Chapter 5 - Guilty Before the Crime
The arrest warrant accused Anna of stealing confidential Whitmore documents, threatening Henry and conspiring to interfere with his funeral.
The listed time of the alleged offense was 9:00 a.m.
Anna had struck the casket at 10:17.
Someone had prepared her guilt before she committed the act used to justify it.
Even so, the officers placed her in handcuffs while the wealthy mourners stepped aside.
A woman from the Whitmore Foundation complained that Anna’s arrest was disrupting the dignity of the memorial.
No one complained that an innocent employee had been publicly searched, fired and framed.
Julian asked the officers to wait until the empty casket was investigated.
Mrs. Whitmore ordered him not to embarrass the family further.
She reminded him that the chapel was filled with donors who could remove him from the company board if he appeared weak.
Anna finally understood the difference between rich and poor fear.
She feared losing her home, freedom and brother.
Julian feared losing the approval of people who owned several homes.
As the officers led Anna down the aisle, the elderly chapel custodian, Samuel Price, stepped in front of them.
He had polished the Whitmore pews for thirty-seven years and had never once been invited to sit in them.
Samuel produced security footage showing that Anna had remained in the staff kitchen during the time listed on the warrant.
He also revealed that Mrs. Whitmore had visited the police commissioner’s private office the previous evening.
Eleanor called him a confused old man.
Samuel answered that rich families had used his age, race and uniform to dismiss him for decades, but none of those things had damaged his memory.
The officers removed Anna’s handcuffs while they reviewed the footage.
Julian used Henry’s key to open a locked drawer beneath the casket platform.
Inside lay hotel payroll ledgers, a voice recorder and Lorraine Reed’s wedding ring.
Anna recognized the inscription.
Beside the ring was a train ticket issued for that afternoon under Lorraine’s name.
The destination was New York City.
May you like
Then Samuel quietly told Anna, “Your mother is not running from the Whitmores.”
“She is running from your brother.”
