Chapter 5
Corinne responded through an attorney.
She denied ever working on Elena’s case.
Harbor House had dozens of clients.
Corinne had been an administrative coordinator, not a counselor.
Any knowledge she possessed about Elena, she claimed, came from conversations after beginning her relationship with Alistair.
Rebecca did not argue.
She requested records.
Harbor House still existed.
Its executive director agreed to cooperate with a narrowly tailored inquiry after learning that one of its former employees may have disclosed confidential information about a deceased client.
The office had migrated systems years earlier.
Old records were incomplete.
But access logs survived.
Elena Montelli’s file had been opened under an internal client number.
The primary attorney came from an outside family-law firm.
The assigned Harbor House coordinator was identified only by employee number:
HW-1847.
Rebecca requested the employee map.
Harbor House hesitated because former employee data was protected.
Then Corinne’s attorney made a mistake.
He sent a letter arguing that any access Corinne had would have occurred strictly as part of normal employment.
Rebecca read it twice.
“He just admitted she had access.”
Alistair stared at the page.
“He still hasn’t said she was the coordinator.”
“No.”
The employee map arrived under confidentiality two days later.
HW-1847 belonged to Corinne Vale.
Alistair read the name once.
Then again.
He felt no explosion of anger.
Something colder.
Corinne had not merely worked at the company Elena hired.
She had been assigned to Elena’s file.
Rebecca cautioned him.
“That still does not prove they met.”
“What does a coordinator do?”
“Scheduling. Intake. Referrals. Logistics. Sometimes client contact.”
“Would she know Elena was planning to leave the estate?”
“Possibly.”
“Would she know Elena disappeared that night?”
“Not from the file unless Elena contacted her.”
Alistair looked at the dates.
The last recorded access to Elena’s file occurred at 7:42 p.m. the night she died.
Elena left the estate at 8:11.
Third clue.
Corinne’s employee credentials had opened the file less than thirty minutes before Elena disappeared.
Alistair wanted to confront her immediately.
Rebecca refused.
“You asked me for truth.”
“I have enough.”
“You have enough to know she lied about never knowing Elena.”
“That is enough for me.”
“For ending the engagement, yes.”
Rebecca closed the folder.
“Not for deciding what happened to your wife.”
May you like
Alistair hated the distinction.
He accepted it.
