Page 116 of Happy Wife

All of these pins starting to drop are lifting me out of the vortex of hell I’ve been in. I walk into the building, head held high, and scan the lobby for the best mark. I land on a dour-looking older gentleman, hoping that he’ll take pity. I walk over, and he motions for me to sit in the chair opposite him.

“How can I help you today?”

“Hi—” I look at his nameplate. “Dennis. My name is Nora Somerset, and my husband…” I pause as if I’m holding back a wall of emotions. Something that’s not too hard for me to fake, all things considered. “My husband died a few weeks ago—”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you. I’m trying to sort through all our affairs, and I came across several accounts here at this branch. I need to figure out what they were for because I didn’t know about them.”

Dennis hesitates a little. I clock it.

“I know there are probably rules, but it’s just me now, and I have to make sure that my finances stay in order.” I look at him with the biggest doe eyes I can muster.

C’mon, Dennis. You can do it.

“Of course, ma’am. Let me pull that up.”

I slide a piece of paper with the account numbers writtendown and watch as his face changes when, I am certain, he sees the past-due notices on them.

“These accounts are owed quite a sizable balance that hasn’t been paid. But, considering your circumstances, let me see if I can waive the late fees if you make a payment today.”

“Thank you. Can you tell me when the accounts were opened?”

He looks at me for a second. “I will need to see some ID to do that.” I slide my license across the table at him and he looks at it, satisfied. He clicks through a few things. “It looks like they were opened about three months ago.”

“Is it possible for me to see the signature pages on the contracts?”

Dennis considers me, and I know it’s an odd question, but I am hoping he’ll just keep helping me out.

I continue. “I need the information for my accountant to help me settle my late husband’s affairs.”

“All right.” Dennis prints out the signature pages for me and slides them across the table. “Now about making a payment today.”

“Yes, of course. Can I have my accountant call you? I’m just figuring out all these finances and they’re the ones who really handle payments.”

“That’ll be fine. Take my card and have them call today, please.”

I pick up the papers, shake Dennis’s hand, then do my best not to skip out of the building.

Back in the car, I sift through the three signature pages. It’s clear they’ve been signed by the same person because of the way the ink pools at the end of each signature. It’s subtle, but I recognize it. Fritz forged signatures for every document.

Let’s go get Fritz Hall arrested.

—

It took us about an hour to walk Ardell through everything. After telling her part, Autumn went with another detective to give a sworn statement. It all made sense. Dean had figured out that Fritz was stealing money from the firm and told Will. And, the night of the party, Will had confronted him about all of it. After the party, they must have met up somewhere to finish their argument, and Fritz killed him.

I had brought along a handwritten note from Fritz to Will thatI saw on Will’s desk at home. Same pools of ink at the ends of sentences. I told Ardell that if he went to the credit union he would find surveillance showing that Fritz, not Will, opened those accounts.

I could see the internal struggle behind Ardell’s eyes. He didn’t want to believe any of it. He didn’t want to believe me. He held Fritz in such high esteem. But as he started processing all the information, he saw it the way we did.

“I’m really sorry for all of this, Nora. What a shitstorm. We’ll look into it, and we’ll talk to Fritz.”

I nod.

I had hoped that I would feel instantly better once Ardell had the evidence we had gathered, but this was all still so much to process. I don’t think I’ll really believe it’s true until Fritz is in custody.

We thank Ardell and leave.

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