Then we tried to find Anna.
It took four days.
She lived two states away and used her maiden name.
Sophie stared at the phone before calling.
A woman answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Anna?”
“Who’s asking?”
“I am Sophie.”
Silence.
“Daniel’s wife.”
The silence changed.
Then Anna asked one question.
“Are you safe?”
Sophie covered her mouth.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m at my aunt’s house.”
Anna exhaled.
“Good.”
Sophie told her about the basement.
About everything.
When she finished, Anna was crying.
“I thought Margaret destroyed everything.”
“She kept it.”
“Why?”
We eventually learned why.
The bank records didn’t implicate only Daniel.
They showed transfers into an account connected to Margaret.
Anna had confronted them and threatened legal action. Daniel responded by telling everyone she was unstable.
Anna left before the dispute was resolved because getting herself out mattered more than getting her money back.
Margaret apparently hid the records rather than risk destroying them, believing nobody would ever search the basement.
Then Sophie did.
Sophie sent copies of Anna’s records to her.
Both women gave everything to their attorneys.
What they discovered made Sophie physically sick.
Daniel had begun moving small amounts from Sophie’s joint account, disguised as household expenses. Several payments had gone toward his parents’ debts.
