They Faked a DNA Test, So I Made Them Test Everyone novel · Chapter 2 of 16
Chapter 2: Table Nine
The police arrive, Kate exposes Douglas's girlfriend and his pre-dated divorce papers, Graham agrees to the test, and Patricia threatens to take Finley.
Glass skittered under the head table, and a waiter dropped to his knees to sweep it up.
Patricia didn't look down.
She was looking at me.
"She's hysterical," she told the room. "Somebody get her some water."
"I'm fine," I said. "The police are on their way. We can all wait."
Finley tugged at my dress.
"Mommy, is Grandma mad?"
"Grandma dropped her glass," I said. "That's all."
Douglas leaned in close enough that I could smell his cologne.
"You're making this so much worse for yourself."
[He drafted the divorce papers two months ago. Look at the date on page six.]
I picked up the manila envelope and slid the papers out.
Page six had a signature line with his name already signed.
The date under it said July 14.
Tonight was September 12.
I held the page up so the table could see it.
"Douglas," I said. "The report came up on that screen five minutes ago. Why did you sign these in July?"
The woman next to Graham leaned over to read it.
So did Graham's brother.
Douglas's jaw went tight.
"I had my suspicions."
"For two months," I said. "And you never said a word to me."
"I didn't want to upset you."
A man at table four actually snorted.
[Table nine. The hostess in the green dress. A year.]
I turned around.
Table nine was the staff table, where Patricia let the flagship's employees sit at family parties.
A pretty young woman in a green dress was staring at her plate.
Brynn Kessler.
She'd seated me at this restaurant a hundred times.
She always complimented Finley's shoes.
"Brynn," I said.
Her head snapped up.
"How long have you been seeing my husband?"
The room made a sound like a wave pulling back.
Brynn's face went red, then white.
She looked at Douglas.
That was the answer, and sixty people watched her give it.
"Don't drag her into this," Douglas said.
"You dragged a five-year-old into this."
The stairwell door banged open.
Two police officers came up into the hall, a woman in her forties and a young man with a notebook.
"Somebody called about a forged document and a minor being streamed?"
"Me," I said.
I pointed at the phone in front of Tamara's plate.
"That was hidden in the flowers. It streamed my son's face for twenty-six minutes."
Tamara grabbed for it.
The female officer got there first.
"Ma'am, leave it on the table."
"It's my phone! It's just content, it's a family joke!"
"A joke," the officer said. "Okay. We'll hold on to the joke."
She slid it into a clear bag.
Patricia came around the table in her champagne silk, all soft voice and pearl earrings.
"Officer, I'm so sorry. My daughter-in-law is having a breakdown. This is a private family matter."
"She says the report on that screen is forged."
"It came from a real lab."
"Then a real lab can say so again," I said. "Graham already agreed. Three generations. Didn't you, Graham?"
Everyone turned to the head of the table.
Graham stood.
He was sixty-three and he looked older tonight.
"I agreed," he said. "If Kate's lying, she walks out of this family with nothing. If she's not, somebody in this room owes my grandson an apology."
"He's not your grandson!" Tamara said.
Graham looked at her until she sat down.
Patricia smiled at him.
"Of course, darling. We'll do it properly. I know an excellent lab."
"No," I said. "The police pick it, or the trust picks it. Nobody in this family touches it."
The officer wrote something down.
"We'll need statements from everyone who set up that screen."
Tamara looked at her mother.
Patricia looked at the floor, for one second.
The officers took names for twenty minutes.
Douglas gave his with a smile.
I sat with Finley in my lap and let him eat the frosting off Patricia's birthday cake with his fingers.
Nobody stopped him.
When I finally stood to leave, Patricia was waiting by the coat rack in the hallway.
The hall behind us was full of people pretending not to listen.
She fixed my collar like a loving mother-in-law.
Her fingers were ice.
"You think you're clever," she whispered. "You have no idea what you're touching."
"I know exactly what I'm touching."
She leaned in and kissed my cheek for the room.
"Drop the test, Kate. Or I promise you'll never see that boy again."
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