Check Her Purse”—The Words That Exposed My Mother-in-Law

"What do you mean gone?"

"She left."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"Grandma, was she driving?"

"Yes."

"Why did the police let her leave?"

"They hadn't detained her."

Ryan cursed under his breath.

Emily closed her eyes.

"Ryan."

He looked at her.

"Don't leave."

The anger in him stopped.

Emily rarely asked him for anything in that voice.

"I'm not."

He sat.

Eleanor continued through the speaker.

"The officers have the recording. They also took the tray and the bottle."

"Good."

"Ryan..."

"What?"

"Your mother went upstairs before she left."

"To do what?"

"I don't know."

"Did you follow her?"

"She told me she needed clothes."

Ryan rubbed his forehead.

"What did she take?"

"I haven't checked."

Emily looked toward him.

"Margaret's room?"

He nodded.

Eleanor lowered her voice.

"There was something strange."

Ryan waited.

"When she came downstairs, she had my document case."

Ryan frowned.

"What document case?"

"The brown leather one."

"You have like six leather cases."

"The one from the bank."

Emily's eyes sharpened.

Ryan noticed.

"What?" he asked.

Emily hesitated.

"This morning."

"What about it?"

"Eleanor and I were talking about going to her attorney tomorrow."

Ryan looked at her.

"Why?"

Emily looked toward the phone.

"Eleanor?"

There was silence.

Then Eleanor said quietly:

"I found money missing."

Ryan stared.

"What money?"

"My money."

"How much?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Grandma."

"I didn't want to worry you."

Ryan stood again.

"How much?"

Eleanor's voice became smaller.

"More than two hundred thousand dollars."

Emily looked away.

Ryan stared at the wall.

"Why am I only hearing this now?"

"Because Emily asked me not to accuse anyone until we checked."

He turned toward his wife.

"You knew?"

"Since yesterday."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"We didn't know what happened."

Ryan laughed once from disbelief.

"My wife knew my grandmother was missing two hundred grand, my mother poisoned my wife's dinner, and everybody decided today was the day not to tell Ryan anything."

Emily's eyes narrowed.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Do not put me in the same sentence as your mother."

Ryan stopped.

The anger drained from his face.

"You're right."

Emily looked away.

"I was trying not to accuse Margaret without proof."

Ryan sat again.

"What made you suspect her?"

Eleanor answered.

"She handles some of my banking."

Ryan's stomach tightened.

"Mom has power of attorney."

"Limited power."

"Since Dad died."

"Yes."

Ryan's father, Thomas Carter, had died after a sudden heart attack five years earlier.

Margaret had helped Eleanor with paperwork afterward.

Everyone had considered it practical.

Eleanor was seventy-two now.

She hated online banking.

Margaret handled bills.

Ryan had never questioned it.

"Why were you going to the attorney?" he asked.

"To revoke it."

Ryan looked at Emily.

She nodded.

"And Mom knew?"

Emily answered.

"She heard us talking yesterday."

A cold silence settled over the room.

The food.

The timing.

The attempted destruction.

Suddenly there was a motive.

Not a good one.

But a motive.

"If Eleanor went to the attorney tomorrow," Emily said, "Margaret could lose access to the accounts."

Ryan shook his head.

"My mother wouldn't hurt you over money."

Emily stared at him.

"You just watched her put something in my food."

He closed his eyes.

"You're right."

The words seemed painful for him.

Eleanor spoke again.

"There's more."

Ryan's eyes opened.

"What?"

"The bank called me last week."

"About the withdrawals?"

"About a loan."

"What loan?"

"I thought it was a mistake."

Ryan leaned forward.

"Grandma."

"A home equity line."

His face changed.

"On the house?"

"Yes."

"Your house?"

"Yes."

The Carter family home was worth well over two million dollars.

Eleanor had owned it outright for decades.

"How much?"

"Eight hundred thousand."

Ryan stood completely still.

Emily felt her pulse accelerate.

"Did you authorize it?" Ryan asked.

"No."

The word was barely audible.

Ryan looked toward the door as though his mother might somehow appear there.

"Whose signature is on it?"

"I don't know."

"Grandma, call the bank."

"I did. That's why I wanted the lawyer."

Emily spoke.

"Ryan."

He turned.

"What if tonight wasn't about hurting me?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if she only needed me unable to take Eleanor to that appointment tomorrow?"

Ryan stared.

The idea was horrifying precisely because it made sense.

A short hospital visit.

A scared pregnant woman.

A canceled appointment.

A few more days.

Maybe enough time to move documents.

Move money.

Destroy evidence.

Eleanor suddenly inhaled sharply through the phone.

"What?" Ryan asked.

No answer.

"Grandma?"

"I just opened my desk."

"And?"

"The folder is gone."

"What folder?"

"All the bank statements Emily helped me collect."

Ryan looked at his wife.

Emily whispered:

"She took the evidence."

Then a doctor entered the room.

Her expression was serious.

Ryan immediately ended the call.

"What's wrong?"

The doctor closed the door behind her.

"We have some preliminary results."

Emily grabbed Ryan's hand.

The doctor looked at both of them.

"We found evidence that Mrs. Carter was exposed to a concentrated compound capable of causing severe gastrointestinal distress and uterine irritation."

Ryan's face drained.

Emily's heart began pounding.

"Did it cause the contractions?"

"We can't say with absolute certainty yet."

"But?"

"It is consistent with what we're seeing."

Emily swallowed.

"Will my baby be okay?"

The doctor looked at the fetal monitor.

"Right now, his heart rate is reassuring."

Right now.

Emily hated those words.