Chapter 7 - Mrs. Dalton SpeaksMrs. Dalton looked smaller in jail clothing.
Gideon hated that he noticed.
For twenty-three years she had worn dark uniforms in his home.
She had packed Piper’s lunches.
Sat beside Elise during chemotherapy appointments when Gideon was trapped at work.
Remembered birthdays Gideon forgot.
Taught Piper how to make pancakes.
And buried her beneath flowers.
Gideon agreed to the meeting only after prosecutors approved and attorneys were present.
Mrs. Dalton did not look at him initially.
Then she whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Gideon’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t.”
She looked up.
“You don’t get to start with that.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
He leaned forward.
“You put my daughter in a suitcase.”
“I know.”
“You covered her with dirt.”
“I know.”
“You told her I wasn’t coming.”
Mrs. Dalton began crying.
Gideon felt nothing resembling sympathy.
“Why?”
She wiped her face.
“Because I panicked.”
“You bought padlocks three days earlier.”
Her eyes closed.
“They weren’t for Piper.”
“Who were they for?”
“Myself.”
Gideon frowned.
Mrs. Dalton explained.
Victor had been threatening her for years.
After Elise discovered the first stolen payments, Mrs. Dalton agreed to help her.
Victor learned.
He showed Mrs. Dalton documents proving she had received money from trust accounts.
“He said if I helped Elise, he’d make it look like I stole all of it.”
“You did steal some.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-seven thousand.”
Gideon stared.
“Elise’s letter said forty-two.”
“Some transfers weren’t mine.”
“Did you repay anything?”
“Eighteen thousand before Elise died.”
“Why stop?”
“Victor.”
He threatened criminal prosecution.
Eviction from the small house Mrs. Dalton lived in, which was owned through a family property company.
And public exposure.
“I was ashamed.”
Gideon’s voice remained cold.
“So you helped him.”
“Yes.”
“For three years?”
“Yes.”
“You watched my wife investigate the man blackmailing you, then betrayed her.”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Dalton did not defend herself.
That made Gideon angrier.
“What were the locks for?”
“I planned to leave.”
“Explain.”
She had been secretly collecting copies of Victor’s instructions.
Messages.
Invoices.
Proof.
She intended to retrieve Elise’s blue folder, add her own evidence, and disappear before Victor could stop her.
The padlocks were for storage cases containing documents.
The plastic sheeting was for protecting boxes from rain in her shed.
The second shovel was for retrieving something buried beneath the greenhouse.
Gideon stared.
“What?”
“Elise hid a metal document tube under the greenhouse foundation.”
“How do you know?”
“She told me before she died.”
“What was in it?”
“The original revocation.”
The document removing Victor’s authority.
Gideon leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you retrieve it three years ago?”
“I was afraid.”
“So why now?”
“Victor learned the estate was being refinanced.”
“What refinancing?”
Mrs. Dalton looked confused.
“The one you approved.”
“I didn’t.”
She stared.
“Victor said you did.”
Gideon’s skin went cold.
The eight-million-dollar refinancing paperwork Victor had presented was already moving somewhere without Gideon’s approval.
Mrs. Dalton continued.
“Victor needed the original destroyed before title attorneys reviewed the property.”
“What does the blue folder contain?”
“Copies Elise made. Maps. Trust papers. Her notes.”
“Where is it?”
Mrs. Dalton lowered her eyes.
“Victor took it from the greenhouse.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Piper arrived.”
Gideon frowned.
“Then why was Piper carrying it later?”
Mrs. Dalton looked up.
“Because Victor didn’t find the real one.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Elise made a decoy.”
Gideon stared.
“The folder Victor took had old bank statements. Nothing important.”
“Piper found another folder?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
Gideon remembered the loose panel in Elise’s room.
Mrs. Dalton nodded.
“The real one was there.”
Piper carried it to the greenhouse.
Mrs. Dalton caught her before she could hide it properly.
“Why didn’t you just take it from her?”
“She ran.”
“She’s nine.”
“I know.”
“Then what happened?”
Mrs. Dalton’s face collapsed.
“I grabbed her. She screamed. She said she would tell you everything.”
“And?”
“I heard a car on the service road.”
“Victor?”
“I thought so.”
“What did you do?”
“There was an old suitcase in the garden shed.”
Gideon stared.
Mrs. Dalton began shaking.
“I told myself I would hide her for five minutes.”
“In a suitcase?”
“Yes.”
“Then bury it?”
“I covered it because Victor was coming.”
“Why?”
“If he saw Piper, he would know she found the folder.”
Gideon almost stood.
“You expect me to believe you buried my daughter to protect her?”
“No.”
Mrs. Dalton finally met his eyes.
“I buried her because I was a coward.”
The room went silent.
“I was afraid Victor would see her. I was afraid she’d scream. I was afraid I’d go to prison. I was afraid of everything except what Piper was feeling.”
Gideon’s anger did not disappear.
But the explanation finally made psychological sense.
Not innocence.
Cowardice.
“What happened to the folder?”
“Piper hid it before I caught her.”
“Where?”
“She never told me.”
“She said she put it in a drawer.”
“That was the decoy.”
Gideon leaned closer.
“Then where is the real one?”
Mrs. Dalton whispered:
“Ask Piper what Elise taught her about flowers.”
Gideon stared.
May you like
Mrs. Dalton continued.
“Elise never trusted drawers.”
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