Cold Betrayal

The capper, though, and by far the most damning, was the video clip that showed Sandra paying a surreptitious visit to Betsy’s house on Friday evening. Joe Friday’s surveillance camera had worked its magic. The video feed, complete with a time and date stamp, showed Sandra, alone this time, entering Betsy’s house while Betsy would have been in Bemidji at the fish fry. Sandra had spent most of the time in the bedroom, browsing through her mother-in-law’s jewelry box. Alerted by Stuart the next morning, Betsy had done her own jewelry box inventory and discovered that her mother’s antique cameo was missing, as was the pair of uncharacteristically extravagant diamond earrings Alton had given Betsy for their fiftieth wedding a

Athena hadn’t told her grandmother she was coming, so this was to be a surprise visit. The plan was to arrive at Dr. Munson’s office at the same time Betsy did. Ali was concerned about Athena’s intention of confronting the two miscreants together, but she was only along as backup. This wasn’t her fight. What happened during the encounter at Dr. Munson’s office would determine if Betsy’s next step would be filing a police report or simply demanding restitution.

On the way, Athena spilled out her heart. Athena had been at odds with her parents from a very early age. The battles were waged mostly between mother and daughter. Athena’s father, Jim, had always taken Sandra’s part, while his parents, Betsy and Alton, had functioned as their granddaughter’s safety net and refuge. Athena knew that Betsy and Sandra had been on the outs for decades, but it was only this current crisis that had brought into sharp focus the seriousness of the rift between them.

“Until just the other day, I had no idea of Gram’s intention to write them out of her will.”

“I’m pretty sure your mother knew,” Ali offered. “If she and your father were to be appointed Betsy’s guardians, Sandra would have used her influence with your father to gain control of that money long before it ever got to you. She was probably also hoping to cover up what she’s been doing for the last year.”

“Which is stealing,” Athena said. “My mother is a thief.”

“And a liar and a cheat,” Ali added. “I guess that’s why you turned out to be the way you did. One way kids rebel is to be the opposite of their parents. That explains why you’re who you are, but now I’m worried about Colin and Colleen. Will they be throwbacks to your mom?”

“I hope not,” Athena said, and she wasn’t laughing about it, either. The idea that her sweet little twins might grow up and turn into chips off her mother’s block was clearly a disturbing possibility and one Athena had never before considered.

They landed in Bemidji and picked up their rented car with a good hour to spare before Betsy’s two-thirty doctor’s appointment. With Ali behind the wheel, they did a quick drive-by tour of the place, with Athena offering directions, pointing out the sights, and providing narration.

The sky was overcast, and the weather had veered into the high thirties, a temperature Athena said locals would regard as a regular heat wave. They drove through town and saw the schools Athena had attended, the house where her parents still lived, and her father’s dental office on Paul Bunyan Drive.

“That red Miata parked outside belongs to Jack,” Athena said, biting her lip.

Ali knew the fact that Athena’s parents continued to maintain a close co

“I guess we won’t be stopping in to visit, then?” Ali asked.

“I guess not,” Athena answered in a pained but wry way that made Ali grateful Athena hadn’t attempted this difficult journey on her own.

They parked outside Dr. Elmer Munson’s office on Bemidji Avenue at two-fifteen. They were early enough to see Betsy, accompanied by an elderly man with a cane, clamber out of a battered Kia. The man had stepped out of the front passenger seat and then held the back passenger door open while Betsy wrestled herself out of the vehicle.

“That’s Marcia Lawson’s Kia,” Athena explained as the vehicle moved away from the curb. “She drives Betsy around when she needs to go somewhere.”

“Who’s the man?” Ali asked

“I have no idea.”

The old couple had already made their dignified way into the building when Sandra Peterson arrived. After a hasty job of bad parallel parking, she bustled in after them.

“Showtime,” Athena muttered.

By the time Ali and Athena located the office and entered the waiting area, there was already a palpable feeling of tension in the room. Betsy and her unknown friend sat next to each other against one wall by the receptionist while Sandra, looking put out, sat on a love seat on the far side of the room.

“Hey, Mom,” Athena said, waving a casual greeting. “How’s it going?” Then she turned to Betsy. “Hi, Gram.”

Sandra half rose from her chair. “What on earth are you doing here?” she demanded. Then, as if she knew, she sank back down into her chair.

Betsy struggled to her feet and limped over to give Athena a fierce hug.

“I heard Gram might be having some mental health issues,” Athena said, turning to answer her mother’s question. “Ali and I decided to fly up and see what’s going on.” Athena next stepped forward to hold out her nonprosthetic hand to the man with the cane who was rising from his chair and tottering over to greet her. The old guy had to be eighty if he was a day.

“I’m Athena,” she explained. “Betsy’s granddaughter.”

“Just call me Howard,” the old guy said. “You might say I’m BA and AA,” he added with a chuckle and a quick glance in Betsy’s direction. “That stands for Before Alton and After Alton. If I’d played my cards right way back then, maybe there wouldn’t have been any Alton at all.”

“Hush,” Betsy said, giving him a playful shove with her arm.

A nurse stepped into the room from a corridor that led to the examining rooms. “Betsy Peterson,” she a

“Wait,” the nurse said. “You can’t all come in here.”

“I’m Howard Hansen,” Howard said. “Doctor Howard Hansen. It’s probably a little before your time, but I was a G.P. here in town for many years. I came along today as Betsy’s friend and to offer my services as a disinterested bystander in terms of this competency situation.”

“You can’t go into the examination room with her,” the nurse objected.

“Exactly,” Sandra agreed, trying to push her way past Howard.

“If Betsy here wants me in the examination room, I most certainly can be,” Howard replied with a smile. “In fact, it might be best if you consulted Elmer himself on that particular issue.”

The nurse’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll see what the doctor has to say.”

The nurse had obviously taken offense at the idea that anyone would have the temerity to call her boss by his given name. She stalked off, returning a moment later with a man Ali easily recognized as a face in the rogues’ gallery of photos Stuart Ramey had collected from various surveillance photos. Dr. Munson was wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope.

“What seems to be the difficulty here?” he asked, frowning.

“Hello, Dr. Munson,” Athena said.

“Do I know you?”

“Probably not,” Athena said. “I’m Betsy’s granddaughter, Athena Reynolds. I know who you are, though. I recognize you from your photos. Several of them, in fact.”

Swiping her iPad to on, she then held it out for him to see while she scrolled through several of the damning photographs. When Elmer Munson realized what he was seeing, his eyes widened, and he glared at Sandra.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I don’t know . . .” Sandra began, but then she caught sight of one of the photos, too. Her eyes bulged, too. “What’s the meaning of this?”