With Her Million Dollar Plot Recorded The Judge Played It in Court ၏ စာသားမှတ်တမ်းအပြည့်အစုံ

her voice made me pause, 34 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.719 my dirk kick fingers hovering over a particularly fragile ceiling. 35 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:44.200 MA never talked about her age, never admitted to slowing down. 36 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:46.400 She was the kind of woman who could help what 37 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:48.439 men have her eage and make them feel grateful for 38 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:53.120 the lesson everything. Okay, ma'am. Of course, of course, just 39 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:57.000 come by this weekend. See bring the girls. I'll make 40 00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:59.840 that puzzle you love. After she hung up, I stood 41 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.239 there in my green house Santiriy, surrounded by rows of 42 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.400 baby plants reaching toward the light. The morning smelt of 43 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.400 wet earth and orange blossoms from the tree outside. My 44 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.840 grandmother had planted it fifty years ago, when this was 45 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.360 all still orchard land, before the tech companies started their 46 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.199 slow invasion. Now that tree was the only reminder of 47 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.719 what used to be standing to find between my nursery 48 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:20.719 and the gleaming office park next door. I checked my watch, 49 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.639 seven point fifteen a m. Time to head back to 50 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.240 the house for breakfast. The ten minute walked from the 51 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.400 nursery to our home usually cleared my head, but to day, 52 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.639 Mom's words kept a going. These things matter more than 53 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:34.400 you think. Our kitchen was already alive at the morning's 54 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.439 circus when I walked in. Irene stood at the coffee maker, 55 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.840 a sup blause, somehow still pristine despite wrestling with our 56 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:43.400 ancient espresso machine, even after eighteen years of marriage. She 57 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:45.879 could still take my breath away. That elegant posture. The 58 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:48.319 waiter darkae caught the morning light how she moved through 59 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.360 our chaos with a grace. I had never quite understood that. Here, 60 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.639 Molly announced, not looking up from her math homework. At fourteen, 61 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.479 she had irene stallic of features, but my stubborn streak, 62 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.479 a combination that meant she'd spend and I are on 63 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.719 a problem before asking for help. Mary, two years older 64 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.280 and already taller than her mother, was stealing bites of 65 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.639 her sister's cereal. Whilst calling through her phone. Mom says, 66 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.319 we're having dinner at a belle as. This weekend news 67 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.560 travels fast, I said, Washing the soil from my hands 68 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:18.639 at the sink, the water ran brown, then clear. Taking 69 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.439 the morning's work down the drain, Irene glanced at me, 70 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.039 something flickering across her face, too quick to catch, like 71 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.159 a shadow passing over water. Your mother called here too. 72 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:31.439 She seems insistent about these papers. Since when does mom 73 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.919 call you about family business? I dried my hands slowly, 74 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:38.840 watching my wife's reflection in the kitchen window. Since always corrido, 75 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.879 you know how she is. Irene's smile was bright, maybe 76 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:44.960 too bright, like she turned up the wattage to hide 77 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.919 something dimmer underneath. She handed me a cup of coffee, 78 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.159 her fingers brushing mine. They were called. Besides, someone needs 79 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:54.800 to make sure you actually show up. Mary looked up 80 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.360 from her phone. It's a belle. Okay, she's been calling 81 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.639 a lot lately. You're grand mother's fine, Irene said quickly. 82 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.039 She's just being thorough. That word hone in air, like 83 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:08.560 morning fog. Thorough. Irene's phone buzzed on the counter, and 84 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:10.520 she grabbed it with the swiftness that made Molly look 85 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:14.000 up from her homework work. Irene explained though nobody had 86 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.560 asked early meeting with the single poor team. She turned 87 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:19.560 away to read the message, but not before I caught 88 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.040 a glimpse of the sender's name, John Martinez, her father. 89 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.639 Why would her father be texting her about work. John 90 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:28.319 had been retired for five years, spending his time playing 91 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.680 golf and complaining about his hip replacement. Ma'am, you said 92 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.319 you'd help me with my history project, Molly said, her 93 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:36.839 voice carrying that particular teenage tone that meant she'd already 94 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:41.360 asked twice after school, maya I promise? Irene kissed the 95 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.639 top of Molly's head, then Mary's then brushed her lips 96 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.600 against my cheek. Her perfume was different, something new, jasmine, 97 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:50.480 and something else. I couldn't blaze. I might be late 98 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:55.279 to night. The Peterson inquisition is getting complicated. The Peterson acquisition. 99 00:04:55.920

--> 00:04:58.199 She'd been working on it for three months. Coming home 100 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:01.480 later and Lada always with puffectu explanations and tired smiles. 101 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.920 I watched her gather her laptop bag, her movements precise 102 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.279 and practiced, like she was performing a dunce she'd rehearsed. 103 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.279 After she left, the kitchen felt different, smaller somehow. Mary 104 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:13.199 and Molly bickered about whose turn it was to load 105 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.720 the dishwasher while I stared at my coffee, watching the 106 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.279 cream swirl into patents that reminded me of storm clouds. Dad, 107 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:22.439 Your being weird, Mary said, hit checking me gently as 108 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:25.480 she reached for the cereal box. More weird than usual, 109 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:29.279 I mean, thanks for the vote of confidence. I ruffled 110 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.560 her hair, which she immediately smoothed back down with an 111 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:34.839 exaggerated sigh. Come on, let's get you both to school 112 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.480 before you're late. The drive to San Jose Prep was 113 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:39.959 the same as always, Molly in the back reviewing her 114 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.079 notes out loud, Mary in the passengers seat, managing the 115 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.720 music like a professional djay, finding the perfect song for 116 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.399 every red light. But my mind kept drifting to that 117 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.279 text message, to Irene's cold fingers, to my mother's insistent 118 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:54.879 voice a stoplight. I glanced at my own phone. Three 119 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.360 miss calls from a number I didn't recognize, all from 120 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.360 this morning. No voice mail I made. I meant a 121 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.639 note to call back later, then promptly forgot when Mary 122 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.319 launched into a story about her friend Katy's disastrous attempt 123 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:08.199 to die her hay purple. After dropping the girls off, 124 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.199 I drove back to the nursery. It was my sanctuary, 125 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:13.600 five acres of green in a valley increasingly paved over 126 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:16.959 with ambition and stock options. The business was much specialty 127 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.120 plants for landscapers, some retail sales on weekends. But it 128 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:24.639 was honest work, real. He planted something, nurtured it, and 129 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.720 it either grew or it didn't. No lying, no pretense, 130 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.879 no hostile takeovers, a corporate double speak. I was checking 131 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.040 on the new shipment of Japanese maples when Robert Hoe, 132 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:36.519 my only full time employee, found me. Boss, you got 133 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.040 a visitor. Some guy in a suit looks like FBI 134 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:45.600 or something. My stomach tightened where front office. I told 135 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:47.959 him you were busy, but he said he'd wait. The 136 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.920 man in my office didn't look like FBI. He looked 137 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:55.639 like money. Expensive suit, expensive herka, expensive watch, catching the 138 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.639 light as he stood to shape my hand. Mister Watson, 139 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.199 I'm James Chen from Chen in the so Jociates. I 140 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:05.199 represent your mother's interests. My mother is interests that need representing. 141 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:07.680 He smiled, the kind of smile that probably cost extra 142 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.879 at whatever law school he'd attended. Everyone has interests, mister Watson. 143 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.480 Some people just don't know their true value yet. He 144 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.519 pulled out a folder thick with documents. Your mother asked 145 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.879 me to review the family trust, even the recent valuations 146 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.720 of land in this area. Were talking about significant assets, 147 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.360 significant enough that proper documentation is crucial. How significant. The 148 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.040 words came out stoudier than I felt, the line your 149 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.160 parents accumulated over the years, or current nursery, the original 150 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.120 farm parcels, the lots near Mountain View. Conservative Vessenates put 151 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.079 it round five point two billion dollars. The number hit 152 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.439 me like a physical blur. I sat down hard in 153 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.600 my desk chair. The old wood creaking improtest. That's that's impossible. 154 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:51.120 We're nursery people. We grow plants. You grow plants on 155 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.240 some of the most valuable real estate in a country. 156 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.480 Chain corrected, Your mother understood this. She's been very careful 157 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.519 about maintaining ownership despite numerous offers over years. He pulled 158 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:03.959 out a single sheet of paper. This is why she 159 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.759 needs you to review the trust documents. There have been 160 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:10.199 some irregularities in recent filings. Names appearing that shouldn't be, 161 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.319 their signatures that don't match. I looked at the paper. 162 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:15.720 It was a copy of a trust amendment dated just 163 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.720 two weeks ago. My mother's signature was at the bottom, 164

00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.720 but it looked wrong, too flowery, too careful. And next 165 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.720 to it as co trustee was Irene's name. I never 166 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:28.000 signed off on this, I said, my mouth suddenly dry. No, 167 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.080 Chen agreed you didn't. After Chen left, I sat in 168 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:34.440 my office staring at that paper until the letters blurred. 169 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.799 Five point two billion. The number was so absurd it 170 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:41.360 felt fictional, like monopoly money. But the signature Irene's name 171 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.879 on a document I'd never seen that was real. That 172 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.200 was a betrayal I could measure. I called Mam. She 173 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:49.759 answered on the first ring, like she'd been waiting. He 174 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.600 talked to Chen, Mam, what the hell is going on? Billions? 175 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.279 And why is Irene's name not on the phone, MIHO 176 00:08:57.399 --> 00:08:59.679 this weekend? Bring the paper's Chen gave you, and only you, 177 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:03.799 not Irene, Maunt promised me, Sholock, just you. The rest 178 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:06.279 of the day passed in a haze. I went through 179 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.320 the motions, water and pruning, helping customers, but my mind 180 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.600 was elsewhere, turning over every recent conversation with Irene, looking 181 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:15.399 for clues I'd missed. When had she become interested in 182 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:18.480 the family trust? When had she ever cared about paperwork 183 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.559 and legal documents. That evening, I got home before any 184 00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.720 one else. The house felt different now, like when you 185 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:27.159 know some one's been inside while you were gone. Nothing 186 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.799 obviously disturbed, but the air itself seems rearranged. I found 187 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.159 myself in Irene's home office, not snooping exactly, just looking. 188 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.840 Their desk was organized with military precision, everything in its place. 189 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:40.600 But there in her inbox's tray was a folder labeled 190 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.240 Silicon Valley Project. My hands trembled slightly as I opened it. 191 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.720 Inside weffolte coppies of deeds, property assessments, and trust documents. 192 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.360 My family's documents, But that wasn't what made my blood 193 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.919 run cold. It was the sticky note on top, and 194 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:59.480 Irene's handwriting anti confirms time line, G m agrees to terms, 195 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:05.159 moved forward as discussed, and Tea mickrof Thompson, Irene's business partner, 196 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:07.399 who always seemed to be around lately, with his tessla 197 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.320 and his surgical smile and G and John Martin is 198 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:12.960 her father. The front door opened, and I heard Irene's 199 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.399 voice calling out, I'm hum, I brought our food. I 200 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.000 closed the folder, placed it exactly as I'd found it, 201 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:21.919 and walked out of her office. My heart was pounding 202 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.360 so hard. I was sure she'd hear it. When I 203 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:25.879 kissed her hello, when I smiled at us about her day, 204 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:27.759 when I sat at our dinner table and listened to 205 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.480 our daughter's chatter about skull while my wife, my wife 206 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.279 of eighteen years, cut her pat tie into precise, manageable 207 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.600 pieces and told us about the pedis and acquisition that 208 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.679 was getting so complicated. You O k Corrida, she asked, 209 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.879 reaching across the table to touch my hand. He seemed distant. 210 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.759 Her fingers were warm, this time, soft, familiar, the hand 211 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.120 that wore my ring, that had held our babies, that 212 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.559 had signed her name next to my mother's forged signature 213 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.200 on documents worth more money than I could comprehend. Just tired, 214 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.639 I said, squeezing her hand gently before letting go. Long 215 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.679 day at the nursery. She smiled, and for a moment 216 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:03.120 I saw the woman I had fallen in love with 217 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:05.360 all those years ago, young and eager and full of 218 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.600 dreams that had nothing to do with billions of dollars. 219 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.159 One had that changed? When had I stopped being enough? 220 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:14.200 That night, lying next to her in our bed, listening 221 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.320 to her peaceful breathing, I stared at the ceiling and 222 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.279 wondered how many other knights I had slept next to 223 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.320 a stranger. The woman beside me smelled like judsmin in 224 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:23.879 secrets and somewhere in the darkness between a sleigh five 225 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.240 point two billion reasons, while my mother had sounded afraid 226 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:29.600 in the phone. Chapter two. The next morning came too 227 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:33.240 soon and not soon enough. I'd barely slept, my mind 228 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:37.159 raising through scenarios, each more paranoid than the last. Maybe 229 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.120 I was wrong, Maybe there was an explanation. Maybe Irene 230 00:11:41.120 -->

00:11:43.600 had been trying to help to protect us. Somehow. But 231 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.519 then I remembered the folder, the signatures, the secrets, and 232 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:49.559 the maybies crumbled like dried leaves. I was up before dawn, 233 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:51.720 sitting in a kitchen with black coffee that tasted like 234 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.799 burnt hope. The house was quite, except for the refrigerator's 235 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.039 hum and the distant sound of sprinklers hid in the windows, 236 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.720 the automatic system Manta installed last year, back when my 237 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:04.000 big worry was what conservation? You're up early? I hadn't 238 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.639 heard Irene come in. She stood in, wearing my old 239 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.639 Stanfortit shirt, the one she had claimed as a night 240 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:11.559 shirt years ago. Her hair was messy from sleep and 241 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.799 without make up. She looked younger, vulnerable, like the girl 242 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.559 i'd met at that farmer's market nineteen years ago, selling 243 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.480 her mother's home made salset and smiling at my terrible Spanish. 244 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.080 Couldn't sleep, I said, which was true enough. She moved 245 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.399 behind me, her hands sliding onto my shoulders, Needing attention. 246 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.519 She found there the nursery has been stressing you out lately. 247 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:36.360 Maybe you should hire more help. Maybe, Her hand stilled sherlocke, 248 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.240 what's wrong? And don'te nothing? I know you're nothing face 249 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:42.480 and this isn't it. I turned to look at her, 250 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.159 searching her brown eyes for some sign of guilt, some 251 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.799 tell that would confirm what I've found. But she just 252 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.440 looked concerned, maybe a little hurt by my distance. Mom's 253 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:54.240 been calling about the trust, I said, watching her carefully. 254 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:58.600 I know she called me yesterday too, No hesitation, no flinch. 255 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.080 She seems where about something, But you know how she gets. 256 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.240 Remember when she was convinced someone was stealing her mare 257 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.519 that was different. The neighbors kid actually were stealing her magazines. 258 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.200 Irene laughed, soft and genuine. True, but she sees conspiracy 259 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:17.799 sometimes with her, aren't any It comes with age, corrido. 260 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:19.679 She kissed the top of my head and moved to 261 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:23.200 start breakfast. I watched her crack eggs with practice efficiency 262 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.720 and movements so familiar I could have choreographed them with 263 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.600 my eyes closed. This was the woman who'd stood beside 264 00:13:28.600 --> 00:13:30.559 me when Dad died, who teld my hand for her 265 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.200 teen years of marriage, two daughters, one miscarriage we never 266 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.879 talked about any more, and countless ordinary moments that added 267 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:38.120 up to a life. How could she be lying to me, 268 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.039 I'm taking the girls to school to day, she said, 269 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:43.279 scrambling the eggs with that little resflict she'd learn from 270 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.200 her grandmother. I've gone a meeting downtown after, but i 271 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.720 can pick them up if you need to work late. 272 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.559 Meeting with who? She glanced at me, something flickering in 273 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:55.200 her eyes. The Peterson team, White, a sudden interest in 274 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:59.279 my schedule, no reason, just making conversation. But we both 275 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.600 knew I didn't just make conversation, not any more. The 276 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:04.879 easy rhythm we'd once shared had developed a scape, like 277 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:07.080 a scratched record that catches in the same spot over 278 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.240 and over. After they left Irene and hurting the girls 279 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:14.039 with practice deficiency, Mary complaining about a chemistry test, Molly 280 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.279 forgetting how lunch until the last second. I sat in 281 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:19.080 the empty kitchen and called my brother Gregg. It's six 282 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.240 point thirty in the morning, he growled into the phone. 283 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:24.399 Someone better be dead or dying. I need to talk 284 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:26.840 to you in person. The pause was long enough that 285 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.679 I could hear his wife asking who was calling. Hear 286 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.120 him tell her it was nothing. Go back to sleep house, Serious, 287 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.159 he asked, his voice different now alert, mam, scared? Serious, 288 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:36.120 old catch a flight this offternoon. You wanna tell me 289 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.840 what this is about not on the phone. Another pause. 290 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.320 Gregg was a software engineer up in Seattle, the practical 291 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.799 one who'd gotten out of California before the madness really 292 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.039 took hold. He dealt in code and logic problems with 293 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.279 the finable parameters and elegant solutions. What I was about 294 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:53.360 to tell him had neither sherlock. You're scaring me a little, yeah, 295 00:14:53.440 -->

00:14:55.960 I said me too. At the nursery, I tried to 296 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.039 lose myself in routine. Roberton needed help with the shipment 297 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:02.759 of Mexican's age, and we had three customers wanting landscape consultations. 298 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.799 But my mind kept drifting to that folder in Irene's office, 299 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:07.960 to my mother's trembling voice, to billions of dollars I 300 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.759 couldn't quite believe existed. Around eleven, my phone rang Mary's school. 301 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:17.440 Mister Watson, this is Principal Davidson. There's been an incident 302 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.200 with Mary. She's fine, but we need you to come 303 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.679 pick her up. My heart stopped. What kind of incident? 304 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:26.960 She was found in the computer lab accessing restrictive files. 305 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:29.759 She's not in trouble exactly, but given the nature of 306 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.559 what she was looking at, we thought it best to 307 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.519 send her home for the day. Twenty minutes later, I 308 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.159 was sitting in Principal Davidson's office looking at my sixteen 309 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.840 year old daughter, who had the grace to appear slightly ashamed. 310 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.480 She was attempting to axis employee records. Davidson explained, his 311 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:48.360 hands folded on his desk, like you was praying for patients. Specifically, 312 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:51.399 she was looking for information about Missus Thompson mc groff, 313 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:55.279 Thompson's wife. I asked, my stomach tightening. She's our new 314 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:00.240 development director, Davidson said, started three months ago. Mary, would 315 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:02.159 you like to explain why you were so interested in 316 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:05.759 Missus Thompson's personal fire. Mary looked at me, then at 317 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:11.080 her hands. I can't, Mary, I can't. Okay, it's family stuff. 318 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.240 She looked up at me, and I saw something in 319 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.960 her eyes that made my chest hurt. She knew somehow, 320 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.720 my daughter knew something was wrong. In the car. We 321 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:21.879 sat in silence for a full minute before she spoke, 322 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.360 MAM's been weird lately, weird how she's been meeting with 323 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.159 mister Thompson a lot. I saw them at the coffee 324 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:31.480 place downtown when I was supposed to be at Katy's house. 325 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.399 They were looking at papers and Mam was signing stuff. 326 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.919 I gripped the steering wheel tighter. When was this last week? 327 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.320 In the week before? And she turned to look out 328 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.080 the window. Dad, I followed Mum once. I know I 329 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.080 shouldn't have, but she said she was going to yoga 330 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.320 and she was wearing her work clothes, and I just 331 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.559 I knew she was lying. Where did she go mister 332 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.399 Thompson's house? She was there for two hours. The cow 333 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.799 suddenly felt airless. I cracked a window. Let the spring 334 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.039 carry in the son of eucalyptus and confusion. There's more, 335 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:05.960 Mary said quietly. I heard her on the phone with 336 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.319 Grandpamartinez last night. She was in the garage, thought no 337 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:12.079 one could hear. She said something about the time line, 338 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:16.160 and before she notices Dad, what's going on? I pulled 339 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.400 into our driveway, turned off the engine and looked at 340 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.440 my daughter. She had Irene's beauty, but my stubborn jaw, 341 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:24.160 my knee to dig until the truth came loose. I 342 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.480 don't know yet, I said, honestly, but I'm going to 343 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:29.240 find out Inside. Mary went to her room while I 344 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:31.119 stood in the kitchen trying to make sense of the 345 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:35.119 fracture spreading through my life. Nekroff Thomson. I'd met him 346 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.559 maybe five times Company Barbecue's Holiday Potters. He was a 347 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:41.160 kind of aggressively successful man who made you feel like 348 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.279 your contentment with a simple life as a character flaw tall, 349 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:46.720 silver haired, with a kind of casual wealth that bought 350 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.839 tethels like they were tolways, entreated people like they were 351 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.160 options to be exercised or discarded. What was Irene doing 352 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.559 at his house for two hours? No? I stopped that 353 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.400 thought before it could fully form. This was about money, 354 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.039 not not that it to be. I found myself back 355 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.640 in Irene's office. This time I wasn't just looking, I 356 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:09.119 was searching. Her computer was password protected, but I knew 357 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.039 her patterns our anniversary backwards. I was in. Her email 358 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.119 was mostly work, contracts, meeting notes, corporate speak that made 359 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.559 my eyes glaze over. But then I found a folder 360 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.640 labeled personal, and inside that another folder with just initials 361

00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:27.039 s VP Silicon Valley Project. The emails went back six months. Mickroff, Thompson, 362 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:29.680 John Martinez, someone named Davi Chen who wasn't the lawyer 363 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.599 i'd met, but seemed to be another attorney, and at 364 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.000 the center of it all my wife orchestrating something with 365 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.440 the position of the conductor leading a very secret symphony. 366 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:38.640 The old woman's health is declining perfect time in. That 367 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:41.039 was from Mick of three weeks ago. Sherlock remains unaware. 368 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.160 We proceed as planned. From Irene in response, the trust 369 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.920 documents are ready. J M will handle his end. I 370 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:49.839 read them all, each email and other nail in the 371 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:52.880 coffin of my marriage. They were planning something, had been 372 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.680 planning it for months, and at the center of it 373 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.839 was my mother, referred to as the old woman, like 374 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.359 she was just an obstacle to be managed. Dad. I 375 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.680 spun around. Molly stood in the doorway, her back cackstill on. 376 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.200 School didn't end for another two hours. What are you 377 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.200 doing home? Half day teacher conferences or something? She looked 378 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:15.119 past me at the computer's screen. Is that Mom's e mail? 379 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.079 I closed it quickly, feeling like I'd been caught doing 380 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.240 something shameful, which maybe I had. Your mom asked me 381 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:24.880 to look something up. I lied. Molly nodded, but her 382 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.960 eyes so much like mine, said she didn't believe me. 383 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:29.880 Mary texted me, said she got in trouble for hacking. 384 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.480 She wasn't hacking. She was just looking for information about 385 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:37.279 mister Thompson's wife. It wasn't a question. Mollie moved into 386 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:40.359 the room, dropped her backpack on the floor. She's pretty 387 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.200 younger than mom, Mollie. I'm not stupid, Dad, I know 388 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:48.440 something's wrong. MAM's been acting weird. You're acting weird, and 389 00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:51.480 now Mary's going all mission impossible. At school, she sat 390 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.079 on the office couch, pulling her knees to her chest. 391 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.240 Are you and Mom getting divorce? The question hit me 392 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.920 like cold water. No, I dunno, It's not about that. 393 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.160 Then what How could I explain to my fourteen year 394 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:06.000 old daughter that her mother might be trying to steal 395 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:09.160 billions of dollars, that her grandfather might be in on it, 396 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:11.839 that the life we'd built might be constructed on a 397 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:14.240 foundation of life so deep I couldn't see the bottom. 398 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.599 It's complicated, meejor. I hate when adults say that. She 399 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:22.279 stood up, grabbed her back back. You know what's not complicated. 400 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:25.160 Mom's got a suit case in her closet, packed hidden 401 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.319 behind her window coats. She left me standing there the 402 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.279 floor tilting beneath my feet, like I was on a 403 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:33.559 boat in rough seas, A suit case packed hidden. I 404 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:35.839 found it exactly where Molly said. A carry on bag 405 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.400 carefully packed with clothes, toiletries, and an envelope. Inside the 406 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:42.200 envelope a plain ticket to Hong Kong, dated for next week. 407 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.519 And a bank statement for an account I'd never seen before, 408 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:47.640 an account of just Irene's name on it, opened six 409 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.559 months ago, current balanced three dollars two cents million. Where 410 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.640 had she gotten three dollars two cents million. I sat 411 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.359 on our bed, holding the bank's statement and laughed, actually laughed, 412 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.680 because what else could I do. My wife was planning 413 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.160 to leave. She had millions of dollars I didn't know about. 414 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:07.640 She was working with mickof Thompson on something called the 415 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.440 Silicon Valley Project that somehow involved my mother and billions 416 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.000 in lamb value. And I was supposed to have dinner 417 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.920 with Mom this weekend and pretend everything was normal. My 418 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.680 phone buzzed at tacks from Irene working late to night. 419 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.880 Don't wait up, love you. I stared at those last 420 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.039 two words until they lost all me. Name just shapes 421 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:28.200 on a screen, like a language I'd forgotten. How to 422 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.359 read Chapter three. Gregg arrived that evening while I was 423 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:34.960 helping Molly with her algebra homework. A quadratic formula had 424 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.480 never seemed more absurd, all those variables and solutions, when 425 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:42.160 my own life's equation had stopped making sense entirely, Uncle Greg. 426 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:45.359 Molly abandoned her homework to hug

my brother, who lifted 427 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.640 her off the ground despite his bad back. Where's your sister, 428 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.839 he asked, setting her down gently in her room, probably 429 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:55.240 playing her next tack, Molly said, with a mix of 430 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:58.359 admiration and worry. Gregg looked at me over her head, 431 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.039 his expression asking a dozen questions I couldn't answer. With 432 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:03.920 Molly there, Why don't you go get merry, I suggested, 433 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.839 Tell her Uncle Gregg's taking us all out for pizza. 434 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:10.039 After she bounded upstairs, Gregg sat down heavily at the 435 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:13.240 kitchen table. He looked older than his forty five years, 436 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.400 with silver was riding through his black hair and lines 437 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:17.440 around his eyes that spoke of too many late nights 438 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:21.880 debugging code. You look like hell, he said, thanks. You 439 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.079 always know just what to say, Sherlock. What's going on? 440 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:29.480 He sounded? He paused, searching for words he sounded like 441 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:32.319 Hugh did when Dad was dying, that kind of scared. 442 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:34.880 I pulled out the folder Chen had given me the 443 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.079 bank's statement had found and my formost greenshots of Irene's emails. 444 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:40.640 I laid them out like evidence at a crime scene, 445 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.920 which maybe they were. Gregg read in silence. His programmer 446 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:47.599 is mind processing data, looking for patterns. Finally, he looked 447 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:52.599 up Jesus Christ yea five point two billion. Our family's 448 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:56.279 land is worth. Apparently Mom never said anything, not a word, 449 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:00.599 and Iaran trying to what steal it? I don't know 450 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:04.160 what she's trying to do. Maybe she's protecting it. Maybe 451 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:06.759 there is an explanation. Even as I said it, I 452 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.960 knew how hollow it sounded. Brigg held up the bank statement. 453 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.960 People don't hydri Dollar's million and a plane ticket to 454 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:15.599 Hong Kong because they are protecting you. Mary appeared in 455 00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:18.440 the doorway, having somehow materialized without making a sound of 456 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.039 skill she perfected over years of late night snack raids. 457 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:25.319 Who's going to Hong Kong? She asked? Bregg and I 458 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:28.680 exchanged glances. How much do you tell a sixteen year old? 459 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.240 How much truth can a kid handle about

their mother. 460 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:35.079 We're not sure yet, I said, carefully. Mary walked over 461 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.680 to the table, looked at the paper spread out. Her 462 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.359 face went pale. Is that is that mom's name on 463 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:44.640 moost dressed documents? Mary, no doubt, No more protecting us 464 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:48.039 Molly and I aunt little kids. We know something's wrong. 465 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.480 We deserve to know what she was right. Of course, 466 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:54.160 they were part of this family, part of whatever was 467 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:57.559 happening to us, So we told them. Gregg and I 468 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.240 sitting at our kitchen table with my daughters, laying the 469 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:01.680 truth like a map to a place none of us 470 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.799 wanted to go. Molly cried silent tears that she worked 471 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.200 away angrily, like they were betraying her. Mary just got quieter, 472 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.200 her face settling into a mass that looked too much 473 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:14.119 like her mother's. Maybe there's an explanation, Molly said, finally, 474 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:18.039 her voice smile. Maybe Mom's trying to help somehow. Maybe 475 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.759 I agreed, though the word tasted like USh. We did 476 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:23.759 go for Peter, though nobody ate much. She steps was 477 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.200 crowded with Friday night families, normal families with normal problems. 478 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.359 We sat an out bith like actors who've forgotten their lines, 479 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:33.160 pushing food around our plates and making hollow conversation about 480 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:36.279 anything except what was actually happening. I saw missus Chen 481 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:39.079 at the store, Mary said. At one point she asked 482 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:41.839 about you. Dad said, she hasn't seen you at the 483 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.559 farmer's market lately. The farmer's market where i'd met Irene 484 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:48.680 all those years ago. She'd been working her mother's booth, 485 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.799 selling salsa and pickle vegetables, her smile brighter than the 486 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:55.119 California son. I'd bought five draws of salsa. I didn't need, 487 00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:58.880 just to keep talking to her. Dad, Mary's voice pulled 488 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:03.480 me back. You were gay, yeah, just remembering something. Gregg 489 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.839 paid the check despite my protests, and we drove home 490 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:08.640 for streets i'd known my whole life. Every corner held 491 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:10.359 a memory. The park where I taught the girls to 492 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:12.880 ride bikes, the seven eleven where Irene and I would 493 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:15.160 get slippies at midnight when we were young and stupid 494 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.359 and in love. The intersection where we did our first 495 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:20.079 kiss in my table Honda Civic. When had it all 496 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:23.039 gone wrong? Or had it always been wrong and I 497 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.559 was just too blind to see it. Back home, the 498 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.519 girls went to their rooms while Greg and I sat 499 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:30.039 on the back deck with beers we didn't drink. The 500 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.880 night was clear, stars visible despite the light pollution from 501 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:36.559 the valley. Somewhere out there under these same stars, Irene 502 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:38.880 was doing whatever she did on her late nights, meeting 503 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:41.119 with Mick, or planning her escape to Hong Kong, or 504 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:43.480 maybe just working, like she said, and I was building 505 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:46.519 conspiracies out of coincidence and fear. What are you going 506 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.680 to do for I guessed. Finally, I have to talk 507 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.200 to mom tomorrow at dinner, find out what she knows. 508 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.119 And Irene, I don't know. How do you confront your 509 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.279 wife about something like this? Hey, honey, are you trying 510 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.000 to steal billions of dollars from my dying mother? Has 511 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:07.599 the salt? Gregg didn't laugh. You need a lawyer, ten said. 512 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:11.160 He represents Maham's interests. You need your own, someone who 513 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:14.400 represents you and the girls. He pulled out his phone. 514 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:18.160 I know someone, Rebecca Martinez, no relation to Irene's family. 515 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:20.920 She handled my friend's divorce, the ugly one with the 516 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:25.000 hidden assets and off four accounts divorce. The words sat 517 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.039 between us like an uninvited guest. I don't want that, 518 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.759 I said, quietly, Despite everything, I don't want that what 519 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:33.720 do you want and what you need might be different things. 520 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:37.119 Inside I could hear Molly's music through her door, something 521 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:40.480 sad and slow that matched my mood. Mary's room was silent, 522 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.599 but I knew she wasn't sleeping. She'd inherited mine, Samia, 523 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.680 along with my stubbornness. You know what the stupidest part is, 524 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.839 I said, I don't even care about the money, five 525 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:53.000 point two billion, five point two dollars. It doesn't matter. 526 00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:56.400 It's the

lying. It's looking at some one you've shared 527 00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.559 everything with, then realizing you don't know them at all. 528 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.880 Gregg reached over squeezed my shoulder. You know her, the 529 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:05.920 woman ye married, the mother of your kids. That person 530 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.759 is real. People are complicated. They can be multiple things 531 00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:13.519 at once. How very silicon valley of you. People are 532 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:17.400 complicated like it's a feature, not a boug. This time 533 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:20.359 he did laugh, short and bitter. Everything's a bug if 534 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.799 you look at it wrong. We sat there until midnight, 535 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:26.400 when had lights swept across the driveway. Irene's tesla whispered 536 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:29.400 quiet and smoothed the silk. Gregg stood to leave, but 537 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:34.480 I stopped him. Stape lease. He nodded, understanding, a witness 538 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.640 of buffer, a reminder that I wasn't completely alone. Irene 539 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.880 came through the back door, looking surprised to find us there. 540 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.880 She'd changed clothes since this morning, different blows, different shoes. 541 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.000 Her makeup was fresh, like she'd replied it recently. Gregg, 542 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:51.319 I didn't know you were coming down. Her smile was warm, genuine, 543 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:54.160 see me. She kissed his cheek, then mine, and I 544 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:57.519 smelt that new perfume again, Jasmine and secrets. Spur of 545 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:01.599 the moment, Gregg said, easily, thought I prize my brother. Well, 546 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:06.440 it's wonderful. Are you staying the weekend? Maybe she looked 547 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:10.400 between us, sensing inn occurrence, but not the source. I'm exhausted, 548 00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:12.119 long day. You two catch up. I'm going to bed 549 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:14.039 to squeeze my shoulder as she passed, and I caught 550 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:15.839 her hand held it for a moment. She looked down 551 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:18.279 at me, and for just a second, I saw something 552 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:19.839 in her eyes, guilt, fear. I love all of them, 553 00:28:19.880 --> 00:28:22.279 none of them. I couldn't tell any more. I love you, 554 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:25.039 I said, meaning it and hating myself from meaning it. 555 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:28.599 I love you too, she replied, and maybe she meant 556 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:30.279 it too. Maybe that was the worst part that love 557 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:32.599 and betrayal could exist in the same space, like overlapping 558 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:35.400 circles in e vent diagram of heartbreak. After she went inside, 559 00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:37.640 Greg

and I sat in silence for a while longer. 560 00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:39.680 She's good, he finally said, if you hadn't shown me 561 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:42.720 those documents, I'd never suspect anything. Yeah, she's good. But 562 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.240 was she good at lying? Or was I just terrible 563 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:48.000 at seeing the truth? Chapter four and thick with fog, 564 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:49.640 the kind that made the valley feel like it was 565 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:52.359 wrapped in cotton. I awoke to find Irene's side of 566 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.240 the bed empty, though the sheets were still warm. Through 567 00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:57.039 the window, I could see her in the garden, dead 568 00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:59.720 heading roses with the precision of a surgeon. My phone 569 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:01.960 was linking with miss calls, all from the same number, 570 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:05.440 Malm's house. I called back, my heart already raising before 571 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:10.279 the first ring finished, Sherlock. It was John Martinez, irin father. 572 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:14.839 His voice was strange, thick, You need to come now, John, 573 00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:20.359 what's wrong? Where's mam? She's Sherlock. I'm sorry. She had 574 00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:23.799 a strophe last night. She's gone. The phone slipped from 575 00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:26.759 my hand, clattering on the hardwood floor. Through the window, 576 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.400 I watched Irene straighten up from the roses, shears in 577 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.640 her hand, looking toward the house like she'd heard something. 578 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.759 Our eyes met through the glass and she smiled, waved. 579 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.519 My mother was dead and my wife was waving at 580 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:40.400 me with gardening shears, doubt on her hands that knew perfume, 581 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:43.559 probably mixing with the scent of roses. I don't remember 582 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.880 picking up the phone, but I must have, because John 583 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:49.640 was still talking. Happened a round midnight the neighborhood. Her 584 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:52.240 fall cold nine hundred eleven, but it was too late, 585 00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:57.720 massive stroke, they said, no pain quick. Midnight, when I 586 00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:00.000 was sitting on my deck with Gregg, wondering how to 587 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.119 confront Irene about her betrayal, my mother was dying alone. 588 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:06.240 I'll be right there, I heard myself say. I stood 589 00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:08.799 up the room, tilting slightly, and found Irene standing in 590 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.319 the doorway. She must have seen something in my face, 591 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:13.880 because the shaves fell from her hand, clattering on the floor. 592 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:20.359 What's wrong, sherlock? What happened Mom's dead stroke? The color 593 00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:24.480 drained from her face? Oh God, oh corrito. No. She 594 00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:26.759 crossed the room, pulled me into her arms, and I 595 00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:28.839 let her because I needed some one to hold me up, 596 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:30.519 even if that some one might be the reason I 597 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:33.599 was falling. She smelled like roses and earth and that 598 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.440 damned jasmine perfume, and I buried my face in her 599 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.039 hair and wondered if my mother's death was another coincidence, 600 00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:41.319 another piece of bad timing, and a week full of them. 601 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:43.680 I'll wake the girls, she sat, pulling back to look 602 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:46.880 at me. Gregg's still asleep in the guest room. I'll 603 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:50.640 tell him too. You knew Gregg was here. Something flickered 604 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:53.400 in her eyes. I saw his rental car this morning. 605 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:57.559 Always in answer, always a reasonable explanation. The next hours 606 00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:00.640 blowed together like water colors in Maine, girls sob and 607 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:03.720 clinging to each other, Gregg's face stone hard with grief 608 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:06.559 and suspicion. The drive to Mom's house in separate cause. 609 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:10.480 Irene with the girls, Gregg with me. The timing, Gregg said, 610 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:14.359 quietly as he drove sherlock, the timing of this. I 611 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:18.240 know she was fine yesterday. You talked to her yesterday. 612 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:23.079 I know this is Gregg. I know Mom's house looked 613 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:26.559 the same as always, single story ranch painted the color 614 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:29.119 of butter, with a garden that rioted with color and life. 615 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:32.000 She'd been so proud of that garden, specially the heritage 616 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.480 tomato she grew from seeds how mother had brought from Mexico. 617 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.839 John Martinez met us at the door. He looked older 618 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.240 than his seventy eight years, shoulders bowed with grief or 619 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:43.759 guilt of both. Behind him stood Mackerroff Thompson. What's he 620 00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:46.759 doing here? The words came out harder than I intended. 621 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:49.799 Mickroff stepped forward, his face arranged in an expression of 622 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:52.720 sympathy that didn't reach his eyes. I came as soon 623 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.359 as John called, your mother was a remarkable woman. I 624 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:01.200 wanted to offer my support support ah. It inside the 625 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:03.440 house smelt like mom, coffee in cinnamon, and

the faint 626 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.319 scent of the lavender sashes she kept in everder. Her 627 00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:08.960 reading glasses were still on the side table, marking her 628 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:11.839 place in a Sibila Len novel. Her coffee cups sat 629 00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:14.039 on a coaster, half full, like she just stepped out 630 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:17.960 and would be right back. Where is she? I asked? 631 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:22.720 The funeral home already came. John said, there's paperwork arrangements 632 00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:25.640 to make. I didn't know who else to call. He 633 00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:29.200 called Macroff before he called me. John's face reddened. He 634 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:33.119 was he was already here when it happened. The room 635 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:36.599 went very still. Gregg's hand found my arm, whether's comfort 636 00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:39.279 or restrained me. I was sure? Why were you here 637 00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:43.839 at midnight? Microft? My voice sounded calm, almost curious. We 638 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:46.920 were going over some investment opportunities, mac Croff said smoothly. 639 00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:50.880 Your mother was interested in diversifying her portfolio. My mother 640 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.720 didn't have a portfolio. She had land and a savings 641 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:56.519 account at Wells Fargo that she'd since nineteen seventy three. 642 00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.480 Irene entered then, the girls flanking her like bodyguards. She 643 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:03.680 looked between mic Croft and me, reading the tension. Maybe 644 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:06.880 we should focus on the arrangements, she said quietly. There 645 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:10.559 will be time for everything else later, Everything else, like 646 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:12.720 why her business partner was at my mother's house when 647 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:16.200 she died, Like why John had called him first, Like 648 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.559 why my mother had been so afraid just yesterday and 649 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.160 now she was gone. The funeral home was cold and 650 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:24.920 smelled of flowers and formaldehyde. The director, a thin man 651 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.599 with pact to sympathy, walked distruptions while I tried to 652 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:30.160 focus on caskets and flowers and whether mam would want 653 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:34.119 amazing Greece or Admeria. She already made arrangements, the director said, 654 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:40.279 consulting his computer propaid actually very thorough. She even specified, 655 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:46.400 oh what she requested a close casket, no viewing. That 656 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:49.480 doesn't sound like Mam. She always said she wanted people 657 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:51.519 to see her one last time, to say good bye properly. 658 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:55.079

The director scrolled through his screen. The change was made 659 00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:58.759 recently last week, actually signed and notarized. I looked at 660 00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:01.119 the signature and the form. He should ured me it 661 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:03.720 was mom's. But like the trust documents, something was off. 662 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:07.880 Too careful, too perfect. Who notarized this? Let me see 663 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:11.000 David Chen, not the chin I'd met another chin, the 664 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:14.800 one for Irene's emails. Bray caught my eye. His face 665 00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:19.440 said everything this stinks. This whole thing stinks. The next 666 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:21.559 few days passed in a fog of grief and suspicion. 667 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:24.519 People came to the house of Castle, rolls and condolences. 668 00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:27.760 Mom's friends from church, her book club, the latest from 669 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.440 the farmer's market where she still sold tomatoes every Saturday. 670 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:34.440 She seemed fine. Last week, missus Patterson kept saying, we 671 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:38.039 had lunch on Tuesday. She was talking about expanding a garden, 672 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:41.239 maybe putting in some fruit trees. People don't usually plan 673 00:34:41.320 --> 00:34:43.800 fruit trees when they were about to die. The funeral 674 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:47.960 was on Wednesday, closed casket, like the suspicious documents specified. 675 00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:51.719 The church was full. Mom had touched a lot of lives. 676 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:54.840 I gave a eulogy. I don't remember writing words about 677 00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:56.599 love and legacy and the seeds we plant that grow 678 00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:59.360 long after we're gone. Irene sat in the front row 679 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:02.480 with the girls too, streaming down her face. Were they real? 680 00:35:03.159 --> 00:35:05.559 Did it matter? Brief and gilt could look the same 681 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:08.760 from the outside. After the service, at the reception in 682 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:11.239 the church hall, I noticed Irene and Macroff in the corner, 683 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:15.320 heads together, speaking urgently. When they saw me watching, they separated. 684 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:17.960 Microffts heading for the exit, while Irene came to me 685 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:20.320 with a plate of food. I couldn't eat. You need 686 00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:22.760 to eat something, she said, the devoted wife, the grieving 687 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:25.599 daughter in law. What were you in? Macroff talking about 688 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:30.199 just work? The Petersen deal needed attention even now. She 689 00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:33.280 touched my face gently. I'm trying to handle things so 690 00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:37.519 you don't have to worry. Handle things right. That night, 691 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:39.880 after everyone had gone home and the girls were asleep. 692 00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:42.480 I found Greg in Mom's study, going through her papers, 693 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:46.840 find anything. He held up a document, the original trust 694 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:51.679 before any amendments. You're the soul beneficiary, Sherlock. Everything goes 695 00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:56.039 to you. So the documents with Irene's name forgery's recent forgeries. 696 00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:59.039 He pulled out another paper, and this is interesting. A 697 00:35:59.079 --> 00:36:02.880 life insurance Poul Simon took out last month, fifty dollars million, 698 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:07.679 fifty million. Mom didn't believe in life insurance. She said, 699 00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:11.639 it was betting against yourself. The beneficiary is Irene. The 700 00:36:11.719 --> 00:36:14.840 rooms bunned slightly. I sat down hard in Malm's chair, 701 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:16.679 the one where she'd read her novels and done her 702 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:19.320 crosswood puzzles and lived her quiet, careful life until some 703 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:21.920 one day. Outside did she was in the way, Gregg? 704 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.360 Do you think could they have? I don't know, but 705 00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:27.920 tomorrow we're going to find out. Outside a car engine started. 706 00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:30.639 I looked out the window to see Irene's tesla pulling 707 00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:34.000 out of the driveway. It was nearly midnight. Where was 708 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.800 she going now? I thought about following her, but I 709 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:40.159 was tired, bone deep, so deep tire. My mother was dead, 710 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:42.599 my wife was a stranger, and my life was unraveling 711 00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:46.000 like a cheap swead. Tomorrow, Gregg had said, Tomorrow we'd 712 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:48.440 find out the truth. But to night I sat in 713 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.920 my mother's chair, in her empty house that still smelled 714 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:52.760 like her, and I grieved for everything I'd lost, in 715 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:56.639 everything I was about to lose. Chapter five. The morning 716 00:36:56.679 --> 00:36:59.440 after the funeral hit different. Grief has a weight to it, 717 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:01.719 you know, like someone filled your bones with what cement 718 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:04.559 while you slept. I sat at the kitchen table, staring 719 00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:06.159 at a cup of coffee that had gone cold an 720 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:08.440 I or ago, watching steam that wasn't there any more. 721 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:11.559 The house felt wrong without the possibility of Mom calling. 722 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:14.239 Every time the phone rang, and it ran a lot 723 00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:17.480 that morning, people checking in, offering condolences, my heart would 724

00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:20.199 jump for half a second before remembering she'd never call again. 725 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:24.199 That Mary stood in the doorway, still in her pajamas. 726 00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:27.519 Dark circles under her eyes made her look older than sixteen. 727 00:37:28.119 --> 00:37:32.079 You're gay, yes, sweet Tart, just thinking. She came over, 728 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:36.119 wrapped her arms round my shoulders from behind. She smelled 729 00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.159 like the lavender shampoo her grandmother had bought her lost Christmas. 730 00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:43.320 Thought was that really just four months ago? Uncle Gregg's 731 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:46.639 in the living room. She said, he's going for photo albums. 732 00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:51.000 Where's your mom garden? She's been out this since sunrise. 733 00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:54.199 Through the window, I could see Irene among the roses, 734 00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:56.679 moving with that mechanical precision people get when they are 735 00:37:56.679 --> 00:37:59.239 trying not to think. She changed into old jeans and 736 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:01.559 one of my final sh the red one she'd claimed 737 00:38:01.639 --> 00:38:04.159 years ago. For a moment, she looked like the woman 738 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.679 i'd married, Jean, determined, working the earth like it might 739 00:38:06.679 --> 00:38:09.400 give back what we lost. But then I remembered the 740 00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.440 suit case, the bank account, the emils. Mary, Can you 741 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:15.519 do me a favor, Go help Uncle Gregg with those albums, 742 00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:18.440 pick out the good photos of Grandma for a memorial board. 743 00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:22.639 She kissed the top of my head. Sure, Dad. After 744 00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:24.480 she left, I pulled out my phone and scold through 745 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:27.760 the pictures from yesterday's funeral. Something had been nagging at me, 746 00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:30.320 like a song you can't quite remember. There in the 747 00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:33.079 background of a photo, Molly had taken Irene and Maecroff 748 00:38:33.159 --> 00:38:36.039 hits together by the memorial guest book, her hand on 749 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:38.960 his arm, his leaning down to whisper something. It wasn't 750 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:41.559 the clothes and step bothered me. It was her expression. 751 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:45.840 She wasn't grieving. She was concentrating, focused, like some one 752 00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:49.639 working for a problem found something interesting. Gregg stood in 753 00:38:49.639 --> 00:38:52.559 the doorway holding one of MAM's old photo albums. He 754 00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:56.159 looked rough, haire sticking up yesterday's shirt, wrinkled that particular 755 00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:59.320 exhaustion that comes from crying yourself empty. Look at this. 756 00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:01.960 He set

the album on the table, pointing to a 757 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:05.239 photo from maybe fifteen years ago. Mom as some charity gala, 758 00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:08.360 dressed to the nions, standing next to man. I didn't recognize. 759 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:13.360 Check the caption MAM's need handwriting Hudson Foundation benefit two 760 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:17.960 thousand one with David Hewing, a state attorney. Hewing, I said, 761 00:39:18.039 --> 00:39:21.679 not the same attorney from the Forest documents. Different guy entirely. 762 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.840 But look, Gregg flipped a few pages. Here's Hewing again 763 00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:27.400 at our dad's funeral, and here at that family reunion 764 00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:30.519 in twenty ten. Mom trusted this guy, so why would 765 00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:32.480 she suddenly switch to some one else for something as 766 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:36.360 important as the family trust. My phone buzzed text from 767 00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:39.360 Roberto at the nursery boss. Some one was here asking 768 00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:42.199 questions about your mother's property. Said he was from the 769 00:39:42.239 --> 00:39:46.000 county assessor's office. But seems sketchy thought she should. Now 770 00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:50.480 I need to go to the nursery, I said, one company, No, 771 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:55.840 stay here, keep an eye on things on. Irene Grogg nodded. 772 00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:58.840 We developed our own language over the past few days, 773 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:01.519 all meaningful looks in half sentences, the short end of 774 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:04.559 shared suspicion. The drive to the nursery usually calmed me, 775 00:40:04.599 --> 00:40:07.119 ten minutes of suburban streets slowly giving way to the 776 00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:10.320 last patches of agricultural land in San Jose. But to 777 00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:13.599 day every familiar sight felt like a goodbye. The Ayamada 778 00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:17.440 strawberry stand where ma'am bought for every summer, the elementary 779 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:20.639 school where she'd volunteered to teach gardening, the old oak 780 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:24.039 tree where she'd scattered doubts ashes twelve years ago. At 781 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:27.559 the nursery, ROBERTOE was waiting by the greenhouse, his weathered 782 00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:30.840 face creased with concern. Roberto had worked for my family 783 00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:33.320 for twenty years, since he was fresh from Guadaladoro with 784 00:40:33.320 --> 00:40:36.719 big dreams and empty pockets. Now his kids were in college, 785 00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:39.239 and he knew this business almost as well as I did. 786 00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:42.679 The man he was ango tall, expensive suit, Roberto said, 787 00:40:42.679 --> 00:40:45.360 in his mix of English and Spanish, asked about lot lines, 788 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:47.960 its owning permits. I told

him to talk to you, 789 00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:51.440 but he just smiled and left. Did he leave a cart, No, 790 00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:54.320 but Roberto pulled out his phone. I took a picture 791 00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:57.639 of his car when he left. That's so black. My 792 00:40:57.719 --> 00:41:01.920 stomach tightened, same as mcgroff's. I walked through the nursery, 793 00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:04.039 trying to ground myself in the familiar, the sweet smell 794 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:06.599 of jasmine, the whisper of water through irrigasion lines, the 795 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:09.840 geomagic patterns of sealing treys. This place had been in 796 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:13.280 my family for three generations. My grandfather had planted the 797 00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:16.320 first trees when this was all orchard and possibility. In 798 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:18.360 my office I found what I was dreading, a manilla 799 00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:21.440 envelope slid under the door, inside a formal notice from 800 00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:23.440 a law firm I had never heard of, informing me 801 00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:25.599 that the ownership of the nursery property was under review 802 00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:28.800 due to irregularities in the recent trust documentation. They were 803 00:41:28.840 --> 00:41:32.280 already moving. MAM's body wasn't even in the ground properly, 804 00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:35.000 and they were already trying to take everything. I called 805 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:37.840 the number Gregg had given me for Rebecca Martinez, the attorney. 806 00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:42.360 She answered on the second ring mister Watson. Greg Wilson 807 00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:45.239 told me you might call. Can you come to my afternoon? 808 00:41:45.800 --> 00:41:48.800 Is it safe to talk on the phone? A pause? No, 809 00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:51.480 in person would be better. That's when I knew we 810 00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:54.960 were really in deep. When lawyers start worrying about phone taps, 811 00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:57.639 you've crossed into a different kind of trouble. Back home, 812 00:41:57.679 --> 00:42:01.079 I found chaos. Molly was crying in Mary's arms, while 813 00:42:01.079 --> 00:42:03.480 Irene stood in the living room, her face flushed with anger. 814 00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:07.679 Gregg was holding a thick envelope. What's going on? Your 815 00:42:07.719 --> 00:42:10.480 brother went through my things, Irene said, her voice sharp 816 00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:13.880 enough to cut glass. He broke into my office. The 817 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:16.320 door was open, Gregg said, calmly, and these were in 818 00:42:16.360 --> 00:42:19.920 the recycling bin. He handed me the envelope. In sight 819 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:23.760 were documents, the forest trust, amendments, deeds, transfer papers, all 820 00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:27.480 with mom's signature. That wasn't mom's signature. Those are private documents, 821 00:42:27.559 --> 00:42:31.760 Irene said, Private. I've felt something's nap inside me, like 822 00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:34.840 a guitar string wound too tight. These are forgeries with 823 00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:38.840 my dead mother's name on them. Private. He don't understand. 824 00:42:39.480 --> 00:42:41.719 Then explain it to me. I stepped closer, and she 825 00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:45.320 actually backed up. Explain why your signature is on documents 826 00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:48.840 transferring billions and family land. Explain why Mikoff was at 827 00:42:48.840 --> 00:42:52.119 mom's house when she died. Explain the three million dollars 828 00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:55.000 in the plane ticket to Hong Kong. The room went silent, 829 00:42:55.599 --> 00:42:58.400 even Molly's stock crying. He went through my things too, 830 00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:02.239 Irene said quietly, Yeah, I did, after my dog told 831 00:43:02.239 --> 00:43:05.199 me about your secret meetings. After I've found out you've 832 00:43:05.239 --> 00:43:07.639 been planning something called the Silicon Valley Project for six 833 00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:10.639 months after my mother mysterious he died right when you 834 00:43:10.719 --> 00:43:13.719 needed her to. Are you accusing me of I'm not 835 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:18.039 accusing you of anything. I'm just looking at facts. Mom's dead. 836 00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:21.639 You have forged documents, you have millions of dollars I 837 00:43:21.679 --> 00:43:24.880 didn't know about. You have an escape plan. What am 838 00:43:24.880 --> 00:43:27.519 I supposed to think? She looked at our daughters, then 839 00:43:27.559 --> 00:43:30.440 back at me. Not in front of them. They deserve 840 00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:33.760 to know what's happening to their family. Their family. Her 841 00:43:33.880 --> 00:43:38.480 voice rose, I'm their mother. I've raised them, love them 842 00:43:39.079 --> 00:43:41.239 while planning to steal their inheritance and run away to 843 00:43:41.239 --> 00:43:44.880 Hong Kong. She slapped me awed. The crack echoed through 844 00:43:44.880 --> 00:43:47.559 the room like a Gunshut my cheek burned, but I 845 00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:50.960 didn't move, didn't react. She stood there, looking at the stranger, 846 00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:54.800 wearing my wife's face. Mam. Molly rushed Tyrene, but Mary 847 00:43:54.840 --> 00:43:59.599 held her back. Don't, Marry said quietly, just don't. Irene's 848 00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:02.079 hand was shaking. She looked at it like a blung 849 00:44:02.199 --> 00:44:05.800 to someone else. I am sorry. I didn't mean. Yes 850 00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:08.880 you did, I said, And you know what, it's the 851 00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:11.840 most onnat thing you've done in months. She fled, then 852 00:44:12.079 --> 00:44:15.719 running upstairs. We heard the bedroom door slam, the low click. 853 00:44:16.480 --> 00:44:20.599 Deare your face. Molly said, it's fine, Midja. I pulled 854 00:44:20.639 -->

00:44:23.719 both girls into a hug. Everything's going to be fine, 855 00:44:24.360 --> 00:44:27.960 But over their heads I met Gregg's eyes, nothing was fine. 856 00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:31.920 Nothing might ever be fine again. That afternoon, while Irene 857 00:44:31.960 --> 00:44:34.440 stayed locked in our bedroom, I met with Rebecca Martinez. 858 00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:37.280 Her office was in a convert of Victorian in downtown 859 00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:40.599 San Jose, all modern furniture in old bones. She was 860 00:44:40.639 --> 00:44:43.360 younger than I expected, maybe thirty five, with shop eyes 861 00:44:43.360 --> 00:44:46.320 and a sharper suit. Gregg filled me in on the basics, 862 00:44:46.440 --> 00:44:49.440 she said, after I'd signed the retainer agreement, but I 863 00:44:49.519 --> 00:44:52.239 need to hear it from you everything, so I told 864 00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:55.079 her the whole twisted story from the first phone call 865 00:44:55.079 --> 00:44:56.760 about the trust of the slat that was still making 866 00:44:56.760 --> 00:44:59.480 my cheek throb. She took notes on a legal pad 867 00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:03.360 occasion asking for clarification, her face giving nothing away. The 868 00:45:03.400 --> 00:45:06.400 forged documents are good for us, she said, finally clear 869 00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:09.599 evidence of fraud. But the death, that's harder. Without a body, 870 00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:12.679 without an autopsy, you think she's dead, She looked at 871 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:15.639 me carefully. Do you think she's not? I don't know 872 00:45:15.639 --> 00:45:18.199 what to think any more. The funeral home had no 873 00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:21.480 record of her finger prints. The death certificate was signed 874 00:45:21.480 --> 00:45:24.840 by doctor. Nobody can find the body was cremated within 875 00:45:24.920 --> 00:45:28.519 twenty four hours, which is almost impossible without special circumstances. 876 00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:31.119 What are you saying? I am saying nothing makes sense 877 00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:33.000 and saying my mother was healthy as a horse a 878 00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:35.480 week ago, and now she supposedly dead and everything about 879 00:45:35.519 --> 00:45:37.760 it feels rom Beckett app to pen against the legal pad. 880 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:39.920 If she's alive, way, she that's the billion dollar question. 881 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:42.559 Litterly she almost smiled at that. Okay, here's what we do. First, 882 00:45:42.599 --> 00:45:44.840 we file an emergency in junction to freeze all property 883 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:48.000 transfers related to the trust. Second, we demand a full 884 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:51.880 investigation into your mother's death. Third, she pause. You need 885 00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:54.480 to be careful. If they've gone this far, they might 886 00:45:54.519 --> 00:45:57.920 go further. You think I'm in danger? I think five 887 00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:00.760 dollars two cents. Billy makes people do terrible things, and 888 00:46:00.840 --> 00:46:02.840 I think he should avoid being alone with you. Wife. 889 00:46:03.320 --> 00:46:06.159 That hit like cold water. My wife, the woman i'd 890 00:46:06.199 --> 00:46:08.440 slept next to for eighteen years, the mother of my children. 891 00:46:09.039 --> 00:46:12.280 She warden't, mister Watson. She's already done things you never 892 00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:15.880 thought she would, hasn't. She drive home felt longer than usual. 893 00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:18.559 Every red light gave me too much time to think 894 00:46:18.639 --> 00:46:21.159 about Irene's face when I confronted her about the slab 895 00:46:21.719 --> 00:46:24.760 about Rebecca Martinez, his warning. When I got home, the 896 00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:28.000 house was quiet. Gregg was in the kitchen making sandwiches 897 00:46:28.039 --> 00:46:30.239 with the mechanical precision of someone who needs something to 898 00:46:30.280 --> 00:46:33.880 do with their hands. Where is everyone? Irene left, took 899 00:46:33.880 --> 00:46:36.039 a bag, said she was staying with her father for 900 00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:39.679 a few days. The girls are in Mary's room. She left. 901 00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:43.360 Part of me was relieved, Part of me was terrified. 902 00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:46.639 Did she say anything else, just that you should call 903 00:46:46.679 --> 00:46:50.480 her when you're ready to be reasonable? Reasonable, like any 904 00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:53.679 of this was reasonable? I climbed the stairs to Mary's room. 905 00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:57.320 Both girls were on her bed, Molly curled up against 906 00:46:57.320 --> 00:46:59.880 her sister, both of them looking at something on mary 907 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.039 Mary's lap. Bop, Dad, look at this, Mary said. On 908 00:47:04.119 --> 00:47:06.039 the screen was a social media post from one of 909 00:47:06.039 --> 00:47:08.880 mom's church friends, a photo from two weeks ago, Mom 910 00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:12.039 at the farmer's market, smiling behind her tomato stand, the 911 00:47:12.119 --> 00:47:15.920 caption missing you already, Missess Garcia. Heaven gained an angel 912 00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:19.239 far too soon. Look at the comments, Mary said, scrolling down. 913 00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:23.320 She seems so healthy last week. I can't believe she's gone. 914 00:47:23.719 --> 00:47:27.760 This doesn't make sense. Something's not right about this. Other 915 00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:31.159 people see it too, Molly said quietly. It's not just 916 00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:34.280 as being paranoid. I sat on the bed, pulled them 917 00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:38.079 both close. No, it's not just us. Is Mom really 918 00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:41.559 trying to steal from us? Molly asked? How do you 919 00:47:41.599 --> 00:47:44.159 answer that? How do you tell your fourteen year old 920 00:47:44.199 --> 00:47:46.400 that her mother

might be a criminal. I don't know 921 00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.880 what Mom's trying to do, I said, finally, but I 922 00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:51.360 promise you both, I'm going to find out and I'm 923 00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:55.239 going to protect you. What about protecting mom? Molly's voice 924 00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:58.239 was small, I'll protect her too, if I can, but 925 00:47:58.360 --> 00:48:01.239 right now I need to protect you from her. That night, 926 00:48:01.400 --> 00:48:03.840 with Irene, Gonne and the girls finally asleep, Gregg and 927 00:48:03.880 --> 00:48:09.199 I sat in Mom's study, going through everything again, bank record, emails, photographs, documents, 928 00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:13.159 looking for the pattern, the thing we'd missed here, Gregg said, suddenly, 929 00:48:13.239 --> 00:48:15.880 look at this. It was a credit card statement for 930 00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:19.039 Mom's account, dated a week before her death, A charge 931 00:48:19.039 --> 00:48:22.000 for five hundred dollars at a medical supply company. What 932 00:48:22.039 --> 00:48:24.960 would mam need from a medical supply company? Gregg was 933 00:48:24.960 --> 00:48:27.800 already pulling up the company's website on his phone. They 934 00:48:27.800 --> 00:48:32.599 sell everything, wheel chairs, oxygen tanks, boh what He turned 935 00:48:32.639 --> 00:48:36.039 the phone toward me, sedatives, the kind use, and hospice care. 936 00:48:36.639 --> 00:48:39.559 The implications hung between us like a loaded gun. We 937 00:48:39.639 --> 00:48:41.599 need to find out who really signed for that order, 938 00:48:41.639 --> 00:48:44.039 I said, And we need to find out if Mom's 939 00:48:44.079 --> 00:48:47.840 really dead, Gregg added. Outside, a car drove slowly passed 940 00:48:47.840 --> 00:48:51.920 the house, then again five minutes later, then again, Gregg, 941 00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:54.840 I see it blocked Tesla. We turned off the lights, 942 00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:57.639 moved to the window. The car passed once more, then 943 00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:00.480 parked at the corner. We couldn't see to drive, but 944 00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:04.119 we didn't need to he's watching us, Greg said, let 945 00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:08.119 him watch tomorrow we start fighting back. But as I 946 00:49:08.199 --> 00:49:09.800 lay in bed that night, in the room that still 947 00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:12.280 smelled like Irene's perfume, I wondered if we were already 948 00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:14.239 too late, if the game was already over and we 949 00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:17.000 just didn't know it. Ar The last thing I remember 950 00:49:17.079 --> 00:49:19.400 before falling asleep was the sound of the Tessa finally 951 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:21.920 driving away, and the feeling that tomorrow would bring answers 952 00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:25.159 to questions I wasn't sure I wanted to ask. Chapter six. 953 00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:27.719 I woke a foray am to the sound of breaking glass. 954 00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:30.639 For a second, I thought I was dreaming that suspended 955 00:49:30.719 --> 00:49:33.000 moment where your brain hasn't quite caught up with your body. 956 00:49:33.559 --> 00:49:36.360 Then I heard it again, a deliberate crash from dance stairs. 957 00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:39.320 I grabbed the baseball batters, started keeping by the bed, 958 00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:42.440 and crept to the landing. Greg was already there, holding 959 00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:44.480 a golf club he must have found in the garage. 960 00:49:45.039 --> 00:49:49.679 Stay here, he whispered, I'll check like hell. We moved 961 00:49:49.719 --> 00:49:52.159 down the stairs together, brothers again, like when we were kids, 962 00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:55.480 sneaking down from midnut snacks, except now we were middle 963 00:49:55.519 --> 00:49:59.079 legged men with improvised weapons and racing hearts. The kitchen 964 00:49:59.079 --> 00:50:01.920 window was shadowed, glass sparkled on the floor like diamonds 965 00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:04.239 in the moonlight. And there on the kitchen table was 966 00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.039 a breck with a note rubber bandit to it. Stop digging. 967 00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:09.639 All your girls are next. My hand shook as I 968 00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:13.000 held the note. Not with fear, with rage, pure clean 969 00:50:13.079 --> 00:50:16.119 rais that burned through my chest like wildfire. We're calling 970 00:50:16.159 --> 00:50:20.119 the cops, Gregg said. Now I set the note down carefully. 971 00:50:20.679 --> 00:50:22.719 That's what they want. They want to paper trail the record. 972 00:50:22.719 --> 00:50:24.679 They want us to look crazy, paranoid. Some one just 973 00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:26.320 drew a brick through your window, and the cops will 974 00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:28.679 file a report and do nothing. Ye know how this works, Gregg. 975 00:50:28.719 --> 00:50:30.920 Money like this, they own people, maybe even caught. Gregg 976 00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:32.639 looked at me like I had lost it. Maybe I had, 977 00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:34.519 but I was started to understand the game. Now this 978 00:50:34.639 --> 00:50:36.599 wasn't about truth or justice. This was about power and 979 00:50:36.719 --> 00:50:38.519 who was willing to use it. Then what do we do? 980 00:50:39.159 --> 00:50:42.159 We dig deeper, and we dig faster. By sun rise, 981 00:50:42.280 --> 00:50:44.840 I boarded up a window and cleaned the glass. The 982 00:50:44.880 --> 00:50:46.800 girls didn't need to see this, didn't need to know 983 00:50:46.840 --> 00:50:49.920 about the threat. They were scared enough already, but Mary 984 00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:52.159 knew something was ron the moment she came down stairs. 985 00:50:52.719 --> 00:50:56.519 What happened to the winder Burghs? I lied, crow flew 986 00:50:56.599 --> 00:51:00.239 right into it happened sometimes. She gave me that look, 987 00:51:00.280 -->

00:51:01.760 the one that said she knew I was full of it, 988 00:51:01.760 --> 00:51:04.400 but would let it slide for now. After I dropped 989 00:51:04.400 --> 00:51:06.599 the girls at school, trying to pretend everything was normal, 990 00:51:06.639 --> 00:51:09.440 I drove to Malm's house. I had a key, had 991 00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:11.840 always had a key, but walking and felt like trespassing. 992 00:51:12.239 --> 00:51:14.440 The house still smelled like her coffee in cinnamon and 993 00:51:14.480 --> 00:51:17.320 that hand cream she always used. I found what I 994 00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:19.360 was looking for in her bedroom closet, a small safe 995 00:51:19.400 --> 00:51:22.880 i'd helped her install years ago. The combination was Dad's birthday. 996 00:51:22.920 --> 00:51:25.280 He'd been gone twelve years, but she never changed it. 997 00:51:25.840 --> 00:51:29.639 Inside were the usual things, some jewelry, important papers, old photographs, 998 00:51:29.679 --> 00:51:31.920 but there was also something new. A digital recorder the 999 00:51:31.960 --> 00:51:34.719 kind journalists use, and a note in MAM's handwriting for 1000 00:51:34.760 --> 00:51:38.000 a sherlock. If something happens to me, my heart stopped. 1001 00:51:38.639 --> 00:51:40.719 I sat on her bed, the recorder heavy in my hand, 1002 00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:44.400 and press play. Malm's voice filled the room. NEO, if 1003 00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:46.280 you're listening to this then they've done something to me. 1004 00:51:46.400 --> 00:51:49.920 I'm recording this on April second, twenty thirteen, two weeks ago, 1005 00:51:50.039 --> 00:51:52.840 I discovered that some one had been accessing my financial accounts. 1006 00:51:53.440 --> 00:51:56.199 The signatures didn't match. They were good forgeries, but I 1007 00:51:56.280 --> 00:51:58.760 know my own handwriting. I closed my eyes let her 1008 00:51:58.800 --> 00:52:02.559 voice wash over me. She sounded tired but determined. I 1009 00:52:02.639 --> 00:52:06.639 hired a private investigator. What he found Sherlock. Irene and 1010 00:52:06.639 --> 00:52:08.760 that man Thompson have been planning this for almost a year. 1011 00:52:09.320 --> 00:52:12.440 They've been slowly moving assets, creating shell companies, building a 1012 00:52:12.440 --> 00:52:15.320 paper trail that would give them everything. I confronted John 1013 00:52:15.360 --> 00:52:17.800 about it. He says he knew nothing, but I'm not 1014 00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:20.360 sure I believe him. There was a pause, the sound 1015 00:52:20.360 --> 00:52:23.119 of paper shuffling. I've hidden coppices of everything, the real 1016 00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:27.159 trust documents, the investigation reports, proof of the forgeries. They're 1017 00:52:27.159 --> 00:52:28.760 in the place where you used to hide your report 1018 00:52:28.760 --> 00:52:31.880 cards when you got bad grades. You remember, don't you. 1019 00:52:32.480 --> 00:52:35.639 I always knew about that

spot, Maho mutters, always know. 1020 00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:39.719 The recording crackled. I'm going to confront Irene to morrow. 1021 00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:42.000 Maybe I can reason with her for the sake of 1022 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:44.639 the girls. But if something happens to me if I 1023 00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:47.920 have a sudden actentnder illness, you'll know why. Take care 1024 00:52:47.920 --> 00:52:50.320 of my grand daughters. Tell them they be ill, A 1025 00:52:50.320 --> 00:52:53.440 love them more than all the stars. The recording ended. 1026 00:52:54.119 --> 00:52:55.920 I sat there for a long moment. My mothers were 1027 00:52:55.960 --> 00:52:58.960 still echoing in my ears. Then I went to the garage, 1028 00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:01.719 to the old work bench in the When I was ten, 1029 00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:03.199 I'd got in a dee in math and tried to 1030 00:53:03.239 --> 00:53:06.079 hide their report card behind a loose board. Mom had 1031 00:53:06.079 --> 00:53:08.559 never said anything, but now I knew she'd known all along. 1032 00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:12.039 The board came away easily. Behind it was a thick 1033 00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:17.119 envelope rafton plastic inside everything she promised, Bank records showing 1034 00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:21.079 the suspicious transfers, the private investigators report with photographs of 1035 00:53:21.119 --> 00:53:24.199 Irena Mikor for various meetings, and their real trust documents 1036 00:53:24.239 --> 00:53:27.199 notarized a witness leaving everything to me. But there was 1037 00:53:27.239 --> 00:53:30.079 more a second recorder with the day from just three 1038 00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:32.880 days before her death. They know I'm on to them. 1039 00:53:33.239 --> 00:53:37.039 Mom's voice was different now. Scared someone's been following me 1040 00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:40.199 a black car. I went to the police, but they 1041 00:53:40.239 --> 00:53:42.199 said without proof of a threat, there is nothing they 1042 00:53:42.199 --> 00:53:44.719 can do. I'm going to stay with my friend Carmen 1043 00:53:44.760 --> 00:53:47.519 for a few days. Let things cool down. But Sherlock, 1044 00:53:47.639 --> 00:53:50.719 if you're hearing this, be careful. These people are dangerous, 1045 00:53:50.760 --> 00:53:53.800 more dangerous than you know. My phone rang, startling me. 1046 00:53:54.440 --> 00:53:58.320 Rebecca Martinez, we have a problem, she said, without preamble. 1047 00:53:59.000 --> 00:54:01.800 Someone filed paper work this morning claiming power of attorney 1048 00:54:01.800 --> 00:54:05.079 over your mother's estate. They're saying she was mentally incompetent 1049 00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:09.880 before her death. That's insane. I have recordings. Bring everything 1050 00:54:09.880 --> 00:54:12.800 to my office now, and mister Watson take a different 1051 00:54:12.840 --> 00:54:15.599 rud than usual. I don't want to sound paranoi, but 1052 00:54:15.679 --> 00:54:19.719 someone threw a brick through my window last night. Silence, Then, 1053 00:54:19.800 --> 00:54:22.639 how soon can you be here? Twenty minutes later, I 1054 00:54:22.679 --> 00:54:25.400 was in Rebecca's office, the recordings playing on her laptop. 1055 00:54:25.960 --> 00:54:28.960 Her face got grimau with each revelation. This is good, 1056 00:54:29.119 --> 00:54:32.840 she said, finally, this is really good. But we need more. 1057 00:54:33.519 --> 00:54:37.039 We need to prove she was murdered. Oh, they cream 1058 00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:41.440 needed her. There's no body to examine. Maybe not, but 1059 00:54:41.480 --> 00:54:45.480 there might be medical records, witness statements, someone saw something. 1060 00:54:46.119 --> 00:54:51.239 Someone always does. My phone buzzed a text from Mary Dad. 1061 00:54:51.719 --> 00:54:55.320 Mom's at school. She's trying to check us averally, They 1062 00:54:55.320 --> 00:54:57.960 won't let her without your permission. What do I do? 1063 00:54:58.599 --> 00:55:01.639 I have to go, I said, be careful, Rebecca called 1064 00:55:01.679 --> 00:55:03.679 after me. I drove to the school faster than I 1065 00:55:03.679 --> 00:55:06.519 should have, my mind racing. Why was Irene trying to 1066 00:55:06.559 --> 00:55:09.880 take the girls? Was she running? Was this the next 1067 00:55:09.880 --> 00:55:12.440 move in whatever game we were playing? I found her 1068 00:55:12.440 --> 00:55:15.079 in the principal's office, looking perfectly composed at a business 1069 00:55:15.119 --> 00:55:18.880 suit I'd never seen before. The principal, Missess Davidson, looked 1070 00:55:18.880 --> 00:55:21.880 relieved to see me. Mister Watson, your wife was just 1071 00:55:21.920 --> 00:55:25.880 explaining that there's a family emergency. There's no emergency, I said, 1072 00:55:25.960 --> 00:55:30.000 not looking at Irene. The girls were staying in school sherlock. 1073 00:55:30.199 --> 00:55:32.559 Irene's voice was honey sweet, the voice she used when 1074 00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:35.519 she wanted something. We need to talk as a family. 1075 00:55:36.039 --> 00:55:38.559 We're not a family any more. You ended that when 1076 00:55:38.559 --> 00:55:40.480 you decided to rob my mother and maybe kill her. 1077 00:55:41.039 --> 00:55:44.400 Missus Davidson's eyes went wide. Perhaps we should I wander 1078 00:55:44.480 --> 00:55:47.719 restraining order, I said, She's not allowed near my daughters 1079 00:55:47.719 --> 00:55:51.239 without supervision. You can't do that, Irene said, the sweetness cracking. 1080 00:55:51.719 --> 00:55:54.199 They are my children too, are they? Because you were 1081 00:55:54.199 --> 00:55:56.280 ready to leave them for Hong Kong, and three million dollars. 1082 00:55:56.320 --> 00:55:59.039 Mister Watson, Missus Watson pleased. Missus Davidson stood up. This 1083 00:55:59.159 --> 00:56:01.519 is a school matter now until there's a legal custody agreement. 1084 00:56:01.559 --> 00:56:03.840 Both

patents of equal right. But given attention, I am 1085 00:56:03.880 --> 00:56:05.559 going to ask you both to leave and soort this 1086 00:56:05.599 --> 00:56:07.840 out elsewhere in a parking lot. Irene grabbed my arm. 1087 00:56:08.440 --> 00:56:11.239 You don't understand what you're doing. I shook her off 1088 00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:15.199 A lighten me. This is bigger than you think. These 1089 00:56:15.199 --> 00:56:19.440 people microff T has connections, political connections, legal connections. If 1090 00:56:19.480 --> 00:56:22.880 you keep pushing what they'll throw another brick through my window. 1091 00:56:23.519 --> 00:56:26.960 Our face went pale. What last night? A brick with 1092 00:56:27.039 --> 00:56:30.599 a thread about the girls? I've studdied her face. You 1093 00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:33.960 didn't know, no, I Sherlock listened to me. I never 1094 00:56:33.960 --> 00:56:36.239 wanted it to go this far. It was supposed to 1095 00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:40.480 be simple, just some paperwork, some transfers. Your mother wasn't 1096 00:56:40.480 --> 00:56:44.280 supposed to wasn't supposed to what die? She lived away? 1097 00:56:44.920 --> 00:56:48.320 She wasn't supposed to find out, but she did, and 1098 00:56:48.400 --> 00:56:51.199 then she conveniently had a stroke. I didn't know he 1099 00:56:51.280 --> 00:56:55.360 was going to. She stopped herself going to what say it? Irene? 1100 00:56:55.920 --> 00:56:59.880 Say what? Mac groff. Did I can't coun't or won't. 1101 00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:02.559 She looked at me, then really looked at me, and 1102 00:57:02.599 --> 00:57:05.320 for a moment I saw the woman I married, scared, desperate, 1103 00:57:05.400 --> 00:57:09.320 drowning in something she couldn't control both. She whispered, If 1104 00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:12.599 I tell you we're all dead, you, me, the girls. 1105 00:57:13.239 --> 00:57:15.599 He won't let us live with what we know. Then 1106 00:57:15.639 --> 00:57:18.280 we need to stop him. First, she laughed, bitter and broken. 1107 00:57:18.840 --> 00:57:23.039 You can't stop him. He owns judges, cops, politicians. Why 1108 00:57:23.039 --> 00:57:25.239 do you think I was running? It wasn't from you, 1109 00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:27.719 it was from him. Then help me tell me everything. 1110 00:57:27.760 --> 00:57:29.519 She shook her head. I can't im into deep. The 1111 00:57:29.559 --> 00:57:32.000 only thing I canduce disappeared, and hope he doesn't follow. 1112 00:57:32.039 --> 00:57:33.800 What about the girls? Take them, keep them safe, get 1113 00:57:33.800 --> 00:57:35.800 them out of California if you can. She started walking 1114 00:57:35.800 --> 00:57:37.760 toward a car. Then turn back for wad it to worth? 1115 00:57:37.800 --> 00:57:40.199 I did love you before all this. I loved you 1116 00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:42.920 in our life and our family. But five dollars two 1117 00:57:42.960 --> 00:57:47.320 cents billion it changes people. It changed me. It didn't

1118 00:57:47.360 --> 00:57:50.880 change you, Irene, it revealed you. She flinched like I 1119 00:57:50.880 --> 00:57:53.360 had slapped her. Then she got in her Tessla and 1120 00:57:53.400 --> 00:57:55.920 drove away. I stood in that parking lot for a 1121 00:57:55.960 --> 00:57:59.079 long time, trying to process what had just happened. Irene 1122 00:57:59.159 --> 00:58:01.880 was scared, really scared, which meant Mikroff was more dangerous 1123 00:58:01.880 --> 00:58:05.239 than I'd thought. My phone ran brag, you need to 1124 00:58:05.239 --> 00:58:10.360 come home now. What's wrong. John Martinez is here, Irene's father, 1125 00:58:10.480 --> 00:58:12.920 and he's got something you need to see. I found 1126 00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:15.119 John in my living room, looking older than his seventy 1127 00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:18.360 eight years. His hand shook as held him an ill envelope. 1128 00:58:18.840 --> 00:58:20.840 I didn't know, he said, as soon as he saw me, 1129 00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:23.000 I swear on my wife's grave. I didn't know what 1130 00:58:23.039 --> 00:58:27.199 they were planning, but you knew something. He nodded. Irene 1131 00:58:27.239 --> 00:58:29.639 came to me six months ago, said there was an 1132 00:58:29.639 --> 00:58:32.719 opportunity to secure the girl's future. Said, your mother was 1133 00:58:32.719 --> 00:58:36.119 getting old, might not be competent to manage such valuable assets. 1134 00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:39.440 I thought. I thought she meant power of attorney, something legal, 1135 00:58:40.119 --> 00:58:42.639 and he handed me the envelope. I found these in 1136 00:58:42.679 --> 00:58:45.519 Irene's old room. She's been staying with me, but she 1137 00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:48.760 left this morning, packed everything in ran. These were hidden 1138 00:58:48.760 --> 00:58:52.079 in her closet. Inside were photographs, surveillance photos of my 1139 00:58:52.159 --> 00:58:54.880 mother at the grocery store at the bank church, dozens 1140 00:58:54.880 --> 00:58:58.400 of them dated over the past two months. Jesus Gregg breed, 1141 00:58:59.119 --> 00:59:02.679 there's more, John's said. He pulled out a second envelope, smaller, 1142 00:59:02.719 --> 00:59:06.719 a letter from Mikroff to Irene. The letter was typed undated. Ay, 1143 00:59:06.840 --> 00:59:10.480 the old woman knows. Move up the timeline. The doctor 1144 00:59:10.599 --> 00:59:13.000 is ready. Five hundred dollars k transferred to is came 1145 00:59:13.000 --> 00:59:16.000 an account. Make sure you have an alibi for Thursday night. 1146 00:59:16.559 --> 00:59:19.880 We'll handle the rest. M Thursday night, the night mom died. 1147 00:59:20.559 --> 00:59:24.480 This is evidence of murder, Gregg said. John nodded. That's 1148 00:59:24.480 --> 00:59:26.480 why I brought it to you instead of her. My daughter. 1149 00:59:27.199 --> 00:59:29.199 She's lost her way, but I will let her destroy 1150 00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:33.239 more lives. Will you testify to this if it keeps 1151 00:59:33.239 --> 00:59:36.679 my granddaughter safe? Yes, it might mean Irene goes to prison. 1152 00:59:37.239 --> 00:59:40.840 His face crumpled. She made her choice. Now I'm making mine. 1153 00:59:41.360 --> 00:59:43.559 That night, with the girls safely at Gregg's hotel, I 1154 00:59:43.639 --> 00:59:46.880 wasn't taking any chances. I met with Rebecca Martinez and 1155 00:59:46.920 --> 00:59:50.039 a detective she trusted, David Kim. We laid out everything, 1156 00:59:50.119 --> 00:59:54.000 the recordings, the photographs, the letter, John's testimony. This is 1157 00:59:54.119 --> 00:59:57.480 enough for a warrant, Kim said, maybe enough to rest Thompson, 1158 00:59:57.559 --> 01:00:00.639 but we need to move fast if he knows we're 1159 01:00:00.679 --> 01:00:03.920 on to him. He knows, I said, the breakthrough my 1160 01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:07.440 window told me that. Then we move to night. I'll 1161 01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:10.800 get a judged sign, an emergency warrant. We arrest Thompson, 1162 01:00:10.880 --> 01:00:14.559 freeze all the accounts, stop any transfers. What about my mother? 1163 01:00:15.280 --> 01:00:18.760 Can we prove she was murdered? Kim and Rebecca exchanged looks. 1164 01:00:19.440 --> 01:00:23.000 There's something else, Kim said slowly. The crematorium has no 1165 01:00:23.039 --> 01:00:25.639 record of cremating a body that night. They say the 1166 01:00:25.639 --> 01:00:30.280 funeral home never delivered one. The room tilted. What Either 1167 01:00:30.320 --> 01:00:33.400 someone falsified the crematorium makers or or my mother's body 1168 01:00:33.480 --> 01:00:37.159 was never cremated. I stood up, pacing, Where is she? 1169 01:00:37.840 --> 01:00:41.400 If she's not cremated, where is her body? We're investigating, 1170 01:00:41.480 --> 01:00:44.800 Kim promised, but right now we focus on Thompson, one 1171 01:00:44.840 --> 01:00:47.760 step at a time. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. 1172 01:00:48.280 --> 01:00:51.000 Where was my mother? Was she in some a marked grave, 1173 01:00:51.119 --> 01:00:53.800 hidden away or in This thought made my head spin? 1174 01:00:54.159 --> 01:00:59.199 Was she still alive somewhere? My phone buzzed, I know number, ulloh, 1175 01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:04.320 missus Watson. A woman's voice accent to nervous. My name 1176 01:01:04.360 --> 01:01:08.320 is Carmen Delgado. I was a friend of your mother's, Carmen, 1177 01:01:08.440 --> 01:01:11.519 the friend Mam mentioned in her recording. She was supposed 1178 01:01:11.519 --> 01:01:14.400 to stay with you. I said yes, but she never came. 1179 01:01:15.039 --> 01:01:17.639 I waited, But mister Watson, I think I know where 1180 01:01:17.639 --> 01:01:21.559 your mother is. Chap seven commons were echoed in my 1181 01:01:21.599 --> 01:01:22.920 head as I drove to meet her at an all 1182 01:01:23.039 --> 01:01:25.920 night diner in Melpito's. I think I know where your 1183 01:01:25.960 -->

01:01:28.800 mother is. Gregg wanted to come, but I needed him 1184 01:01:28.840 --> 01:01:32.079 to stay with the girls. The detective Kim offered back up, 1185 01:01:32.079 --> 01:01:33.719 but come, and had been clear, come alone or she 1186 01:01:33.719 --> 01:01:36.519 wouldn't talk. The Dino was one of those twenty four 1187 01:01:36.559 --> 01:01:39.719 ile places that survived on truckers and insomniacs for recent 1188 01:01:39.800 --> 01:01:42.960 lights harsh against red vinyl booths. Carmen was in the 1189 01:01:42.960 --> 01:01:45.679 back corner, a small woman in her seventies, woorry lines 1190 01:01:45.719 --> 01:01:48.800 deep around her eyes. You looked like your father, she said, 1191 01:01:48.800 --> 01:01:51.800 as I slid into the booth. You knew him. We 1192 01:01:51.840 --> 01:01:54.800 all knew each other back then, your parents, my husband 1193 01:01:54.920 --> 01:01:57.000 and me. We were young together in this valley when 1194 01:01:57.000 --> 01:01:59.000 it was still about growing things instead of coding them. 1195 01:01:59.480 --> 01:02:02.039 The waists or coffee without asking, the kind of service 1196 01:02:02.079 --> 01:02:04.360 that comes from seeing the same faces at the same irons. 1197 01:02:05.039 --> 01:02:08.719 Tell me about my mother, I said. Carmen wrapped her 1198 01:02:08.719 --> 01:02:10.840 hands around her mug like she was called despite the war. 1199 01:02:11.000 --> 01:02:14.280 Night two weeks ago, she called me frightened, said someone 1200 01:02:14.360 --> 01:02:17.119 was following her, that she'd discovered something terrible about Irene, 1201 01:02:17.519 --> 01:02:22.280 the fraud. More than that, Carmen leaned forward. She said, 1202 01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:25.400 Irene wasn't just stealing money. She was involved with dangerous people, 1203 01:02:25.559 --> 01:02:28.239 people who laundered money through to companies who made problems 1204 01:02:28.280 --> 01:02:33.199 disappear Micoff Thompson, among others. Your mother had names, dates, 1205 01:02:33.400 --> 01:02:36.599 evidence of money from overseas, from Curteil's. Maybe she was 1206 01:02:36.639 --> 01:02:40.400 going to the FBI. My blood ran cold. The FBI. 1207 01:02:41.280 --> 01:02:44.440 She had an appointment Thursday morning, but Wednesday night she 1208 01:02:44.519 --> 01:02:48.480 had a stroke. Supposedly Carmen shook her head. I don't 1209 01:02:48.480 --> 01:02:51.119 think she ever made it home Wednesday night. I think 1210 01:02:51.159 --> 01:02:55.000 they took her then. Where there's a private medical facility 1211 01:02:55.039 --> 01:02:58.320 in the mountains above Saratoga, very exclusive, very discreet, the 1212 01:02:58.400 --> 01:03:00.639 kind of place wealthy families per relis. They want to 1213 01:03:00.639 --> 01:03:02.280 forget her. But she pulled out a piece of paper 1214 01:03:02.320 --> 01:03:03.960 with an address. I of a friend who works there 1215 01:03:03.960 --> 01:03:06.000 in housekeeping. Yesterday she told me they brought in a 1216 01:03:06.000 --> 01:03:08.280 woman last week's dated. No visitors allowed the name, and 1217 01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:10.400 the chart was false, but the description. I stared at 1218 01:03:10.400 --> 01:03:12.519 the address. You think my mother's alive. I pray she is, 1219 01:03:12.559 --> 01:03:14.800 mister Watson, she's a good woman. She deserves better than 1220 01:03:14.840 --> 01:03:17.400 whatever they've done to her. I left cash on the 1221 01:03:17.440 --> 01:03:19.559 table and stood to go, but come and caught my hand. 1222 01:03:20.199 --> 01:03:22.840 Be careful. These people live, killed for less than what 1223 01:03:22.920 --> 01:03:25.920 your mother knew. The drought Saratoga took thirty minutes. That 1224 01:03:26.000 --> 01:03:29.119 felt like I was I called Gregg, told him everything, 1225 01:03:29.239 --> 01:03:31.239 made him promise to keep the girl safe no matter 1226 01:03:31.239 --> 01:03:34.719 what happened. You can't go alone, he said. If I 1227 01:03:34.800 --> 01:03:36.800 show up with cops and she's not there, we lose 1228 01:03:36.800 --> 01:03:39.480 our chance if she is there. If she is there, 1229 01:03:39.599 --> 01:03:43.039 you'll need help getting her out. He was right. I 1230 01:03:43.159 --> 01:03:45.480 called Detective Kim, gave him the address, told him to 1231 01:03:45.480 --> 01:03:47.360 be ready, but not to move until I confirmed mom 1232 01:03:47.400 --> 01:03:50.360 was there. The facility was hidden behind tall hedges and 1233 01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:53.519 a discreet sign mount In view on this retreat, it 1234 01:03:53.559 --> 01:03:56.159 looked more like a mansion than a medical facility. All 1235 01:03:56.159 --> 01:03:59.440 warm lights and expensive landscaping. I part down the road, 1236 01:03:59.519 --> 01:04:02.000 climb the fence like I was sixteen again, and sneaking 1237 01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:04.800 into the community pool. The grounds were quiet, just the 1238 01:04:04.800 --> 01:04:06.880 distant hum of air conditioning and the occasional sweep of 1239 01:04:06.920 --> 01:04:09.920 security cameras. I avoided the main entrance, circling to what 1240 01:04:09.960 --> 01:04:12.519 looked like a service door. It was locked, but the 1241 01:04:12.559 --> 01:04:15.280 window next to it wasn't. Mom always said I'd make 1242 01:04:15.280 --> 01:04:18.760 a terrible criminal, too honest, too obvious, But desperation is 1243 01:04:18.800 --> 01:04:21.440 a hell of a teacher. Inside was a hallway that 1244 01:04:21.480 --> 01:04:24.800 smelt of industrial cleaning products, and that particular stillness of 1245 01:04:24.840 --> 01:04:28.119 places that never opened their windows. I could hear voices somewhere, 1246 01:04:28.199 --> 01:04:31.480 television sounds, the squeak of wheels on linoleum. Room by 1247 01:04:31.559 --> 01:04:35.639 room I searched. Most were empty, some had patients, elderly, confused, 1248 01:04:35.760 --> 01:04:39.119

lost in their own worlds. None were my mother. Then 1249 01:04:39.119 --> 01:04:41.159 at the end of a wing mark restricted, I found 1250 01:04:41.159 --> 01:04:43.440 a door with non implate, just a number two hundred 1251 01:04:43.480 --> 01:04:46.960 thirty seven. The door was locked, of course it was, 1252 01:04:47.719 --> 01:04:51.239 but the old credit card trick actually worked. Apparently expensive 1253 01:04:51.239 --> 01:04:54.840 facilities don't always have expensive locks. The room was dim, 1254 01:04:55.119 --> 01:04:57.039 just the green glow of medical equipment and the soft 1255 01:04:57.079 --> 01:05:00.159 beap of monitors. And there in the bed too, and 1256 01:05:00.199 --> 01:05:03.239 wires connecting her to machines was my mother alive. I 1257 01:05:03.320 --> 01:05:06.079 rushed to her side, took her hand. It was warm, thin, 1258 01:05:06.199 --> 01:05:12.199 but warm. Mam, mam, it's me, it's sholoc Her eyes 1259 01:05:12.199 --> 01:05:14.800 fluttered but didn't open. There was an Roman four in 1260 01:05:14.840 --> 01:05:17.039 her arm, a steady drip of something keeping her under. 1261 01:05:17.599 --> 01:05:19.760 I pulled out my phone, took pictures of her, the room, 1262 01:05:19.960 --> 01:05:22.119 the chart at the foot of her bed. The chot 1263 01:05:22.159 --> 01:05:25.039 listed her as Jane Doe, admitted for acute psychiatric distress, 1264 01:05:25.039 --> 01:05:29.000 REQUIRER and sedition. Rage burned threw me. They kidnapped her, 1265 01:05:29.199 --> 01:05:31.400 drote her, hidden her away while telling the world she 1266 01:05:31.440 --> 01:05:35.519 was dead and for what money land that had been 1267 01:05:35.519 --> 01:05:39.239 in our family for generations. I'm getting you out of here, mam, 1268 01:05:39.320 --> 01:05:43.760 I whispered, I don't think so. I spun around. Mickroff 1269 01:05:43.800 --> 01:05:46.039 Thompson stood in the doorway, not a silver hair out 1270 01:05:46.039 --> 01:05:48.239 of place, looking like heat stepped out of a boarder 1271 01:05:48.360 --> 01:05:52.280 mother than into a kidnapping scene. Hello, Sholock, I wondered 1272 01:05:52.280 --> 01:05:54.880 when you'd figure it out. The son of a bitch. 1273 01:05:55.679 --> 01:05:59.920 Now now let's be civilized. Your mother is receiving excellent care. 1274 01:06:00.599 --> 01:06:03.360 The sedation is for her own good. She was quite 1275 01:06:03.360 --> 01:06:06.599 agitated when she arrived. You mean when you kidnapped her? 1276 01:06:07.119 --> 01:06:11.400 He shrugged, such an ugly word. I prefer relocated for 1277 01:06:11.480 --> 01:06:15.840 her safety. She was making wild accusations, clearly suffering from dementia. 1278 01:06:16.360 --> 01:06:20.000 We had a responsibility to ensure she got proper treatment dementia. 1279 01:06:20.639 --> 01:06:24.199 She was sharp as attack, was she because I have 1280 01:06:24.239 --> 01:06:28.599 three doctors who will testify otherwise. Amazing what medical professionals 1281

01:06:28.639 --> 01:06:31.360 will say for the right price. I moved between him 1282 01:06:31.440 --> 01:06:35.559 and mom's bed. It's over, mac Grift. I have the recordings, 1283 01:06:35.559 --> 01:06:38.639 the evidence, everything. The police are already on their way, 1284 01:06:39.239 --> 01:06:42.599 are they? He checked his watch. I don't think so. 1285 01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:46.599 You see, Detective Kim works for me, has for years, 1286 01:06:47.239 --> 01:06:50.639 very expensive, but worth every penny. He's probably telling your 1287 01:06:50.639 --> 01:06:52.719 brother right now that this was all a fall's alarm. 1288 01:06:53.320 --> 01:06:57.840 My phone buzzed. Gregg Kim just left, said the facility 1289 01:06:57.920 --> 01:07:01.639 was empty. What's going on? Microff smiled at my depression. 1290 01:07:02.159 --> 01:07:05.559 You really thought you could win this. I own this valley, Sherlock. 1291 01:07:06.239 --> 01:07:08.760 The police, the judges, the politicians, they all danced to 1292 01:07:08.800 --> 01:07:12.480 my tune. Not all of them, enough of them. He 1293 01:07:12.519 --> 01:07:15.280 stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Here's 1294 01:07:15.320 --> 01:07:17.719 what's going to happen. You are going to sign over 1295 01:07:17.760 --> 01:07:20.599 power of attorney for your mother's estate. Then you're going 1296 01:07:20.639 --> 01:07:24.280 to take your daughter's and leave California. In exchange, your 1297 01:07:24.280 --> 01:07:26.880 mother alived, continues to receive the best care money can buy, 1298 01:07:27.000 --> 01:07:29.760 maybe even wakes up some day. And if I refuse, 1299 01:07:30.480 --> 01:07:34.119 then this becomes a murder suicide Distraughtsun couldn't handle his 1300 01:07:34.199 --> 01:07:37.960 mother's death, killed his family, then himself. Tragic, But these 1301 01:07:37.960 --> 01:07:42.920 things happen. You're insane. I'm practical. Five dollars two cents 1302 01:07:42.920 --> 01:07:46.039 billion buys a law of practicality. I heard footsteps in 1303 01:07:46.079 --> 01:07:49.960 the hall, multiple sets, heavy, purposeful. My security team, Microft 1304 01:07:50.000 --> 01:07:53.400 explained ex military, very efficient. I looked at mom so 1305 01:07:53.480 --> 01:07:56.400 still in that beaar Then back at Mickroft. He made 1306 01:07:56.400 --> 01:08:01.559 one mistake. Oh, I held up my phone streaming everything 1307 01:08:01.599 --> 01:08:03.360 you just said went straight to the cloud in about 1308 01:08:03.360 --> 01:08:07.239 a dozen backup servers. My brother's watching right now. So 1309 01:08:07.400 --> 01:08:09.760 is the real FBI, the ones my mother contacted before 1310 01:08:09.760 --> 01:08:14.719 you took her. His smile faltered. You're bluffing am I 1311 01:08:14.760 --> 01:08:17.960 want about five dollars two cents bullion on it. The 1312 01:08:18.000 --> 01:08:20.640 door burst open, but instead of microff security, it was 1313 01:08:20.680 --> 01:08:25.039 actual FBI agents. Badge's out, guns drawn, Mickroff Thompson. You're 1314 01:08:25.079 --> 01:08:28.199 under arrest for kidnapping Fraught and conspiracy to commit murder. 1315 01:08:28.840 --> 01:08:31.960 Look on his face was worth everything. Shar Rage, then 1316 01:08:32.000 --> 01:08:35.079 a cold calculation as he realized he'd lost. You've no 1317 01:08:35.159 --> 01:08:37.319 idea what you've done, he said, as they cuffed him. 1318 01:08:37.840 --> 01:08:41.199 The people I work with, they don't forgive, they don't forget. 1319 01:08:41.760 --> 01:08:44.199 Then they can find me in witness protection, I said, 1320 01:08:44.840 --> 01:08:46.880 as they led him away. I turned back to Mom. 1321 01:08:47.399 --> 01:08:49.760 A doctor, a real doctor brought by the FBI, was 1322 01:08:49.840 --> 01:08:53.520 checking her vitals, preparing to safely bring sedation. It'll take time, 1323 01:08:53.600 --> 01:08:56.479 she said, the drugs that you shall need to detoc slowly, 1324 01:08:56.560 --> 01:08:59.039 but she should make a full recovery. I sat by 1325 01:08:59.039 --> 01:09:00.880 Mom's bed, holding her hand, and as the room filled 1326 01:09:00.880 --> 01:09:05.439 with federal agents and real medical personnel, my phone rang constantly, Gregg, 1327 01:09:05.520 --> 01:09:09.039 the Girls, Rebecca Martinez. But I didn't answer, not yet. 1328 01:09:09.760 --> 01:09:12.720 I just sat there watching my mother breathe, alive and safe, 1329 01:09:12.880 --> 01:09:15.279 while outside the window, the Santa Clara volley spoiled in 1330 01:09:15.319 --> 01:09:17.920 all its complicated glory, the place where orange groves became 1331 01:09:17.960 --> 01:09:21.319 silicon dreams, where a family land became billions, where grief 1332 01:09:21.319 --> 01:09:24.479 could make monsters of anyone. We got you, mam, I whispered, 1333 01:09:25.079 --> 01:09:28.600 we got you back. Our fingers tightened slightly around mine. 1334 01:09:29.079 --> 01:09:31.920 Maybe I imagined it, maybe not. But I chose to 1335 01:09:31.960 --> 01:09:34.399 believe she heard me. Chose to believe we'd won this round, 1336 01:09:35.039 --> 01:09:36.840 even though I knew Macroff was right about one thing. 1337 01:09:36.880 --> 01:09:41.039 This wasn't over. It was just beginning. Chapter eight. The 1338 01:09:41.159 --> 01:09:43.399 FBI safe house in Redwood City didn't look like much 1339 01:09:43.399 --> 01:09:45.319 from the outside, a Baij ranch house in a neighborhood 1340 01:09:45.319 --> 01:09:46.960 full of them, the kind of place you drive past 1341 01:09:46.960 --> 01:09:50.079 a thousand times and never notice. That was the point. 1342 01:09:50.760 --> 01:09:52.920 Mom had been conscious for three days. Now there's dull 1343 01:09:52.960 --> 01:09:55.279 week from whatever cocktail of drugs they pumped into her. 1344 01:09:55.920 --> 01:09:58.079 She sat in a recliner by the window, watching the 1345 01:09:58.079 --> 01:10:01.000 street like she was

re learning, while freedom looked. You 1346 01:10:01.000 --> 01:10:03.439 should eat something, I said, bringing her the soup Kregg 1347 01:10:03.439 --> 01:10:06.800 had made. I'm not hungry, eat miho. But she took 1348 01:10:06.800 --> 01:10:10.039 the ball anyway, her hands still shaky. Mary and Molly 1349 01:10:10.079 --> 01:10:12.840 were at the kitchen table, supposedly doing homework but really 1350 01:10:12.920 --> 01:10:15.640 just needing to be near their grandmother. We told them 1351 01:10:15.680 --> 01:10:18.720 she'd been very sick in a special hospital. The truth 1352 01:10:18.760 --> 01:10:20.960 that she had been kidnapped and forcedly sedated for a 1353 01:10:20.960 --> 01:10:23.640 week seemed too heavy for them to carry any word 1354 01:10:23.640 --> 01:10:27.600 from the lawyers. Man must Rebecca's meeting with the federal 1355 01:10:27.600 --> 01:10:30.840 prosecutor to day. They're building the case against Miekroff and 1356 01:10:30.920 --> 01:10:36.000 everyone involved, and Irene I couldn't meet her eyes still missing. 1357 01:10:36.600 --> 01:10:38.800 It had been four days since Maekroff's arrest, and my 1358 01:10:38.840 --> 01:10:42.920 wife had furnished like smoke. Her father, John called daily, 1359 01:10:43.000 --> 01:10:45.720 but he hadn't heard from her either. The FBI had 1360 01:10:45.760 --> 01:10:48.840 alerts out, but Irene knew how to disappear. She'd been 1361 01:10:48.840 --> 01:10:53.960 planning it for months. My phone buzzed, Rebecca Martinez. We 1362 01:10:54.039 --> 01:10:57.359 have a problem, she said, without preamble. Macroff made bail 1363 01:10:58.039 --> 01:11:02.079 what oh ten million cash posted by a shell company. 1364 01:11:02.119 --> 01:11:05.680 We cantrees he's out. Sholock and his lawyers already file 1365 01:11:05.760 --> 01:11:07.960 motions to dismiss based on a legal search and seizure. 1366 01:11:08.600 --> 01:11:10.520 I moved to the other room so ma'am wouldn't hear, 1367 01:11:11.119 --> 01:11:14.439 that's bullshit. We had probable cause, I know, but he's 1368 01:11:14.479 --> 01:11:17.039 got three former Supreme Court clerks on his legal team. 1369 01:11:17.600 --> 01:11:20.279 They're going to fight this with everything they have. Where 1370 01:11:20.359 --> 01:11:24.760 is he now? House arrests, supposedly, ankle monitor and everything. 1371 01:11:24.840 --> 01:11:27.960 But what people like Mickroff don't really do how's arrest? 1372 01:11:28.600 --> 01:11:30.760 They have people who are them favorers, judges who go 1373 01:11:30.920 --> 01:11:34.520 for the country clubs. Be careful. After I hung up, 1374 01:11:34.520 --> 01:11:37.039 I found Gregg in the garage cleaning his gun. He'd 1375 01:11:37.039 --> 01:11:39.479 had a concealed carry permit for years, but I'd never 1376 01:11:39.520 --> 01:11:42.439 seen him actually handle the women until this week. Mac 1377 01:11:42.479 --> 01:11:46.199 Croff's out. I said. He didn't look surprised. Figure that 1378 01:11:46.239 --> 01:11:49.960 would happen. Money like that doesn't stay in jail. Rebecca 1379 01:11:50.000 --> 01:11:53.000 thinks were still safe the FBI. The FBI can't keep 1380 01:11:53.079 --> 01:11:55.479 him locked up for a week. You really think they 1381 01:11:55.520 --> 01:11:59.319 can protect us? He was right. I knew he was right. 1382 01:12:00.039 --> 01:12:05.359 But what was the alternative? One hat forever that Mary 1383 01:12:05.399 --> 01:12:07.880 stood in the doorway, her face pale. There's some one 1384 01:12:07.920 --> 01:12:10.159 on the news you need to see. We gathered in 1385 01:12:10.199 --> 01:12:13.439 the living room around the television. On the screen was Irene, 1386 01:12:13.439 --> 01:12:16.000 looking polished and professional in a blue suait sitting across 1387 01:12:16.000 --> 01:12:19.760 from a Sienna and anchor, allegations against me are completely fabricated. 1388 01:12:19.880 --> 01:12:22.600 She was saying, my husband is suffering from a mental 1389 01:12:22.640 --> 01:12:26.439 breakdown following his mother's death. He's made wild accusations against 1390 01:12:26.479 --> 01:12:29.680 several prominent business figures, including mister Thompson, who was only 1391 01:12:29.680 --> 01:12:32.239 trying to help our family through a difficult time. But 1392 01:12:32.319 --> 01:12:36.079 what about the evidence of forgery, the anchor asked, The 1393 01:12:36.199 --> 01:12:38.479 FBI seems to think the FBI was misled by my 1394 01:12:38.560 --> 01:12:42.279 husband's delusions. The truth is, Sherlock has struggled with paranoid 1395 01:12:42.319 --> 01:12:45.920 episodes before. I've tried to get him help, but he refuses. 1396 01:12:46.640 --> 01:12:49.399 Now he's drived our children into his fantasies, and frankly, 1397 01:12:49.439 --> 01:12:51.960 I fear for their safety. I threw the remote at 1398 01:12:51.960 --> 01:12:56.319 the wall. A chattered battery is flying. She's lying, Molly shouted, 1399 01:12:56.920 --> 01:13:00.760 Mom's lying on TV. Why would you do this? Mary's 1400 01:13:00.840 --> 01:13:04.119 voice was small, broken. Mom stood up, shaky but determined 1401 01:13:04.680 --> 01:13:07.479 because she's trying to control the narrative. If she can 1402 01:13:07.520 --> 01:13:10.800 convince people you're crazy, Sherlock, then nothing ye say matters 1403 01:13:11.239 --> 01:13:15.399 my phone mir An Rebecca again, I'm watching, I said, 1404 01:13:15.720 --> 01:13:19.399 it gets worse. She's filed for emergency custody of the girls, 1405 01:13:19.439 --> 01:13:23.600 claiming you unstable and dangerous. She abandoned em. She's saying 1406 01:13:23.680 --> 01:13:26.359 she left for her safety, that YE threatened her. There's 1407 01:13:26.359 --> 01:13:28.840 a hearing to morrow. I looked at my daughter as 1408 01:13:28.880 --> 01:13:31.039 both crying now, and felt something inside me break in, 1409 01:13:31.079 --> 01:13:34.319 reform into something harder. She wants a fight, should get

one. 1410 01:13:34.800 --> 01:13:37.239 That night I couldn't sleep. I stood at the safe 1411 01:13:37.239 --> 01:13:39.039 house window watching the street. When I saw at a 1412 01:13:39.079 --> 01:13:42.520 black tessel park three houses down. Brigg appeared beside me. 1413 01:13:43.199 --> 01:13:48.399 How long twenty minutes could be? Nothing could be? But 1414 01:13:48.479 --> 01:13:51.439 we both knew better. At three a m. My phone 1415 01:13:51.520 --> 01:13:58.520 rang I know number Hullo Sherlock Irene's voice, but different scared. 1416 01:13:59.199 --> 01:14:02.319 Ye need to listen to me? Me, you lying shut 1417 01:14:02.399 --> 01:14:05.680 up and listen. Microff's coming tonight. He knows where the 1418 01:14:05.680 --> 01:14:09.000 safe house is. How do you? Because I'm sitting in 1419 01:14:09.079 --> 01:14:11.720 his living room right now, you idiot. I came back 1420 01:14:11.760 --> 01:14:13.439 to get evidence to try to fix this, and I 1421 01:14:13.479 --> 01:14:15.960 heard him on the phone. You have maybe ten minutes. 1422 01:14:16.680 --> 01:14:19.680 This is a trap. Everything's been a trap, sure luck, 1423 01:14:19.720 --> 01:14:21.479 But this time I'm trying to springy from it, not 1424 01:14:21.600 --> 01:14:24.680 into it. Get Mom and the girls out now. She 1425 01:14:24.800 --> 01:14:28.359 hung up. I looked at Greg. He was already moving, 1426 01:14:28.439 --> 01:14:31.560 grabbing the go bags we'd packed just in case. Girls. 1427 01:14:31.640 --> 01:14:36.119 I shouted, we're leaving now, no questions. To their credit, 1428 01:14:36.239 --> 01:14:40.319 they moved. Mary helped Mom while Molly grabbed our emergency supplies. 1429 01:14:40.960 --> 01:14:43.359 We were in Greg's rental car in three minutes, pulling 1430 01:14:43.359 --> 01:14:45.840 out of the driveway in four. That's when we saw 1431 01:14:45.840 --> 01:14:49.239 the headlights, three sets coming fast. Hold on, Greg said, 1432 01:14:49.279 --> 01:14:52.640 and floored it. The quiet suburban street exploded into chaos, 1433 01:14:53.319 --> 01:14:56.079 tire squealing, engines roaring a game of Cat and Master 1434 01:14:56.079 --> 01:14:58.279 through a road would City at three a m. That 1435 01:14:59.239 --> 01:15:02.239 Molly screened, one of the cars clipped our bumper. Gregg 1436 01:15:02.319 --> 01:15:04.920 took a hard right, tire smoking, then a left. Internally, 1437 01:15:05.520 --> 01:15:07.600 he knew that the streets had dated a girl from Redwords 1438 01:15:07.600 --> 01:15:10.680 City back in college. Spent enough nass heer to navigate blind. 1439 01:15:11.319 --> 01:15:13.680 We burst out onto al Camino Reel, the main artery 1440 01:15:13.720 --> 01:15:16.000 of the peninsula, and Gregg most into what little traffic 1441 01:15:16.039 --> 01:15:19.159 existed at this ire. The pursuing cars followed, but had 1442 01:15:19.199 --> 01:15:22.560 to fall back or risk attracting cops. Where are we going? 1443 01:15:23.199 --> 01:15:27.159 Mary

asked, as epho, Gregg said, there's a federal marshal 1444 01:15:27.199 --> 01:15:31.600 meeting us there. My phone ran, Irene again, you made 1445 01:15:31.600 --> 01:15:34.720 it out? How did you know about I've been playing 1446 01:15:34.760 --> 01:15:36.680 both sides for weeks, trying to find a way out 1447 01:15:36.680 --> 01:15:39.279 of this mess. Make Roff trust me because he thinks 1448 01:15:39.319 --> 01:15:42.279 I'm as greedy as he is. But I'm done, Shollock. 1449 01:15:43.119 --> 01:15:46.600 I'm done with all of it. Where are you doesn't matter. 1450 01:15:47.279 --> 01:15:49.880 I'm leaving the country in an ire But first check 1451 01:15:49.920 --> 01:15:53.800 your email. I did. She'd sent a file massive, taking 1452 01:15:53.840 --> 01:15:56.600 forever to download on my phone's state of connection. What 1453 01:15:56.800 --> 01:16:01.640 is this? Everything? Every email redocument, every recording I made 1454 01:16:01.640 --> 01:16:04.199 of Microff admitting to crimes, including one from an hour 1455 01:16:04.279 --> 01:16:06.399 ago where he detailed exactly how he was going to 1456 01:16:06.479 --> 01:16:10.159 kill your family and make it look like he did it. Irene. 1457 01:16:10.359 --> 01:16:13.159 I'm sorry, Sherlock for all of it. I got lost 1458 01:16:13.159 --> 01:16:15.239 in the money, in the power, in the game. I 1459 01:16:15.319 --> 01:16:19.079 forgot what mattered. Tell the girls, Tell them their mother 1460 01:16:19.199 --> 01:16:22.319 loved them, even if she was terrible at showing it. Irene, wait, 1461 01:16:23.119 --> 01:16:26.279 but she was gone, ad SFO. A federal marshal named 1462 01:16:26.279 --> 01:16:30.319 Williams met us at the curb. Adges out very official 1463 01:16:31.000 --> 01:16:35.039 mister Watson, we've been expecting you. We have a flight ready. 1464 01:16:35.600 --> 01:16:39.079 Where are we going? Some were safe, some were Mister 1465 01:16:39.159 --> 01:16:42.680 Thompson's reach doesn't extend. As we walked through the terminal, 1466 01:16:42.720 --> 01:16:45.800 I saw our faces on the TV screens, breaking news 1467 01:16:45.920 --> 01:16:49.520 tech mogul Mickroff. Thompson arrested again after attempted attack on witnesses. 1468 01:16:50.119 --> 01:16:54.199 They got him, I asked Williams about twenty minutes ago, 1469 01:16:54.840 --> 01:16:56.760 caught him and six of those attempting to breach a 1470 01:16:56.760 --> 01:17:00.159 federal safe house. Your wise evidence sealed a conspiracy to 1471 01:17:00.159 --> 01:17:05.239 commit murder, witness intimidation, about a dozen other charges. He's 1472 01:17:05.279 --> 01:17:08.840 not making bail this time. Mom squeezed my hand. It's 1473 01:17:08.880 --> 01:17:11.359 over the criminal part mostly you'll need to testify, but 1474 01:17:11.439 --> 01:17:13.279 we can do it via video link. The civil stuff, 1475 01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:15.840 getting your property back and tangling the fraud that'll take klondo. 1476 01:17:15.920 --> 01:17:18.560 We boarded a small government yet no tessay, no hassles. 1477 01:17:18.600 --> 01:17:20.880 As we lifted off, I watched the Bay area shot 1478 01:17:20.880 --> 01:17:23.159 below us, all those lights where Silicon Valley never slept, 1479 01:17:23.159 --> 01:17:25.359 where fortunes were made in stolen, where my family had 1480 01:17:25.399 --> 01:17:28.439 grown things for generations before crodorplace crops. Dad Mary sat 1481 01:17:28.439 --> 01:17:30.439 beside me. Is Mom really gone? I think so, Sweetheart? 1482 01:17:30.520 --> 01:17:32.079 Is she a bad person? How do you answer that? 1483 01:17:32.119 --> 01:17:33.920 How do you explain that people can be both good 1484 01:17:33.920 --> 01:17:35.600 and bad, that love and greed can exist in the 1485 01:17:35.640 --> 01:17:38.239 same heart, That sometimes we lose ourselves so gradually we 1486 01:17:38.279 --> 01:17:40.800 don't notice until we're completely lost. She made bad choices, 1487 01:17:40.840 --> 01:17:42.640 I said, finally, but she tried to make it right 1488 01:17:42.680 --> 01:17:44.880 at the end. While we ever see her again, I 1489 01:17:44.920 --> 01:17:48.640 don't know. Molly leaned against my other side. Where are 1490 01:17:48.640 --> 01:17:53.319 we going, witness protection, says Oregon, small town, new names, 1491 01:17:53.399 --> 01:17:56.720 new start. What about the nursery? Greg will run it 1492 01:17:56.800 --> 01:17:59.399 while we're gone, And when this is all over, when 1493 01:17:59.399 --> 01:18:03.279 it's safe, we'll come back. Promise. I looked at Mom 1494 01:18:03.359 --> 01:18:06.800 dozing in her sea, finally safe. Akuroregg studying maps of 1495 01:18:06.800 --> 01:18:10.039 Oregon on his tablet. I my daughter's brave and resilient 1496 01:18:10.119 --> 01:18:13.800 spy everything, I promise. But even as I said it, 1497 01:18:13.880 --> 01:18:16.520 I wondered if we could ever really go back. The 1498 01:18:16.560 --> 01:18:18.680 Silicon volley had grown up in the one my family 1499 01:18:18.720 --> 01:18:21.479 had helped build with actual soil and seeds was gone. 1500 01:18:21.920 --> 01:18:24.560 In its place was something shinier but more dangerous, where 1501 01:18:24.560 --> 01:18:27.239 billions of dollars could turn a marriage into a conspiracy, 1502 01:18:27.359 --> 01:18:30.119 where trust was just another thing to be disrupted. My 1503 01:18:30.199 --> 01:18:33.399 phone bows one last time, a message from an international 1504 01:18:33.520 --> 01:18:36.640 number I didn't recognize. The girls college funds are in 1505 01:18:36.680 --> 01:18:40.119 swisscount seven million, seven hundred thirty nine thousand, four hundred 1506 01:18:40.199 --> 01:18:45.119 sixty two. Consider it back child's sport. Be safe, be happy, 1507 01:18:45.600 --> 01:18:48.600 the better than we were. I deleted the message, but 1508 01:18:48.680 --> 01:18:52.520 memorized the account number. Blood money, maybe, but it would 1509 01:18:52.520 -->

01:18:55.800 give Mary and Molly choices. I'd never had chances to 1510 01:18:55.840 --> 01:18:58.720 be something more than victims of their parents crimes. As 1511 01:18:58.720 --> 01:19:00.760 the plane flew north through the night, toward new names 1512 01:19:00.800 --> 01:19:03.119 and new lives, I thought about seeds, how they could 1513 01:19:03.119 --> 01:19:05.880 lie dormant for years, waiting for the right conditions, How 1514 01:19:05.920 --> 01:19:07.840 the ones that grew in harsh soil often became the 1515 01:19:07.840 --> 01:19:10.960 strongest plants. We'd been a prudent, scattered to the wind, 1516 01:19:11.000 --> 01:19:13.279 but we were still here, still together, and some day, 1517 01:19:13.359 --> 01:19:16.600 when the season was right, we grow again. Pilot announced 1518 01:19:16.640 --> 01:19:19.840 we were beginning our descent into Portland. Below the city 1519 01:19:19.920 --> 01:19:22.800 lights sparkled like diamonds on valvet, A different kind of valley, 1520 01:19:22.840 --> 01:19:27.000 a different kind of promise. Look, girls, Mom said suddenly 1521 01:19:27.039 --> 01:19:31.399 awakened alert new beginnings, and for the first time in weeks, 1522 01:19:31.439 --> 01:19:35.520 maybe months, I believed her Chapter nine six months in 1523 01:19:35.600 --> 01:19:38.720 Oregon changed us. The federal marshals had set us up 1524 01:19:38.720 --> 01:19:40.800 in a craftsman house and bend all wood beams and 1525 01:19:40.800 --> 01:19:43.920 big windows looking out at the Cascade Mountains. We Wordy 1526 01:19:43.960 --> 01:19:46.000 Anderson's now such a bland name that even I forgot 1527 01:19:46.079 --> 01:19:47.960 to answer to it sometimes. Ma'am had become Hell, and 1528 01:19:48.000 --> 01:19:49.680 the girls were Sarah and Emma, and I was Tom, 1529 01:19:49.680 --> 01:19:52.119 a freelance accountant to work from home. But tonight none 1530 01:19:52.159 --> 01:19:54.680 of that mattered. Tonight, Rebecca Martinez was on vidicle from 1531 01:19:54.720 --> 01:19:57.119 California and we were finally talking about going home. The 1532 01:19:57.159 --> 01:19:59.760 trial starts in three weeks, she said, her face pixelated 1533 01:19:59.760 --> 01:20:02.399 but determined on my laptop's green. Federal prosecutors have built 1534 01:20:02.439 --> 01:20:05.840 an out that Kisse against Mcroff twenty three counts, including kidnapping, fraud, 1535 01:20:05.880 --> 01:20:07.640 attempt to murder. Mom. Sapp as I'd me at the 1536 01:20:07.720 --> 01:20:10.239 kitchen table, still thin from her ordeal but getting stronger 1537 01:20:10.279 --> 01:20:12.119 every day. The drugs they pumped into her had taken 1538 01:20:12.159 --> 01:20:14.119 months to fullyly if her assistant, but her mind was 1539 01:20:14.199 --> 01:20:17.319 sharp as ever. What about Irene, I asked. Rebecca's expression 1540 01:20:17.319 --> 01:20:20.079 shifted as more complicated. She's been cooperating from wherever she is. 1541 01:20:20.199 --> 01:20:22.840 We still don't know her location. Her evidence has been crucial, 1542 01:20:22.920 --> 01:20:25.199 but the prosecutor at wants her to testify in person. 1543 01:20:25.279 --> 01:20:27.760 She won't come back, I said, with certainty. Too much risk, 1544 01:20:27.840 --> 01:20:30.159 Maybe not, but her video depositions might be enough. She 1545 01:20:30.279 --> 01:20:33.479 documented everything shell look, every meeting, every transfer, every crime. 1546 01:20:33.479 --> 01:20:35.079 It's like she knew this day with come. Mary and 1547 01:20:35.119 --> 01:20:38.079 Molly sat on the couch, supposedly doing homework but obviously listening. 1548 01:20:38.560 --> 01:20:41.279 Did adapted to orgon life better than I expected. New school, 1549 01:20:41.359 --> 01:20:44.119 new friends, new names, But I could see the strain 1550 01:20:44.199 --> 01:20:46.319 around their eyes, the way they still flinched when a 1551 01:20:46.359 --> 01:20:50.920 car backfired. When can we go home? Molly asked. After 1552 01:20:50.960 --> 01:20:54.640 the trial, Rebecca said, once Microff's convicted, the immediate danger 1553 01:20:54.640 --> 01:20:58.800 should pass. Though though what he had partners, silent investors 1554 01:20:58.840 --> 01:21:02.840 who helped fond the scheme. We haven't identified them all yet. Gregg, 1555 01:21:02.960 --> 01:21:05.039 who'd been staying with us for the past month, leaned 1556 01:21:05.039 --> 01:21:07.399 against the door for Raim. So we're supposed to just 1557 01:21:07.439 --> 01:21:10.399 trust our convicting Mikoff mix a safe the FBI will 1558 01:21:10.439 --> 01:21:14.760 provide protection during the trial. After that, rebec shrugged. Life 1559 01:21:14.800 --> 01:21:18.159 has risks, but the major threat will be neutralized. After 1560 01:21:18.199 --> 01:21:21.720 she hung up, we sat in silence outside Oregon rain 1561 01:21:21.800 --> 01:21:24.920 started its nightly symphony against the windows. It was nothing 1562 01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:29.159 like California rain. This was serious, committed precipitation that meant business. 1563 01:21:29.520 --> 01:21:32.159 I want to go home, mom said quietly. I want 1564 01:21:32.159 --> 01:21:35.319 to see my garden again. What's left of it. It'll 1565 01:21:35.319 --> 01:21:38.720 be there, I promised. Roberto's been taking care of everything. 1566 01:21:39.319 --> 01:21:43.079 My phone buzzed, unknown international number. I almost didn't answer, 1567 01:21:43.199 --> 01:21:47.279 but something made me pick up. Hullo Sherlock. Irene's voice 1568 01:21:47.319 --> 01:21:49.680 after six months of silence hit me like a physical blow. 1569 01:21:50.279 --> 01:21:54.560 Where are you doesn't matter. Listen, I'm sending you something 1570 01:21:55.199 --> 01:21:59.199 evidence I held back before insurance. I called it what 1571 01:21:59.279 --> 01:22:02.600 you'll need of for the tree? Why now a pause? 1572 01:22:03.359 --> 01:22:07.279 I could hear waves in the

background, seagulls. Wherever she 1573 01:22:07.520 --> 01:22:10.600 was it was near Wader Because I heard Macroff's lawyer 1574 01:22:10.680 --> 01:22:15.239 is Samuel Richardson. He's good, too good. He'll find holes 1575 01:22:15.279 --> 01:22:18.039 in the prosecution's case unless you have everything and you 1576 01:22:18.159 --> 01:22:21.159 care because because despite what you think, I want him 1577 01:22:21.159 --> 01:22:23.479 to pay for what he did to your mother, to 1578 01:22:23.560 --> 01:22:26.520 us everything we used to be. The line went quiet 1579 01:22:26.520 --> 01:22:30.279 for a moment. How are the girls they're surviving? No 1580 01:22:30.399 --> 01:22:32.920 thanks to you. I know, I know I failed them, 1581 01:22:32.960 --> 01:22:36.199 fail you, But maybe this helps balance the scales a little, 1582 01:22:36.760 --> 01:22:41.279 nothing balance as those scales irene. No, she agreed, nothing does. 1583 01:22:42.079 --> 01:22:45.239 She hung up. An hour later, an encryptod file appeared 1584 01:22:45.239 --> 01:22:48.399 in my email. Inside were recordings i'd never heard Microff 1585 01:22:48.399 --> 01:22:51.479 discuss in the conspiracy, with people whose voices I didn't recognize, 1586 01:22:51.560 --> 01:22:53.399 talking about my mother like she was a problem to 1587 01:22:53.399 --> 01:22:56.720 be solved, a bug in their code. One recording stood out. 1588 01:22:56.720 --> 01:23:00.239 Mickroff's voice, cold and clear. If the old woman won't 1589 01:23:00.239 --> 01:23:03.520 co operate, will make her disappear, either she signs or 1590 01:23:03.560 --> 01:23:06.479 she vanishes. The son's too naive to fight back, and 1591 01:23:06.520 --> 01:23:09.079 the wife's already on our side. I played it for 1592 01:23:09.119 --> 01:23:11.960 Greg and Mom. Her face went pale, then red with anger. 1593 01:23:12.600 --> 01:23:15.119 That bendijo, she muttered. Mom only swore in Spanish when 1594 01:23:15.159 --> 01:23:17.840 she was really mad, talking about me like I'm nothing. 1595 01:23:18.399 --> 01:23:21.760 This according alone could convict him, Gregg said, but who's 1596 01:23:21.800 --> 01:23:26.199 he talking to? I listened again. The other voice was distorted, careful, 1597 01:23:26.319 --> 01:23:29.319 but something about the cadence was familiar. Play it again, 1598 01:23:29.520 --> 01:23:32.840 Mary said from the doorway. She'd snuck up quiet as always. 1599 01:23:33.439 --> 01:23:36.600 We listened once more. That's mister Harrison, she said, with 1600 01:23:36.720 --> 01:23:40.800 teenage certainty, from Dad's bank. He came to our house 1601 01:23:40.800 --> 01:23:43.720 once for dinner. He has that weird way of saying certainly, 1602 01:23:43.800 --> 01:23:46.840 like it has four syllables out of the mouths of babes. 1603 01:23:47.560 --> 01:23:50.640 I pulled up Parison's LinkedIn, senior vice president at Silicon 1604 01:23:50.720 --> 01:23:53.239 Valley First National, the bank that held our family trust. 1605 01:23:53.920 --> 01:23:56.479 He was an on it, I breathed. The banker was 1606 01:23:56.560 --> 01:24:00.520 part of the conspiracy. Gregg was already dialing Rebecca. This 1607 01:24:00.680 --> 01:24:03.880 changed everything, chapped to ten. Two weeks before trial, we 1608 01:24:03.920 --> 01:24:07.359 flew back to California under federal protection. The agents met 1609 01:24:07.399 --> 01:24:10.359 us at private hanger, all dark suits and dark as sunglasses, 1610 01:24:10.880 --> 01:24:12.720 like something out of a movie. The girls would watch 1611 01:24:13.399 --> 01:24:16.159 mister Watson. The lead agent, a woman aint Sara Parke, 1612 01:24:16.199 --> 01:24:19.239 shook my hand. We'll be your security detail for the trial. 1613 01:24:19.319 --> 01:24:22.279 Twenty four and a seven coverage. The safe house this 1614 01:24:22.359 --> 01:24:25.119 time was in Marin County, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1615 01:24:25.159 --> 01:24:27.520 far enough from San Jose to feel safe, close enough 1616 01:24:27.560 --> 01:24:29.439 to make the daily trip to the Federal Court House 1617 01:24:29.439 --> 01:24:32.479 in San Francisco. That first night back in California, I 1618 01:24:32.520 --> 01:24:35.399 couldn't sleep. The air smel wrong, too dry, too yugle 1619 01:24:35.439 --> 01:24:38.319 of descented too much like home. I stood on the deck, 1620 01:24:38.439 --> 01:24:40.800 looking south toward the Bay Area's glow and wondered if 1621 01:24:40.840 --> 01:24:44.399 we'd ever really feel safe again. Can't sleep either. Mom 1622 01:24:44.479 --> 01:24:46.920 joined me, wrapped in the afghan her mother had corsheted 1623 01:24:46.960 --> 01:24:51.079 fifty years ago, some off through everything that blanket had survived. 1624 01:24:51.439 --> 01:24:54.000 I keep thinking about what we've lost. I said, we 1625 01:24:54.119 --> 01:24:58.560 lost nothing that matters, Miho. We're alive, We're together. The 1626 01:24:58.600 --> 01:25:02.640 rest is just stuff, even the land, five generations of 1627 01:25:02.680 --> 01:25:06.479 family history. She was quiet for a moment. Lione is 1628 01:25:06.520 --> 01:25:08.640 just dirt until you love it. We can love New 1629 01:25:08.720 --> 01:25:11.680 Jot if we have to. The Next morning, Rebecca arrived 1630 01:25:11.680 --> 01:25:16.159 with boxes of documents, final prep. She announced, a prosecution 1631 01:25:16.239 --> 01:25:18.640 wants you ought to understand exactly what's going to happen. 1632 01:25:19.239 --> 01:25:23.640 We spend hours going through testimony, evidence, possible cross examination questions. 1633 01:25:24.079 --> 01:25:27.159 The prosecutor, a Chapon attorney named James Lee. What does 1634 01:25:27.159 --> 01:25:30.680 struy Microff's likely defense strategies? He's going to claim chapment. 1635 01:25:30.760 --> 01:25:34.560 Leu said that iury manipulated him, that he was trying 1636 01:25:34.560 --> 01:25:37.680 to help a family in crosis. Richardson's good at making 1637

01:25:37.720 --> 01:25:41.640 criminals look like victims. But the recordings Gregg started will 1638 01:25:41.640 --> 01:25:46.680 be challenged as inadmissible, obtained without consent, potentially edited. We 1639 01:25:46.760 --> 01:25:50.279 need your testimony to provide context. Mary raised her hand 1640 01:25:50.359 --> 01:25:53.279 like she was in school. What about mam? Will she 1641 01:25:53.319 --> 01:25:57.680 have to testify? Leo and Rebecca exchange glances. Your mother's 1642 01:25:57.720 --> 01:26:00.920 video depositions have been admitted as evidence. She won't be 1643 01:26:00.960 --> 01:26:04.359 appearing in person because she's a coward, Molly said, flatly. 1644 01:26:04.960 --> 01:26:07.439 Because she's in hiding from some very dangerous people. Lee 1645 01:26:07.520 --> 01:26:11.840 corrected gently, Her testimony puts a target on her back. Good, 1646 01:26:11.920 --> 01:26:14.640 Molly muttered, but I saw tears in her eyes. Three 1647 01:26:14.720 --> 01:26:18.960 days before trial, another surprise, John Martine showed up at 1648 01:26:18.960 --> 01:26:22.199 the safe house. The federal agents almost didn't let him in, 1649 01:26:22.359 --> 01:26:25.079 but Mam bushed for him. He looked older, a grayer, 1650 01:26:25.319 --> 01:26:28.159 carrying his seventy eight years like they weighed double. I 1651 01:26:28.199 --> 01:26:31.319 need to testify, he said, without preamble, and know things 1652 01:26:32.000 --> 01:26:35.359 Bobmcroft about the conspiracy. Things I didn't tell before because 1653 01:26:35.399 --> 01:26:38.439 I was protecting Irene, and now asked, now, I want 1654 01:26:38.439 --> 01:26:41.399 to protect my granddaughters. They deserve to grow up without 1655 01:26:41.399 --> 01:26:44.399 looking over their shoulders. He pulled out a small notebook, 1656 01:26:44.520 --> 01:26:48.720 pages yellow with age. I kept records every time Irene 1657 01:26:48.720 --> 01:26:51.680 mentioned the project, every meeting she had. I thought I 1658 01:26:51.760 --> 01:26:54.680 was being a good father, keeping track of her business success. 1659 01:26:55.039 --> 01:26:58.319 His voice broke, I didn't know I was documenting a crime. 1660 01:26:58.960 --> 01:27:03.279 Lee practically glowed his He read through the notebook, names, dates, amounts, 1661 01:27:03.319 --> 01:27:06.800 all in John's careful handwriting. This is gold. He said, 1662 01:27:07.079 --> 01:27:11.199 this connects everything. But that night things went sideways. Agent 1663 01:27:11.239 --> 01:27:13.600 Park knocked on my door at two a m. We 1664 01:27:13.680 --> 01:27:17.239 have a problem. Someone leaked the safe house location. We 1665 01:27:17.359 --> 01:27:20.920 need to move now. We grabbed our bags we'd learned 1666 01:27:20.920 --> 01:27:23.079 to stay packed, and followed the agents to waiting suv. 1667 01:27:23.800 --> 01:27:25.880 As we pulled away, I saw headlights in the distance 1668 01:27:25.920 --> 01:27:31.560 coming fast. Dad Mary's voice was small, scared. It's okay, 1669 01:27:31.960 --> 01:27:34.960 the agents know what they're doing. But my heart was racing. 1670 01:27:35.600 --> 01:27:39.159 Someone had found us, someone with connections deep enough to 1671 01:27:39.159 --> 01:27:42.319 breach federal security. The new safe house was a hotel 1672 01:27:42.359 --> 01:27:45.640 suite and downtown San Francisco, easier to god, harder to access. 1673 01:27:46.279 --> 01:27:49.439 We spent the remaining days before trial essentially imprisoned, ordering 1674 01:27:49.520 --> 01:27:52.920 room service and watching the city through bulletproof class Gregg 1675 01:27:52.960 --> 01:27:55.079 tried to keep the girl's spirits up with card games 1676 01:27:55.079 --> 01:27:58.000 and movies, but tension filled the sweet leg smuk. We 1677 01:27:58.079 --> 01:28:01.199 all knew that testifying men exposed in Irish, making tuggets 1678 01:28:01.239 --> 01:28:03.920 of our backs all over again. The night before trial, 1679 01:28:04.000 --> 01:28:08.680 my phone rang Ibeca. There's been a development, Harrison. The 1680 01:28:08.720 --> 01:28:11.960 banker wants to make a deal, full cooperation in exchange 1681 01:28:11.960 --> 01:28:15.920 for reduced charges. Let him, rot, I said, Immediately listen 1682 01:28:16.000 --> 01:28:19.479 to what he's offering. First names that everyone involved, including 1683 01:28:19.520 --> 01:28:24.159 Microff's silent partners, account numbers for hidden assets, everything we 1684 01:28:24.199 --> 01:28:26.960 need to make sure this never happens again. I thought 1685 01:28:26.960 --> 01:28:31.079 about my daughters, about the life we were trying to rebuild. Fine, 1686 01:28:31.199 --> 01:28:33.720 make the deal. As I hung up, I found Mom 1687 01:28:33.800 --> 01:28:36.640 standing behind me. You did the right things, she said. 1688 01:28:37.359 --> 01:28:41.000 Sometimes just his means compromise. Sometimes it feels like letting 1689 01:28:41.079 --> 01:28:45.840 them win. No, mijo, winning is a standing here, alive together. 1690 01:28:46.560 --> 01:28:51.079 Everything else is just details. Chapter eleven. The Federal Court 1691 01:28:51.119 --> 01:28:53.800 House in San Francisco looked like a concrete temple to justice, 1692 01:28:53.960 --> 01:28:57.119 all pillars and marble steps. We arrived in a convey 1693 01:28:57.159 --> 01:29:00.000 of black suv agents surrounding us like a human shield. 1694 01:29:00.680 --> 01:29:03.760 Inside the court room was smaller than I expected. Two 1695 01:29:03.800 --> 01:29:06.199 dozen seats for spectators, the judge's bench that seemed to 1696 01:29:06.239 --> 01:29:09.399 loom over everything, And there at the defendant's table, Mickroff Thompson, 1697 01:29:09.920 --> 01:29:13.039 he'd ation and custody. The silver hair was still perfect, 1698 01:29:13.079 --> 01:29:15.439 but his face was drawn, his expensive suit hanging loose 1699 01:29:15.439 --> 01:29:18.079 on a frame that had lost his

confident bearing. While 1700 01:29:18.119 --> 01:29:21.079 our eyes met, something flickered there. Not remorse exactly, but 1701 01:29:21.239 --> 01:29:25.159 may be recognition that he'd lost Richardson. His attorney looked 1702 01:29:25.159 --> 01:29:28.279 exactly like what five thousand dollars in ayobor he shot predatory, 1703 01:29:28.359 --> 01:29:31.560 Ready to tur apart our story, piece by piece, all rise, 1704 01:29:31.640 --> 01:29:35.239 The bailiff called the Honorable Judge Patricia Watney. Presiding Judge 1705 01:29:35.279 --> 01:29:38.520 Wattnay was small, serious, with eyes that seemed to catalog everything. 1706 01:29:39.119 --> 01:29:41.760 She'd been a prosecutor before taking the bench. Rebecca had 1707 01:29:41.760 --> 01:29:46.359 told us she didn't suffer fools or grand standing. The prosecutor, Leo, 1708 01:29:46.600 --> 01:29:50.199 opened with devastating simplicity. This case is about greed, pure 1709 01:29:50.239 --> 01:29:54.199 and simple. The defendant, Microff Thompson walkstrated a conspiracy to 1710 01:29:54.239 --> 01:29:57.119 steal billions in family land, and when the rightful owner 1711 01:29:57.159 --> 01:29:59.520 discovered his scheme, he kidnapped her, drugged her, and held 1712 01:29:59.520 --> 01:30:02.319 her prisoner while telling the world she was dead. Richards 1713 01:30:02.359 --> 01:30:05.479 encountered with smoke and mirrors. My client is a successful 1714 01:30:05.479 --> 01:30:08.359 businessman who tried to help a family in crisis. What 1715 01:30:08.439 --> 01:30:12.039 the prosecution calls conspiracy, we call state planning. What they 1716 01:30:12.079 --> 01:30:14.960 call kidnapping, we call medical intervention for a woman's suffering 1717 01:30:14.960 --> 01:30:18.680 from dementia. Mom actually growled at that. The judge shot 1718 01:30:18.680 --> 01:30:21.960 her a warning look. The first day was prosidural jury selection, 1719 01:30:22.199 --> 01:30:25.399 opening statements lay in grand work. The day too, they 1720 01:30:25.439 --> 01:30:28.439 called me to testify. State your name for the record, 1721 01:30:29.039 --> 01:30:32.399 Cheryl al Watson. For the next three hours they walked 1722 01:30:32.399 --> 01:30:35.239 me through the whole story, finding the forged documents, discovering 1723 01:30:35.319 --> 01:30:37.560 the conspiracy, the terror of thinking my mother was dead, 1724 01:30:37.640 --> 01:30:39.920 the relief in horror of finding her drugged in that facility. 1725 01:30:40.520 --> 01:30:44.319 Richardson's cross examination was brutal. Mister Watson is in a 1726 01:30:44.359 --> 01:30:47.399 tree of been treated for anxiety and depression. Yes, after 1727 01:30:47.439 --> 01:30:50.359 my father died, so you have a history of mental 1728 01:30:50.399 --> 01:30:54.840 health issues. Could these conspiracy theories be manifestations of paranoid thinking. 1729 01:30:55.479 --> 01:31:01.000 Objection Lee called, counsel is badgering the witness. Sustain mister Richardson, 1730 01:31:01.119 --> 01:31:05.199 stick to facts, not speculation. But Richardson, wasn't done. Your 1731 01:31:05.199 --> 01:31:07.520 wife was having an affair with my client, wasn't she? 1732 01:31:08.159 --> 01:31:10.880 The court room went silent. I felt the girl's eyes 1733 01:31:10.920 --> 01:31:13.720 on me from the gallery. I don't know, I said, honestly, 1734 01:31:14.319 --> 01:31:17.359 you don't know. Your wife spent months meeting secretly with 1735 01:31:17.439 --> 01:31:19.039 my client, and you want us to believe it was 1736 01:31:19.039 --> 01:31:22.119 all about land deals. Whether they were sleeping together or 1737 01:31:22.199 --> 01:31:24.560 just stealing together doesn't change the facts of what they did. 1738 01:31:25.279 --> 01:31:28.079 Or maybe you invented this elaborate conspiracy to explain why 1739 01:31:28.119 --> 01:31:30.039 your wife left you for a more successful man. That 1740 01:31:30.159 --> 01:31:32.960 gripped the witness stand. She left me for Hong Kong 1741 01:31:33.000 --> 01:31:36.319 and three million dollars she embezzled. Whether Mickcroft was warming 1742 01:31:36.319 --> 01:31:38.439 her bed or just filling her bank account doesn't change 1743 01:31:38.439 --> 01:31:42.439 the kidnapping, the fraud, or the attempted murder. Mom testified next, 1744 01:31:42.479 --> 01:31:46.840 and she was magnificent, clear, precise, devastating. She walked the 1745 01:31:46.880 --> 01:31:48.800 jury through wik it up in that facility, the room 1746 01:31:48.800 --> 01:31:51.039 and four were in her arm, the drugs keeping her sedated. 1747 01:31:51.600 --> 01:31:53.760 I knew who I was every moment, she said, looking 1748 01:31:53.760 --> 01:31:57.359 directly at Microft. I knew my name, my family, my history. 1749 01:31:57.880 --> 01:31:59.199 What I didn't know was what I thought he had 1750 01:31:59.199 --> 01:32:01.319 the right to steal my lifefe because he wanted my land. 1751 01:32:02.000 --> 01:32:05.479 Richardson tried to shake her. Miss escarciare you're seventy three 1752 01:32:05.560 --> 01:32:09.479 years old. Isn't it possible you were confused, young man, 1753 01:32:09.720 --> 01:32:12.920 mom interrupted, I may be all, but I'm not stupid. 1754 01:32:13.640 --> 01:32:16.680 I know the difference between medical care and imprisonment. I 1755 01:32:16.720 --> 01:32:19.399 know the difference between confusion and being drugged against my will. 1756 01:32:19.960 --> 01:32:22.079 And I certainly know the difference between a doctor and 1757 01:32:22.119 --> 01:32:26.560 a kidnapper. The jury loved her. Day three brought surprises. Harrison, 1758 01:32:26.600 --> 01:32:29.520 the banker, took the stand as a prosecution witness. In 1759 01:32:29.560 --> 01:32:32.359 excruciating detail. He laid out the conspiracy, how Mikoff had 1760 01:32:32.359 --> 01:32:36.000 approached him two years ago, how they'd identified vulnerable elderly landowners, 1761 01:32:36.000 --> 01:32:39.479 how they

systematically targeted families with valuable Silicon Valley property. 1762 01:32:40.079 --> 01:32:43.479 The Watson family wasn't the first, Harrison admitted, there were 1763 01:32:43.479 --> 01:32:46.199 three others before them, smaller amounts, but the same pattern. 1764 01:32:46.720 --> 01:32:51.199 Four stage deaths or disappearances, property transferers. The courtroom erupted. 1765 01:32:51.760 --> 01:32:54.560 Judge Wadenabe had to threaten to clear the gallery. But 1766 01:32:54.640 --> 01:32:58.000 the biggest surprise came when leonnounced his next witness. The 1767 01:32:58.039 --> 01:33:02.560 prosecution calls Irene Watson. I turned shocked. There was no way, 1768 01:33:02.640 --> 01:33:05.960 but on the corporal's large screen, Irene appeared via satellite feed. 1769 01:33:06.680 --> 01:33:08.560 She was in what looked like a Bland hotel room 1770 01:33:08.600 --> 01:33:12.119 location Unknon. She looked older, thinner, her hair shorter, and 1771 01:33:12.199 --> 01:33:15.720 darker than I remembered. Miss s Watson. Lou began, You've 1772 01:33:15.720 --> 01:33:19.079 been granted immunity in exchange for your testimony. Please tell 1773 01:33:19.079 --> 01:33:21.720 the court about your involvement with the defendant. For the 1774 01:33:21.760 --> 01:33:26.079 next hour, Irene methodically destroyed Microff's defense. She detailed every meeting, 1775 01:33:26.159 --> 01:33:31.600 every plan, every crime. She'd kept recordings, documents, proof of everything. Why, 1776 01:33:32.319 --> 01:33:34.920 Leo asked, finally, why did you do this to your 1777 01:33:34.920 --> 01:33:37.920 own family? Irene looked directly at the camera, and I 1778 01:33:38.000 --> 01:33:40.479 knew she was looking at me because I was weak, 1779 01:33:41.199 --> 01:33:44.000 Because five dollars two cents billions seemed worth more than love, 1780 01:33:44.119 --> 01:33:47.319 more than family, more than honor. I was wrong. I 1781 01:33:47.439 --> 01:33:50.840 lost everything that mattered for money. I'll never spend. Richardson 1782 01:33:50.880 --> 01:33:54.520 tried to discredit her own cross. You're testifying to save yourself, 1783 01:33:54.560 --> 01:33:58.399 aren't you to avoid prison. I'm already in prison, Irene 1784 01:33:58.399 --> 01:34:02.640 replied quietly. One I built myself and testifying because it's 1785 01:34:02.680 --> 01:34:04.479 the only thing I can due to protect my daughters 1786 01:34:04.479 --> 01:34:06.600 from the man who would have killed the grandmother for money. 1787 01:34:07.159 --> 01:34:10.600 When the fief cat Mary was crying. Molly sat stone faced, 1788 01:34:10.600 --> 01:34:13.439 but her hands were shaking. I pulled them both close. 1789 01:34:14.119 --> 01:34:17.560 The defense's case was thin. Macroff testified on his own behalf, 1790 01:34:17.680 --> 01:34:21.039 all smooth denials and wounded innocence. But when Luke played 1791 01:34:21.039 --> 01:34:24.319 the recordings Irene had provided Microff's voice planning the kidnapping, 1792 01:34:24.439 --> 01:34:26.920 discussing the drugs, laughing about how easy it would be, 1793 01:34:26.920 --> 01:34:31.119 the jury's faces turned to stone. Closing arguments were almost anticlimactic. 1794 01:34:31.800 --> 01:34:34.760 The evidence was overwhelming. We witted in a conference room 1795 01:34:34.800 --> 01:34:39.199 while the jury deliberated three irors. That's all it took. 1796 01:34:39.880 --> 01:34:41.840 On the count of kidnapping in the first degree. We 1797 01:34:41.920 --> 01:34:44.920 find the defendant guilty on the count of conspiracy to 1798 01:34:44.920 --> 01:34:48.119 commit fraud. We find the defendant guilty on the count 1799 01:34:48.159 --> 01:34:52.279 of attempted murder we find the defendant guilty twenty three counts, 1800 01:34:53.279 --> 01:34:55.960 twenty three times. The word guilty rang through the court room. 1801 01:34:56.439 --> 01:34:59.600 Mickcroff didn't react, just sat there, still and silent, as 1802 01:34:59.640 --> 01:35:01.760 is five one thousand dollars in ire. Attorney packed up 1803 01:35:01.760 --> 01:35:05.199 his briefcase. Judge raten Abe set sentencing for the following month. 1804 01:35:05.800 --> 01:35:09.039 The defendant will remain in custody until that time. As 1805 01:35:09.079 --> 01:35:11.039 they led me crofft away in shackles, he looked back 1806 01:35:11.039 --> 01:35:14.680 at me once. No smile, no sneer, just a blank 1807 01:35:14.760 --> 01:35:17.920 look that somehow felt more threatening than rage. Outside the 1808 01:35:17.920 --> 01:35:21.279 court house, reporter swarned. Agent Park and her team formed 1809 01:35:21.319 --> 01:35:23.439 a protective circle, moving us through the crowd to the 1810 01:35:23.439 --> 01:35:26.600 waiting suv. Mister Watson, how does it feel to seech 1811 01:35:26.640 --> 01:35:30.479 us as served we be suing for damages? Where's your wife? 1812 01:35:30.960 --> 01:35:33.399 We didn't answer, just kept moving until we were safe 1813 01:35:33.399 --> 01:35:35.239 in the cars, pulling away from the court house and 1814 01:35:35.319 --> 01:35:38.640 the cameras and the chaos. It's over, Mary said quietly, 1815 01:35:39.199 --> 01:35:44.560 The trial's over. I corrected the rest we'll see chapter twelve. 1816 01:35:44.640 --> 01:35:47.359 Six months later, I stood in my nursery in San Jose, 1817 01:35:47.680 --> 01:35:50.800 watching Roberto and his son unload a shipment of Japanese maples. 1818 01:35:51.479 --> 01:35:54.720 The morning fog was burning off, revealing that particular California 1819 01:35:54.800 --> 01:35:58.439 sunshine that turns everything gold. We'd been back for three months. 1820 01:35:59.159 --> 01:36:01.279 The house felt different. We'd had its wept for bugs, 1821 01:36:01.319 --> 01:36:05.560 the electronic kind installed, a security system, changed all the locks. 1822 01:36:06.279 --> 01:36:09.720 But it was home. The girls were at school, real school, 1823 01:36:09.800 -->

01:36:13.000 with their real names. Mary was applying to colleges, thinking 1824 01:36:13.000 --> 01:36:16.199 about law school. Eventually, someone needs to fight for families 1825 01:36:16.239 --> 01:36:19.399 like ours, she said. Mollie had joined the drama club, 1826 01:36:19.720 --> 01:36:23.039 channeling all that intensity into Shakespeare and Arthur Miller. Mom 1827 01:36:23.079 --> 01:36:25.920 lived with us now. Her house had too many memories, 1828 01:36:25.960 --> 01:36:28.119 she said, though I think she just wanted to be close. 1829 01:36:28.880 --> 01:36:31.680 She had taken over the back garden, crowing tomatoes and peppis, 1830 01:36:31.720 --> 01:36:35.399 teaching the girls about soil and seasons and patients. Mister Watson, 1831 01:36:36.000 --> 01:36:37.600 I turned to find a young woman in a suit, 1832 01:36:37.600 --> 01:36:41.319 looking nervous. I'm Jennifer Park from the Chronicle. I was 1833 01:36:41.359 --> 01:36:43.720 wondering if you'd comment on the news about Microff Thompson. 1834 01:36:44.279 --> 01:36:48.760 What news? She looked, Surprised you haven't heard. He was 1835 01:36:48.760 --> 01:36:52.560 found dead in his cell this morning, apparent suicide. The 1836 01:36:52.600 --> 01:36:55.680 words hit me like cold water. I fumbled from my phone, 1837 01:36:55.800 --> 01:36:58.359 saw the miscalls from Rebecca, from Leo, from agent Park 1838 01:36:59.079 --> 01:37:02.359 no comment, I meant she left, and I sat down 1839 01:37:02.399 --> 01:37:05.479 hard on a bag of potting soil. Mickroff was dead, 1840 01:37:05.600 --> 01:37:08.199 the man who'd ockstrated everything, who drugged my mother, who 1841 01:37:08.239 --> 01:37:10.439 turned my wife into some one I didn't recognize gone. 1842 01:37:10.920 --> 01:37:14.640 I didn't feel relief, I didn't feel vindication. I just 1843 01:37:14.680 --> 01:37:19.600 felt empty my phone. Man, Rebecca, you heard just now. 1844 01:37:20.319 --> 01:37:24.000 There's more. He left a note. The FBI has it, 1845 01:37:24.159 --> 01:37:26.359 but the gist is that he had terminal cancer, stage 1846 01:37:26.359 --> 01:37:30.279 four pancreatic. He had maybe three months anyway, so he 1847 01:37:30.359 --> 01:37:34.640 chose his own ending. Seems like it Sherlock. There's something else. 1848 01:37:35.319 --> 01:37:38.239 Irene's been in contact. She wants to know if she 1849 01:37:38.239 --> 01:37:42.399 can write to the Gulls now maybe think about No, 1850 01:37:42.640 --> 01:37:45.079 she made her choice. She doesn't get to drift in 1851 01:37:45.079 --> 01:37:47.119 and out of their lives from whatever beach she's hiding on. 1852 01:37:47.760 --> 01:37:50.960 Under stowed that evening I told the girls about Microft 1853 01:37:51.000 --> 01:37:54.439 over dinner. They took it better than I expected. Pude, 1854 01:37:54.439 --> 01:37:57.680 Molly said flatly. Sis tax beare money on keeping him 1855 01:37:57.720 --> 01:38:02.960 locked up. Molly mom started what he was evil? The 1856 01:38:02.960 --> 01:38:06.840 world's better without him. Mary was quieter. Does this mean 1857 01:38:06.880 --> 01:38:10.439 it really over? I think so, I said. Later I 1858 01:38:10.479 --> 01:38:12.960 found Mom in the garden working by moonlight, pulling weeds 1859 01:38:12.960 --> 01:38:17.359 with focus intensity. You okay, she straightened, rubbing her back. 1860 01:38:18.039 --> 01:38:21.239 I thought i'd feel something when he died, relief maybe, 1861 01:38:21.319 --> 01:38:24.720 or closure, But I just feel old. You're not old. 1862 01:38:25.399 --> 01:38:28.520 I'm seventy four meter. I've lived through too much drama 1863 01:38:28.560 --> 01:38:31.680 for one lifetime. We stood there in the garden, surrounded 1864 01:38:31.680 --> 01:38:34.399 by the smell of earth and growing things. The land 1865 01:38:34.399 --> 01:38:36.960 came back to us, she said, quietly, all of it 1866 01:38:37.199 --> 01:38:40.319 free and clear. I know what are you going to 1867 01:38:40.319 --> 01:38:43.359 do with it? I've been thinking about this for months. 1868 01:38:43.760 --> 01:38:46.119 Sell most of it set up for us, funds for 1869 01:38:46.199 --> 01:38:48.920 the girls for their kids some day. Keep the nursery 1870 01:38:48.920 --> 01:38:51.319 and enough line around it to matter. Do give some 1871 01:38:51.399 --> 01:38:55.279 to Robertow He's earned it. And the billions. We don't 1872 01:38:55.279 --> 01:38:59.159 need billions. We need enough enough to be safe, to 1873 01:38:59.159 --> 01:39:02.159 be comfortable, to help others. The rest is just numbers 1874 01:39:02.159 --> 01:39:06.479 on paper. Mom smiled, your father would be proud. A 1875 01:39:06.560 --> 01:39:09.359 year later, I stood in the same spot, but everything 1876 01:39:09.359 --> 01:39:14.039 had changed. The nursery had expanded, We'd added greenhouses, a 1877 01:39:14.119 --> 01:39:17.079 teaching garden for local schools, a section dedicated to heritage 1878 01:39:17.159 --> 01:39:21.119 varieties of fruits and vegetables. The girls were thriving. Mary 1879 01:39:21.159 --> 01:39:24.800 at Berkeley stadding political science, Molly still in high school 1880 01:39:24.800 --> 01:39:28.239 but already planning for art school. They still had nightmare sometimes, 1881 01:39:28.279 --> 01:39:30.319 still looked over their shoulders in parking lots, but they 1882 01:39:30.359 --> 01:39:33.359 were healing. Gregg had moved back to California, bought a 1883 01:39:33.359 --> 01:39:38.279 place nearby. Sunday dinners at Mom's had become tradition again, loud, chaotic, 1884 01:39:38.560 --> 01:39:41.640 full of argument and laughter. I'd started at seeing someone, 1885 01:39:41.680 --> 01:39:44.119 a teacher named Lisa, who bought succuments for her class 1886 01:39:44.199 --> 01:39:46.119 room and didn't care about my past or my money, 1887 01:39:46.279 --> 01:39:48.640 just like talking about books and plants and hiking trails. 1888 01:39:49.199 --> 01:39:52.399 The doorbell

rang at the nursery office, a delvery. I 1889 01:39:52.479 --> 01:39:55.920 signed for the package, didn't recognize the sender. Inside was 1890 01:39:55.920 --> 01:39:59.159 a small box in a letter. The handwriting was Irenes 1891 01:40:00.119 --> 01:40:02.680 your lock. I know you said no contact. I'm respecting that, 1892 01:40:03.359 --> 01:40:05.560 but I wanted you to have this. It was your 1893 01:40:05.600 --> 01:40:07.800 grandmother's ring, the one my mother gave me when we 1894 01:40:07.840 --> 01:40:11.840 got engaged. It belongs with your family. I'm not asking 1895 01:40:11.880 --> 01:40:15.560 for forgiveness. I'm not asking for anything, just wanted you 1896 01:40:15.640 --> 01:40:17.319 to know that I think about you all every day, 1897 01:40:17.840 --> 01:40:19.640 that I'm trying to be better, even if no one 1898 01:40:19.640 --> 01:40:22.039 will ever know it. The girls are lucky to have you. 1899 01:40:22.640 --> 01:40:25.479 I held the ring up to the light, my grandmother's diamond, 1900 01:40:25.600 --> 01:40:28.039 small but perfect, and a sitting from the nineteen Forardies. 1901 01:40:28.680 --> 01:40:30.680 I remembered the day I had given it to Irene, 1902 01:40:30.840 --> 01:40:32.680 both of us young and stupid and sure that love 1903 01:40:32.720 --> 01:40:35.399 conquered everything. I put the ring back in the box, 1904 01:40:35.600 --> 01:40:38.079 locked it in the safe. Some day i'd give it 1905 01:40:38.079 --> 01:40:40.279 to Mary or Molly when they were ready. I reminded 1906 01:40:40.319 --> 01:40:43.680 their beatiful things could come from complicated histories. That evening, 1907 01:40:43.720 --> 01:40:45.920 as I closed up the nursery, I saw them tiny 1908 01:40:45.960 --> 01:40:48.239 green shoes pushing through the soil where we'd planted seats, 1909 01:40:48.239 --> 01:40:52.319 the whet before life, insisting on itself, despide everything. My 1910 01:40:52.439 --> 01:40:57.239 phone buzzed a text from Mary may Deane's list celebration 1911 01:40:57.359 --> 01:41:00.560 dinner when I'm home. Then Molly got the lead in 1912 01:41:00.600 --> 01:41:03.159 the spring play Don't cry when you see it, Dad, 1913 01:41:03.760 --> 01:41:06.520 I am on me Hope, bring home milk and maybe 1914 01:41:06.520 --> 01:41:09.479 ice cream, the good kind, I smiled, tucking the phone 1915 01:41:09.479 --> 01:41:13.479 away This was wealth, these connections, these routes we'd put down, 1916 01:41:13.520 --> 01:41:16.199 intended and refused to let any one tear up. The 1917 01:41:16.239 --> 01:41:18.840 sun was setting over Silicon Valley, painting the sky in 1918 01:41:18.840 --> 01:41:21.640 shades of pink and gold. Somewhere out there, in glass 1919 01:41:21.680 --> 01:41:25.319 towers and coting camps, people were chasing billions, disrupting industries, 1920 01:41:25.640 --> 01:41:29.039 moving fast and breaking things. But here, in my nursery, 1921 01:41:29.079 --> 01:41:32.399 surrounded by slow growth, impatient seasons, I'd found something better, 1922 01:41:33.039 --> 01:41:36.680 not just survival but renewal, not just justice but peace. 1923 01:41:37.399 --> 01:41:39.359 I locked the gate and headed home to my family, 1924 01:41:39.439 --> 01:41:43.239 my real fortune, my harvest of truth. And that is 1925 01:41:43.279 --> 01:41:45.800 the end. Thank you for listening, and I will see 1926 01:41:45.840 --> 01:41:55.159 you in the next one.