Page 69 of The Right to Remain

“Austen and I stopped by Owen’s office one weekend after Thanksgiving. We were planning to go as a family to seeThe Nutcracker. Austen was excited, and he started doing what children do when they’re about to see a performance like that. He started dancing.”

“Your son was dancing ballet in his father’s office, at his place of work?” asked the prosecutor.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“How did Owen react?”

Helena swallowed hard. “Owen said something horrible to Austen.”

The judge intervened, an act of mercy. “Let’s leave it right there, Ms. Weller. You don’t have to ask what was said. The court gets the point.”

The prosecutor was like a dog with a bone. “Just to be clear, Ms. Pollard: You told Mr. Stafford about this, correct? You made him aware of the ‘horrible’ thing your husband said to Austen?”

“Yes. And I begged him not to say anything to Owen. I told him Owen would probably fire him and get a restraining order from the court to stop him from volunteering at the conservatory and talking to Austen there—which is a violation of the terms of the closed adoption.”

“Thank you,” said the prosecutor. “Did you have any further communication with the defendant about your husband’s position on an open adoption or the way Owen treated your son?”

“Not directly. But I was in the room when Owen spoke to Elliott on the phone. In our house.”

“When did this call happen?”

“It was on the day Owen died. In the morning.”

The prosecutor retrieved an exhibit from the table and handed it up to the judge. “Your Honor, I’m offering into evidence a copy of the defendant’s cell phone records showing an incoming call from the Pollards’ landline telephone number on the morning of his death.”

“No objection,” said Jack.Except for the fact that my client didn’t bother to tell me about this,he thought.

“Received,” said the judge.

“Ms. Pollard, who initiated the call on your landline, you or your husband?”

“Owen didn’t know Elliott’s number. So, he told me to dial for him.”

“Was your husband angry?”

“He was beyond angry.”

“Were you angry?”

“No. I was... scared.”

“What were you scared of?”

Helena hesitated, as if trying not to start at the beginning, trying not to relive every moment. “So much to be scared of. But what triggered the call to Elliott was that Owen had discovered all the things that I had warned Elliott not to tell him. He confronted me about it.”

“What do you mean by ‘all the things’?”

“That he and Austen had gotten to know each other at the conservatory. That Elliott used to be Elle. And that Elliott wanted an open adoption.”

“Do you know how your husband learned all that?”

“I don’t. I can only assume that—”

“Don’t assume anything,” the judge said. “Tell us only what you know.”

Helena collected herself. “I don’t know how Owen found out.”

“That’s fine,” said the prosecutor, and Jack understood why she didn’t push further. It was obvious enough that Elliott had spoken to Owen.