Chapter 3 - Audrey’s camera
The next morning I pulled out the insurance file.
I had not opened it in eleven months.
That embarrassed me before anything else did.
Homeowner carrier:
Hartwell Mutual.
Storm date:
June 18.
Reported:
June 19.
Primary damage:
Detached workshop roof intrusion.
Water damage to flooring, drywall, cabinetry, stored personal property.
Initial estimate:
$74,600.
Supplemented after contents inventory and mold/remediation concerns.
Total submitted claim:
$157,900.
Hartwell had paid:
$112,400.
Another $45,500 remained denied or pending documentation at closure.
I had signed a proof-of-loss summary electronically.
I remembered signing.
I had been in Denver.
Celeste sent me a message:
Hartwell needs your signature today or they delay the payment another week.
I opened the PDF on my phone.
Scrolled.
Saw the total.
Called Celeste.
“You reviewed this?”
“Three times.”
“Contractor?”
“Yes.”
“Adjuster?”
“They have their own estimate.”
Then I signed.
That was my name.
No forgery required.
Carelessness can create enough damage on its own.
The contents list included:
Vintage brass reading lamp: $2,800 replacement value.
Audrey’s compact digital camera and accessories: $1,450.
Two framed photographs: $900.
Three decorative silver pieces: $6,200.
Vintage rug: $4,700.
Books and personal papers: $1,300.
Additional furnishings.
Tools.
Cabinetry.
Some items I remembered.
Some I did not.
Then contractor:
Weston Restoration Group.
Project manager:
Miles Trent.
The man Piper saw?
Maybe.
Celeste had brought Weston to me.
She said they were fast.
Professional.
They were.
The workshop looked excellent after repair.
Actual restoration invoices paid:
$68,300.
Contents payment made directly to me:
$31,700.
Additional living/cleanup/other categories:
Balance.
I had used the contents money mostly to replace tools and shelving.
Some remained in savings.
No lavish purchase.
Then Audrey’s camera.
If Piper hid it before the adjuster came, why was it listed as damaged and disposed?
Maybe Celeste assumed it had been in the water.
Maybe it was another camera.
I searched Audrey’s old inventory photos.
There it was.
Silver compact digital camera.
Same model Piper described.
Then the brass lamp.
I asked Piper to draw it.
She drew a tall curved lamp with round base.
Same one.
If Piper knocked it over after the storm but before the adjuster, the damage could still legitimately be included if it was caused by the child rather than covered storm damage?
Probably not under the storm claim.
Depending policy, accidental child damage might or might not be covered separately.
But the claim described:
Water saturation and impact resulting from storm-related collapse.
There had been no collapse.
I called Nathan Cole, my insurance attorney.
Not because I wanted a lawyer before telling Hartwell.
Because once I realized my signature sat under potentially inaccurate statements, I needed to stop improvising.
Nathan listened.
Then said:
“Do not accuse Celeste of insurance fraud yet.”
“I didn’t.”
“Do not call the contractor.”
“Was about to.”
“Don’t.”
“Do I call Hartwell?”
“Yes, but through a controlled written notice after we identify what you actually know.”
“I signed the proof.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t review each item.”
“That does not make the signature disappear.”
“I understand.”
Then:
“If there was an overpayment, can they demand it from me?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Celeste prepared everything?”
“You are the policyholder.”
There.
Consequences.
Then Nathan asked:
“What about the photographs in her handbag?”
I described them.
Dates visible on some prints.
Several taken within the previous month.
Piper:
Outside my study.
At workshop door.
Beside upstairs linen closet.
Near garage cabinets.
Nathan said:
“That sounds less like insurance documentation and more like someone trying to establish a pattern.”
“Of what?”
“Access.”
That word again.
Then he asked:
“Why would she need to show Piper has a habit of going where she shouldn’t?”
I looked toward the workshop.
May you like
Because last summer Piper had been somewhere Celeste did not want her.
And apparently Celeste still needed that fact to mean more than it did.
