Chapter 12 - HER SECOND VERSIONEvelyn changed her story again.
This time, through an attorney.
She had heard Caitlyn.
But only faintly.
She had gone upstairs after noticing smoke.
She had tried the door.
It was already locked.
She panicked.
She went downstairs to find a key.
Then the smoke became too heavy.
It was a tragic sequence of confusion.
Megan read the statement twice.
Then handed it back to Laura.
“She says she tried the door?”
“Yes.”
“Caitlyn says she never touched the handle.”
“Yes.”
“The hallway camera would have shown it.”
“If it had been recording.”
Megan gave a humorless smile.
“Convenient.”
Laura did not disagree.
The statement also claimed Evelyn believed the door might have locked accidentally.
Investigators tested the mechanism.
It could not engage on its own.
Someone had to move the latch from the hallway.
That fact became significant enough that Laura brought in an assistant district attorney named Marcus Cole.
He was careful not to promise charges.
“Suspicion is not evidence,” Marcus told Megan.
“I understand.”
“Evidence is building.”
“I understand that too.”
“But intent is harder.”
Megan looked at him.
“She heard my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“She left.”
“Yes.”
“How much more intent do you need?”
“To prove an attempted homicide? A lot.”
Megan swallowed.
“And child endangerment?”
“Different standard. We’re evaluating everything.”
He explained without overwhelming her.
Multiple offenses could potentially apply depending on what investigators established about the fire, the lock and Evelyn’s conduct.
Megan did not care what the eventual label was.
She cared that Evelyn never had access to Caitlyn again.
That required family court too.
Samuel Rhodes connected Megan with a custody attorney, Nicole Harper.
Nicole reviewed the trust and immediately frowned.
“This successor structure is old-fashioned.”
“Ethan trusted his mother.”
“Apparently.”
“What happens now?”
“We ask the court for emergency orders preventing Evelyn from exercising any authority concerning Caitlyn.”
“She doesn’t have custody.”
“Good. We keep it that way.”
“And the trust?”
“We seek an independent successor instead of Evelyn if anything ever happens to you.”
Megan nodded.
“Do it.”
Nicole continued reviewing documents.
Then she stopped.
“What is this?”
Megan leaned over.
A reference to a court filing number.
“What filing?”
Nicole opened a judicial database.
Her expression changed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“A guardianship petition.”
Megan stopped breathing.
“Filed?”
“Not officially docketed. Looks like it may have been prepared but withdrawn before processing.”
“By Evelyn?”
Nicole nodded.
The draft petition was obtained later through legal channels.
Megan was allowed to see portions.
Evelyn alleged that Megan had become unstable after Ethan’s death.
She claimed Megan neglected household safety.
Mismanaged Caitlyn’s inheritance.
Worked excessively.
Had emotional outbursts.
Some accusations were exaggerated.
Others were ordinary events twisted into something sinister.
Megan once forgot to pick up dry cleaning.
Evelyn described it as “cognitive disorganization.”
Megan once cried on Ethan’s birthday.
Evelyn called it “ongoing emotional instability.”
Caitlyn once scraped her knee in the backyard.
Evelyn called it “inadequate supervision.”
Megan felt violated.
“She was documenting me.”
Nicole nodded.
“For months.”
“At least.”
Then Megan reached the requested relief.
Temporary guardianship of Caitlyn.
Removal of Megan as trustee.
Appointment of Evelyn as successor.
Control of the residence.
Megan stared at the date.
The filing had been drafted before the fire.
But Nicole pointed out another detail.
“Look here.”
A handwritten note appeared beside the section about emergency circumstances.
Megan read it.
Wait until incident creates urgency.
She looked up.
“What incident?”
Nicole’s expression was grim.
“We don’t know.”
Megan felt cold.
The fire had occurred three days later.
That evening she sat beside Caitlyn as the little girl slept.
Megan watched every breath.
For weeks she had been asking herself what Evelyn wanted.
Control?
Money?
Caitlyn?
The house?
Now she realized the answer might be all of it.
May you like
And the fire had not interrupted Evelyn’s guardianship plan.
It may have been intended to create the emergency that made the plan possible.
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