I pushed the certificate across the table.
“The account held money. You moved it.”
“The money was moved to a protected account.”
“Whose account?”
“Yours.”
I stared at her.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
I let out a short, disbelieving breath.
“You don’t know where my money is?”
“Not anymore.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I know where it was sent. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“Who controlled it?”
Mom looked down at her hands.
“Daniel.”
The room seemed to grow smaller.
“Why would Daniel control an account belonging to me?”
“Because your grandmother had discovered that the account was vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable to what?”
Mom did not answer immediately.
The wall clock ticked once, twice, three times.
Then she said, “Someone had been using your identity.”
The words were so ordinary that I almost missed their meaning.
“What do you mean?”
“Accounts were being opened in your name. Documents were being requested. There were transfers I didn’t recognize.”
“By whom?”
“We didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Not at first.”
I stood so quickly that the chair scraped the floor.
“You took money from my account because you thought someone else was stealing from me?”
“No. I moved the money because your grandmother believed someone else had access to the account.”
“And instead of telling me, you put it under Daniel’s control?”
“I was trying to protect it.”
“You keep saying that, but every decision you made left me with less information and less control.”
“I know.”
“Did Grandma know you were doing this?”
“She told me to.”
“Then why didn’t she tell me herself?”
“Because she was afraid.”
I stared at her.
“Of what?”
“That if the person involved knew you were aware of the account, they might come after you for the money.”
The phrase made my stomach turn.
“Come after me? Mom, this isn’t a movie. Who would even know about an account I barely knew existed?”
Mom pressed her palms flat against the table.
“Your grandmother thought it might be someone close to the family.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“Did you ever ask?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she had proof, but not enough to accuse anyone.”
“Proof of what?”
“Of someone using your personal information.”
I pulled the certificate back toward me and examined the transfer date.
