Chapter 6: What Diane Said When There Was No One Left to Lie To
Diane showed up at Paula's house on a Thursday.
Paula called me the moment she saw the car in the driveway.
I was twenty minutes away.
I told her not to let Diane inside and to keep Lily in the back bedroom.
By the time I arrived, Diane was standing on Paula's front porch with her arms crossed and an expression I recognized — the one she used when she believed she was owed something.
I got out of the car and walked up the path.
"Daniel." She said my name like a warning.
"I need to see my grandchildren."
"That goes through Richard's office, Diane.
You know that."
"I am not going through an attorney to see a six-month-old baby." Her voice cracked on the last word.
It might have been genuine.
With Diane, I had stopped being able to tell.
"This has gone far enough.
Claire made a mistake.
Families work through mistakes."
"Lily has bruising across both shoulders."
"Children get bruised—"
"From carrying her baby brother for nine hours while you were at a party." I kept my voice low.
Paula's neighbors were the kind who noticed things.
"The medical record says muscle strain consistent with repetitive load-bearing.
She's seven years old, Diane."
Diane's chin came up.
"I was there until six.
Claire came home at six.
The children were never unsupervised for more than—"
"Claire left at six-oh-three.
The footage shows it.
You left before that." I watched her face.
"What time did you leave?"
She didn't answer.
"The cameras recorded all day," I said.
"I know exactly what time you left.
I'm asking whether you'll tell me the truth."
---
Something shifted in her posture.
The certainty went out of it, replaced by something smaller.
"Four-thirty," she said.
"I left at four-thirty.
I had a commitment.
Claire said she'd be home by five."
"She wasn't home until after six."
"I didn't know that."
"You left a seven-year-old alone with an infant for two hours, minimum, and then Claire left her for the rest of the night."
Diane looked away.
Down the porch steps, toward the street.
Her jaw worked.
"I didn't think it would go that long," she said.
"Lily is very capable for her age."
"She's seven."
"I know how old she is." Her voice came out sharp, then fell.
"I know."
We stood there for a moment.
A car passed on the street.
A dog barked somewhere down the block.
"Diane." I waited until she looked at me.
"The DA's office is going to want to talk to you.
About the night, about what you knew, about the financial arrangement.
I don't know what Claire has told you about that, but I'd suggest you speak to your own attorney before you speak to them."
She blinked.
"Financial arrangement?
What are you talking about?"
The look on her face was not performance.
It was genuine confusion.
"You didn't know," I said.
"Know what?"
I studied her.
Sixty-two thousand dollars moved over eight months.
A shell company in Delaware.
A private asset manager.
Diane had been covering for Claire, running interference, keeping me occupied — but she hadn't known what she was covering for.
"Ask Claire," I said.
"Ask her about Terrence Boyle."
The name meant nothing to her.
I could see that.
"Go home, Diane," I said.
"Call your own attorney.
Don't come here again without going through Richard's office first."
She walked down the steps without another word.
At the bottom she stopped, her back still to me.
"Is Lily all right?" she asked.
Quietly.
Like she wasn't sure she had the right to ask.
"She will be," I said.
Diane nodded once and got in her car.
I went inside and found Lily in the back bedroom, sitting on Paula's bed with Noah in her lap, reading him a picture book in a low, careful voice.
She looked up when I came in.
"Was that Grandma?"
"Yes."
"Is she mad?"
I sat on the edge of the bed.
Noah grabbed my finger.
"No, sweetheart.
She's not mad."
Lily looked back at the book.
"She said I was dramatic," she said.
"At the hospital.
She texted Mommy and said I was being dramatic."
I put my arm around her carefully, mindful of her shoulders.
"You were the bravest person in that house," I said.
"You called me.
May you like
That's the only reason everything is going to be okay."
She leaned into my side and turned the page.
