Chapter 5 - The Old Accident
Emily heard Daniel say her name, but it sounded far away.
Her father had died fourteen years ago after his boat struck a submerged piling on a foggy lake. The police called it an accident. Emily had accepted that because grief was easier when there was nothing to blame.
Now Henry was telling her Robert had been afraid.
"Are you saying Gloria killed my father?"
"No," Henry said quickly. "I'm saying he suspected financial theft. I don't know what happened on that lake."
Gloria folded her arms. "This is disgusting. Robert drank. Everyone knew it."
"My father had been sober eleven years."
Gloria shrugged. "People relapse."
"You knew him?"
Another silence.
Emily looked from Gloria to Henry.
"How well did she know him?"
Henry's face tightened. "Too well."
Daniel said, "Dad."
"Tell me."
Henry leaned against the desk. "Before Gloria and I married, she worked in Robert's accounting department."
Emily stared at her mother-in-law.
In four years of marriage, Gloria had never once mentioned working for Emily's father.
"You knew him before Henry?"
Gloria's mouth hardened. "It was a job."
"You spent every Christmas asking me what my father did for a living."
"I was being polite."
"You pretended you didn't know him."
Daniel stepped forward. "Emily, enough. You're burned. Let me take you to urgent care."
"Don't touch me."
His jaw flexed.
Henry said, "There's more at my attorney's office. I made copies."
Gloria's head snapped toward him.
"You said everything was here."
"I lied."
It was not a pleasant smile.
"I've been married to you forty-two years, Gloria. I finally learned something."
A siren sounded outside.
Daniel frowned. "Who called the police?"
Nobody answered.
Then the doorbell rang.
Two officers stood outside.
"Mrs. Mercer? We received a report of domestic assault."
Emily glanced at Henry.
He shook his head.
"I didn't call."
Gloria stepped forward with tears already forming.
"Officer, thank God. My daughter-in-law attacked me."
Emily stared at her.
Gloria touched a fresh red mark on her own neck.
May you like
A mark that had not been there five minutes earlier.
Then Daniel said quietly, "I saw Emily do it."
