He did not deny it.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz spoke first. \u201cWhat were you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trust papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a slow pressure build behind my ribs.<\/p>\n
Roy leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had reason to believe Dad had made changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean you suspected he had protected Helen,\u201d Mr. Katz said.<\/p>\n
Roy looked at him with open dislike. \u201cI suspected he was being influenced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
I almost admired Mr. Katz\u2019s patience.<\/p>\n
He allowed silence to do what arguments often could not.<\/p>\n
Finally Roy said, \u201cYou know by whom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not defend myself.<\/p>\n
Arthur had anticipated that accusation so thoroughly that answering it now would almost have felt disrespectful to the work he had done.<\/p>\n
Sandra continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoy said Dad had probably moved documents from the office to the desk because he couldn\u2019t get downstairs much anymore. I checked the drawers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd found the envelope,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou opened it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect us to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra looked toward her handbag.<\/p>\n
For one absurd second, I thought she might have carried it into the meeting.<\/p>\n
Instead she said, \u201cI put it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI put it back two days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you kept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at her in disbelief.<\/p>\n
I heard Arthur in my mind again.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re keeping things from each other too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you lie to Roy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Sandra swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he wanted me to open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy shoved his chair back several inches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you found something with your name on it. I said if Dad intended it for you, maybe you should read it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said we needed to know what he was planning before Helen did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is exactly what you said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy looked at me.<\/p>\n
I expected outrage.<\/p>\n
Instead, I saw calculation.<\/p>\n
He was deciding which part of the truth was survivable.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz folded his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Barrett, when you returned the envelope, was it still sealed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you place it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in the second drawer of Dad\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz\u2019s brow furrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no envelope addressed to you in that desk when I inventoried Arthur\u2019s papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put it there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree weeks before he died. Maybe two and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz glanced toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you remove anything from Arthur\u2019s desk?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid hospice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy muttered, \u201cThis is ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz ignored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Arthur still use the desk during those weeks?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce or twice,\u201d I said. \u201cHe had me wheel him into the office.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened as I remembered one particular afternoon.<\/p>\n
Arthur had insisted I take him downstairs even though he was exhausted. He spent perhaps twenty minutes alone in the office. When I asked what he was doing, he had said he wanted to make sure old papers were not left lying around.<\/p>\n
At the time, I had thought he meant bills.<\/p>\n
Now I was no longer certain.<\/p>\n
Sandra seemed to reach the same conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly,\u201d Mr. Katz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd moved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the bank box?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
Roy leaned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra turned on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re awfully nervous for someone who keeps saying none of this matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You watch yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed at the photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Helen was mishandling Dad\u2019s medication. You said you were worried about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told me you were in his room with the bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI carried it downstairs once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what you told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to shrink.<\/p>\n
Roy had spent years treating his sister as an ally.<\/p>\n
Now she was looking at him the way I had seen Arthur look at faulty wiring: not angry yet, but suddenly unwilling to trust it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the pills?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Roy stood.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz said, \u201cMr. Whitmore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you prefer to leave, I can have the door opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reminder worked.<\/p>\n
Roy sat again.<\/p>\n
His voice was quieter when he spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t steal Dad\u2019s medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain the photograph,\u201d Sandra said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went in to check the label.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I thought Helen was giving him too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Roy glanced at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father was barely conscious half the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean he needed to be sedated into oblivion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doses were prescribed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe instructions were on the bottle you were holding.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face flushed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t take anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eight tablets.<\/p>\n
I could still see them missing from the line I had counted on the nightstand.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz opened one of Arthur\u2019s envelopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis may help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s gaze sharpened.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz removed a folded sheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur wrote that he saw you put tablets into your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Roy stared at the lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur wrote it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe dated the entry and discussed it with me the following day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could have been confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was evaluated by his physician that week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy looked trapped.<\/p>\n
Then, suddenly, angry.<\/p>\n
Not the polished irritation he usually directed at me.<\/p>\n
Something rawer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra stared at him.<\/p>\n
Roy looked at no one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence was so quiet I almost missed it.<\/p>\n
Sandra whispered, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hurt my back at work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stole narcotics from Dad because your back hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think he would miss them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt something inside me turn hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was dying in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You don\u2019t get to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy looked up.<\/p>\n
For the first time since this began, my anger escaped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stood in his bedroom while he could barely walk, looked at medicine meant to make his final weeks bearable, and decided he could spare some because you didn\u2019t think he\u2019d notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was eight pills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra recoiled.<\/p>\n
Roy heard himself too late.<\/p>\n
Only eight.<\/p>\n
Arthur\u2019s son had just measured betrayal by quantity.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz switched off the recorder.<\/p>\n
The tiny click was louder than it should have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur did not involve law enforcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Roy looked startled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe chose not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s shoulders lowered slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz glanced at the envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause even then, Arthur was trying to give you a chance to tell him the truth yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never did.\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Sandra stared at her brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI defended you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Dad started acting suspicious. I told him you wouldn\u2019t steal from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t ask you to.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flinched as though he had slapped her.<\/p>\n
For years they had operated as a pair around me\u2014Roy forceful, Sandra polished, each validating the other\u2019s certainty.<\/p>\n
Now one sentence cracked that partnership down the middle.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz returned the document to its envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should go to the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood, grateful for movement.<\/p>\n
Sandra did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz looked at her.<\/p>\n
She reached toward the shoebox.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich date is the envelope from January?\u201d<\/p>\n
He slid the box closer.<\/p>\n
She searched the labels until she found it.<\/p>\n
January 7.<\/p>\n
Her hand hovered over it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was when I took the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside were two pages.<\/p>\n
The first contained Arthur\u2019s notes.<\/p>\n
The second was something else.<\/p>\n
I knew Arthur\u2019s handwriting immediately.<\/p>\n
Sandra knew it too.<\/p>\n
Her face changed before she read a word.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz handed it to her.<\/p>\n
She unfolded the page.<\/p>\n
For nearly a minute, she said nothing.<\/p>\n
Then tears filled her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d Roy asked.<\/p>\n
Sandra shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m reading it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned away from him.<\/p>\n
I watched her eyes move line by line.<\/p>\n
Whatever Arthur had written was not cruel.<\/p>\n
Cruelty makes people defensive.<\/p>\n
This made Sandra fold inward.<\/p>\n
When she finished, she covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
I did not ask to see it.<\/p>\n
Arthur had addressed it to her.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
After a moment she handed the page back to Mr. Katz.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas this the same letter you took?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was different?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe envelope I found was thicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz became very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much thicker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were several pages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s head lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat pages?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra looked toward the brass key.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz replaced Arthur\u2019s note.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the missing material may be in the bank box.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time that morning, Roy seemed eager to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than his anger.<\/p>\n
We left the office separately.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz rode with me.<\/p>\n
Roy and Sandra followed in Roy\u2019s car, though judging by their expressions they did not speak.<\/p>\n
At a red light, Mr. Katz looked at the key in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur expected today to be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems like an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe also expected surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did not tell me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light changed.<\/p>\n
I drove.<\/p>\n
First National occupied a stone building three blocks from Arthur\u2019s old firehouse. He had banked there for more than thirty years.<\/p>\n
A manager met us in the lobby.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz provided documents.<\/p>\n
I provided the key.<\/p>\n
Roy watched every movement.<\/p>\n
The manager led us downstairs to a private viewing room and returned carrying a long metal box.<\/p>\n
She set it on the table.<\/p>\n
Two locks secured the lid.<\/p>\n
One required the bank\u2019s key.<\/p>\n
The other required Arthur\u2019s.<\/p>\n
My hand shook when I inserted it.<\/p>\n
The lock turned smoothly.<\/p>\n
The manager withdrew.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz waited.<\/p>\n
Roy did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lifted the lid.<\/p>\n
Inside lay three objects.<\/p>\n
A thick sealed packet.<\/p>\n
A small velvet jewelry case.<\/p>\n
And an old photograph facedown beneath both.<\/p>\n
Sandra reached for the packet.<\/p>\n
Mr. Katz stopped her.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur\u2019s instructions say Helen opens the box.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandra pulled her hand back.<\/p>\n
I picked up the photograph.<\/p>\n
The edges had yellowed.<\/p>\n
When I turned it over, I saw Arthur thirty years younger, standing beside a woman I recognized immediately as his first wife.<\/p>\n
Roy and Sandra\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n
Between them stood two children.<\/p>\n
Roy, perhaps twelve.<\/p>\n
Sandra, maybe nine.<\/p>\n
Nothing strange.<\/p>\n
Until I saw the man standing at the far edge of the photograph.<\/p>\n
I had never seen him before.<\/p>\n
Sandra had.<\/p>\n
Her face lost all color.<\/p>\n
Roy whispered, \u201cJesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked from one to the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither answered.<\/p>\n
Then I turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
Arthur had written a name on the back.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was a date.<\/p>\n
And beneath the date, one sentence.<\/p>\n
Ask Sandra what she knows.<\/p>\n
Sandra kept her eyes on me. Roy did not. He stared at his sister with the rigid stillness of someone who had just realized another person might ruin a carefully … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19010,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959\/revisions\/19010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}