“That’s her.”
Clara recognized the woman, though the face was younger and thinner. Olivia’s hair was dark, and her mouth had the same careful smile.
“Who is the baby?” Michael asked.
Olivia said nothing.
Daniel set the photograph on the altar.
“Her name was Anna Bell. She worked for the Charleston estate agency where William Jennings was reviewing financial records. Anna discovered that Olivia had been taking money from elderly clients by arranging fraudulent home-equity loans. Olivia used false signatures, forged authorization letters, and a private account under another name.”
“That’s not true,” Olivia said.
Daniel slid one of the documents toward Michael.
The page showed a list of transfers. Several names were circled in blue ink. The last line contained a signature that looked like Clara’s.
Michael leaned over it.
“That’s Mom’s name.”
“It was forged,” Daniel said.
Clara felt the room tilt around her.
She had remembered that signature. Years earlier, she had received a letter saying she had authorized a short-term loan against the house. William had handled it. He had told her the bank had made a clerical error, and the matter had been corrected.
She had believed him.
“What does this have to do with my father?” Michael asked.
“William found the account,” Daniel said. “He also found out that Olivia had been working with a man named Peter Hale. Peter was the voice Clara heard at the apartment last night.”
Olivia’s face tightened.
Michael looked at her.
“The man with you?”
She did not answer.
“He was my former partner,” Daniel continued. “He helped Olivia move the money. Anna Bell confronted them. She had copies of the records and was preparing to go to the police. The night before she was supposed to meet William, her car went off the Cooper River bridge.”
A murmur moved through the ballroom.
“Was she killed?” Michael asked.
“Her body was never recovered.”
Clara pressed a hand to her pearl necklace.
William had come home from Charleston with a bruised jaw and a silence she could not break. Three months later, he had suffered a heart attack in the driveway. He had survived, but he had never returned to the investigation.
“Why did my father stop?” Michael asked.
Daniel’s eyes lowered to the cassette.
“Because Olivia threatened you.”
