Save the invoice your sister sent you, any messages about the renovation, and every receipt or communication you can obtain concerning removal of the original contents.”
Vanessa laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“You’re acting like I burned the place down.”
“No,” Mara replied.
“I’m acting like property was removed from a home without the owner’s permission, while documented contents were under an estate record, and the owner was then presented with a bill for unauthorized work.”
Derek went pale.
He looked at Vanessa again.
“You told me Brianna knew.”
Vanessa spun toward him.
“I said she wouldn’t care.”
“That’s not what you said.”
For the first time that evening, her certainty cracked.
She lowered her voice.
“Derek.”
“You said you talked to her before Hawaii.”
“I said I tried calling her.”
“You told the designer she approved the concept.”
The kitchen became very still.
I turned toward Vanessa.
“You told the designer I approved this?”
She lifted both hands.
“They needed an answer.
You weren’t reachable.”
“So you gave them one for me.”
“I knew what you would have said.”
“No,” I said.
“You knew what you wanted me to say.”
Derek walked over to the counter and picked up the invoice that Vanessa had emailed me.
I had pulled it up on my phone earlier, but now I forwarded it to Mara while he stared at the printed figures Vanessa had brought with her.
Furniture.
Design consultation.
Painting.
Removal.
Disposal.
Installation.
Thirty-eight thousand dollars.
Vanessa had expected me to reimburse the cost of erasing my own belongings.
Mara asked another question.
“Where did the removed items go?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I told you.
I donated them.”
“All of them?” I asked.
“Most.”
“What happened to the rest?”
She hesitated.
It was tiny, but I saw it.
Derek saw it too.
“What rest?” he asked.
Vanessa glared at him.
“Some things were hauled away.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.
The movers handled it.”
Mara said, “Then the first priority is locating every item that can still be recovered.”
Vanessa gave a sharp laugh.
