“Yes, Natalie?” he said, sounding pleased.

“I hope your retainer is non-refundable,” I said.

I hung up before he could answer.

I looked at Rachel, who was watching me with wide eyes.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Margaret’s lawyer,” I said. “He wants to play dirty.”

I unlocked my phone again and opened my secure email app.

I drafted a new message to Detective Sullivan and copied Marcus.

I attached three audio files from my secure cloud drive.

The first file was dated fourteen months ago.

I pressed play on the first file to verify the audio quality.

Margaret’s voice filled the hospital room, loud and clear.

“You are a parasite, Natalie,” Margaret’s voice sneered from the speaker. “If you think you’re keeping that money, I will make sure you end up in an institution where no one will ever believe a word you say.”

I stopped the playback.

“Is that what I think it is?” Rachel whispered.

“That is three years of systematic abuse,” I said. “And I have fifty more files just like it.”

I tapped the send button.