Chapter 9 - Elowen Had Hidden the Evidence in Plain SightDashiell did not remember taking anything from Maisy’s baby book.
Then Naomi asked one question.
“What did you do with Elowen’s personal belongings after the funeral?”
“Packed some.”
“Who helped?”
“Everyone.”
“Specifics.”
Dashiell thought.
Roxanne handled clothes.
Calder handled paperwork.
Dashiell handled Maisy’s things because he couldn’t bear anyone else touching them.
Baby clothes.
Hospital bracelets.
Drawings.
Memory books.
He moved boxes to storage.
“Storage.”
Naomi looked at him.
“Where?”
A unit near the company warehouse.
Dashiell had not opened it in nearly three years.
They drove there with an officer after reporting the possibility of relevant evidence.
The unit smelled like dust.
Boxes everywhere.
Dashiell found one labeled:
MAISY — BABY
His handwriting.
Inside:
Tiny shoes.
Blanket.
Toys.
A stack of photograph albums.
Then another blue baby book.
Dashiell stared.
“There are two.”
Naomi frowned.
“What?”
He opened the first.
This one was smaller.
A duplicate memory journal Elowen’s friend gave them.
The one at home was the decorative keepsake.
The one in storage was the original.
Dashiell flipped to the back.
The cover felt thick.
Naomi touched it.
“There.”
They carefully opened a loose seam.
Inside was a sealed plastic sleeve.
Printed emails.
Photographs of laptop screens.
Bank records.
Dashiell’s hands shook.
Elowen had preserved everything.
The first email was from Calder to Roxanne.
I’m not saying I’m going through with anything. I need to know my options.
Roxanne:
Your brother having a child changes control permanently. You’re an idiot if you don’t protect yourself.
Calder:
It’s his child.
Roxanne:
We don’t know that.
Calder:
Stop.
Another thread.
Roxanne:
I have access to the clinic records. There are questions.
Calder:
You told me the embryo was theirs.
Roxanne:
Records can be interpreted.
Dashiell felt sick.
She intended distortion from the beginning.
Next.
Calder:
I’m done. Do not send anything to the estate lawyer.
Roxanne:
Too late.
Calder:
What did you do?
No response.
Then a later email.
Calder:
If Dashiell learns you falsified records, I’m telling him everything.
Roxanne:
And tell him you were the reason I looked? Go ahead.
There.
Mutual destruction.
Roxanne had trapped Calder with his own initial complicity.
The financial records showed Everett’s loan to Roxanne.
Calder had indeed agreed to delay collection.
But there was more.
One document showed the debt had not disappeared.
Interest accumulated.
Current equivalent obligation exceeded $300,000.
Roxanne had reason to fear Dashiell obtaining proof.
If the estate reopened the issue, she could lose nearly everything she owned.
Naomi pointed at another page.
“Look.”
A handwritten note from Elowen.
Calder says Roxanne has threatened to ruin both brothers if he speaks.
Dashiell stared.
“Ruin how?”
They kept searching.
Then found a printed draft letter.
Roxanne had apparently prepared it but never sent it.
Dashiell, before you trust your wife completely, ask why she arranged a medical procedure without telling you. Ask whether Maisy was truly conceived the way you were told. Ask whether Calder knew before you did.
Dashiell understood.
Roxanne’s strategy was never necessarily to prove Maisy wasn’t his.
It was to create enough uncertainty to fracture the family.
And uncertainty was powerful.
Dashiell had already experienced it.
One sentence about a birth certificate and he had briefly questioned Elowen.
Questioned Calder.
Questioned his daughter’s conception.
Without evidence.
Elowen had predicted exactly how secrets could be weaponized.
Naomi photographed everything.
The officer secured copies.
Dashiell called Calder.
This time he answered.
“Where are you?”
Calder went quiet.
“At the house.”
“Stay there.”
“Dashiell—”
“Stay.”
Dashiell drove home with Naomi following.
When he entered, Roxanne was gone.
Calder sat in the kitchen.
The blue baby book lay on the table.
Dashiell placed the real book beside it.
Calder stared.
“You found it.”
“You knew there were two.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Elowen told me.”
Dashiell nearly hit him.
He didn’t.
“Start talking.”
Calder looked older than his forty-three years.
“I was a coward.”
“Kiara recorded you saying the same thing.”
Calder flinched.
“You know about the videos.”
“Yes.”
“Roxanne?”
“Not yet.”
Calder rubbed his face.
“She will.”
“Why were you helping her?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were in my basement talking about Elowen’s letter.”
“I was trying to find what Roxanne was looking for before she did.”
“Why not tell me?”
Calder laughed bitterly.
“Because every road ends with me telling you I once considered challenging Maisy’s birth.”
Dashiell stared.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Dad’s company.”
“Money.”
“Control.”
Calder looked ashamed.
“I was angry.”
“At a baby?”
“At Dad.”
He swallowed.
“Everett always thought you were the responsible one.”
Dashiell almost laughed.
Calder continued:
“Then the trust clause basically said if you had a kid and I didn’t, your branch mattered more.”
“So you blamed me.”
“Yes.”
“Elowen.”
“Yes.”
“Maisy.”
Calder’s voice broke.
“For about a week.”
Dashiell stared.
“Then I saw her ultrasound.”
Silence.
“I felt sick.”
Calder wiped his face.
“I told Roxanne to stop.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I would lose you.”
Dashiell’s jaw tightened.
“So instead Elowen carried it.”
“Yes.”
“Then she died.”
Calder closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“And you still said nothing.”
“Yes.”
Dashiell wanted to hate him completely.
It would have been easier.
Then Calder said:
“I came here six months ago because Roxanne called me.”
“Why?”
“She said she found something Elowen left behind.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
Dashiell froze.
“The one she’s searching for?”
“No.”
Calder looked at him.
“A different one.”
“How many damn letters are there?”
Calder almost smiled.
Then didn’t.
“This one was addressed to Roxanne.”
Dashiell’s pulse shifted.
“What did it say?”
“I never saw the whole thing.”
“What did Roxanne tell you?”
Calder’s face went pale.
“She said Elowen knew something about the night she died.”
Dashiell stopped breathing.
“What?”
May you like
Calder looked toward the doorway where Roxanne had disappeared.
“She said Elowen’s accident might not have been an accident.”
Related Stories
