Chapter 5
The first thing June did was refuse to let Brielle photograph the forged-looking page with her school tablet.
"We can make copies," she said, placing it on the table, "but the original stays untouched until a lawyer tells us how to handle it."
Brielle flushed. "I was just trying to help."
"And you are helping. Evidence only matters if people can trust how it was kept."
They photographed the papers on June's phone where they lay, recorded the date and location, and put the contents back in the tin. June called a trusts-and-estates attorney she had used after Lillian's death. The receptionist could offer an appointment the next afternoon, not a miracle before lunch.
That distinction mattered. Brielle had imagined showing Marcus the false signature and watching the entire deception collapse. Instead she watched June write down ordinary questions: Who controlled the account? Had title transferred? Had anyone recorded an instrument with the county? Could the studio be protected while the facts were checked?
Naomi found a spool of pale-blue thread beneath Lillian's old worktable. She held it like a precious stone. "Can I keep this?"
"It belongs to both of you," June said. "Let's leave it here until we know what happens to the building."
Brielle disliked that answer but understood it. Taking things home could make it easier for Celeste to accuse them of stealing.
On their way out, the neighboring shopkeeper, Mr. Salazar, stepped onto the sidewalk. His grocery had faced the studio for eleven years. He greeted June, then frowned at the boxes stacked near the rear entrance.
On the drive home, Brielle tried to recreate the order in which they'd found things. She said the tin had been under the invoices. June corrected her: it had been behind the invoices, in the back corner. Brielle bristled, then understood why the difference mattered. A person giving honest evidence should be able to correct a memory without being treated as dishonest. She opened the notes app and recorded the amendment. It was the first time she had intentionally documented uncertainty instead of hiding it.
Naomi fell asleep in the back seat, clutching a folded paper star she'd found in the old office. June stopped at a red light and looked at Brielle through the mirror. "Do you want me to take over?" she asked. Brielle almost said no. She had been the one fixing meals when Marcus worked late, helping Naomi with homework, remembering every school form Celeste said she couldn't find. Taking over had become a habit she believed proved her worth. But June was offering something different: an adult willing to hold responsibility that should not rest on a teenager. "Yes," Brielle admitted. "I want you to help." June nodded without turning the admission into a lesson. The traffic light changed; the car moved on. By the time they reached the house, Brielle was ready to let June speak first.
"Moving day again?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Brielle said.
"The delivery van came twice this month. Late, after my store closed. I figured you had a big order."
June asked if he remembered dates. He checked the calendar in his phone, where he noted deliveries blocking his loading zone.
"Tuesday the sixth, and Saturday the tenth," he said. "The van had Hale lettering on the door."
"Did you see who let them inside?" Brielle asked.
"Your stepmother. The first night a man was with her. I didn't recognize him."
June asked whether he would speak with the attorney if needed. Mr. Salazar hesitated, glancing back at his store. "I'd rather not end up in anybody's lawsuit. But I can tell the truth about my loading dock."
That was less dramatic than Brielle wanted and more useful than a promise he could not keep.
At home, Celeste was waiting beside the kitchen island.
"Interesting little family outing," she said, setting down her phone.
Marcus stood at the sink. His shoulders sank when he saw June.
"You went into the studio without asking?" he said.
"I am a trustee," June replied. "I don't require Celeste's permission."
Celeste smiled tightly. "We were only cleaning out old inventory."
"Then there's no reason to object to our visit."
Marcus turned off the tap. "June, can't this wait?"
"No. Someone has added my name to a document I did not sign."
A silence filled the kitchen. Celeste's smile vanished first.
"That is a serious allegation," she said.
"Yes," June answered. "Which is why I haven't made it lightly."
May you like
Marcus looked at Celeste, not in surprise but in frightened recognition.
And Brielle understood that her father had known something was wrong before the scissors ever touched the dress.
