Chapter 7 - Emily’s marriage
Emily married Richard when she was twenty-three.
Too young, I thought then.
I was wrong about the age.
Right about some other things.
Richard was charming.
Organized.
Reliable.
An accountant who became controller for a regional construction-supply company.
He remembered birthdays.
Sent flowers.
Fixed my mother’s dishwasher without being asked.
He was not a cartoon villain.
That mattered because the danger in our family did not arrive wearing a warning sign.
For years their marriage looked ordinary.
Then Richard’s company was acquired.
He received a promotion.
More money.
More travel.
More control over vendor payments.
Emily began noticing inconsistencies.
At first she did not suspect crime.
She suspected debt.
Then an affair.
Then something worse.
Six months before her disappearance, she called me.
“Claire, if Richard tells you I’m paranoid, ask what I’m paranoid about.”
I laughed.
“What?”
May you like
“I’m serious.”
I should have stopped laughing.
