Rose asked him whether Vanessa knew he planned to surrender the girls.
Arthur laughed.
“Vanessa thinks you already arranged for your father to raise them. She thinks this was your decision.”
That was the first real reversal.
Until then, I had assumed the woman in the van had willingly accepted Arthur’s plan.
Rose’s recording suggested Arthur had told each woman a different story.
He had told Rose that Vanessa refused to raise the girls.
He had told Vanessa that Rose had chosen to give them away.
He had told the mourners that nobody wanted responsibility.
Every version left Arthur blameless and everyone else carrying what he had abandoned.
I played the second recording.
Arthur complained about the girls’ clothing, school schedules, medical appointments, and the amount of space their belongings occupied in the house.
He said he wanted the rooms cleared before the wedding.
Rose asked when he planned to marry Vanessa.
“Soon,” he answered. “I’ve already waited long enough.”
The date on that recording was six weeks before Rose died.
I stopped the device and pressed both hands against the laundry counter.
For a moment, grief and anger became indistinguishable.
