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VENUE MANAGER CALLED: "Come ALONE, DON'T Tell BARBARA – WATCH the FOOTAGE!" – I WENT and FROZE — Transcript

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0:00Three days after I wrote a check for
0:02$80,000 to pay for my son's wedding, the
0:05manager of the restaurant phoned me and
0:06told me to come alone and not say one
0:09word to my wife.
0:10His voice was low and unsteady, the way
0:12a man talks when he is standing in a
0:14hallway with a door shut behind him. He
0:17said, "Mr. Moore, please don't put me on
0:19speaker. We were reviewing the footage
0:21from the private room after everyone
0:23left. You need to see it with your own
0:25eyes, and please, whatever you do, don't
0:27tell Barbara."
0:29I am Gregory Moore. I'm 67 years old,
0:32and I'd had a good life right up until
0:34that phone call. If you've ever trusted
0:36somebody for 38 years and been wrong
0:38about them, stay with me because I'm
0:40going to tell you exactly how I found
0:42out. And if you're enjoying the story, a
0:44like and a subscribe to Fur Tales helps
0:46more than you'd think. It was a Tuesday
0:49morning in late September in Ottawa. I
0:51was at the kitchen table in our house in
0:53Westboro nursing a coffee, watching the
0:56maples in the backyard start to turn.
0:58The wedding had been Saturday. Our son,
1:00Blake, had married Kayla at the Rideau
1:02Seller, a restored stone building with a
1:05terrace over the river, the kind of
1:06place that charges you for the chairs. I
1:09had paid it all in full, and I had no
1:11complaints. I'd spent 35 years building
1:13Bradley Builders from one truck and a
1:15borrowed ladder into a company with 60
1:17employees, and I sold it to my crew
1:20foreman 3 years ago for a fair price. I
1:22could afford to see my only boy married
1:24properly. My wife, Barbara, was at the
1:27sink arranging white lilies from the
1:29wedding centerpieces. She was humming.
1:32She'd been humming all weekend. 38 years
1:34of marriage, and I still liked watching
1:36her do small things.
1:38My phone buzzed on the table. Shawn
1:40Ellis, general manager of the Rideau
1:42Seller.
1:43"Morning, Shawn," I said. "Did we leave
1:45something behind?"
1:46Silence then. "Mr. Moore, are you
1:48alone?"
1:49I looked at Barbara. She was trimming a
1:51stem. "I am." "Good. Please listen
1:54carefully. Don't use the speaker, and
1:56don't tell Mrs. Moore who you're talking
1:58to. After a big event, we always review
2:00the cameras for insurance. There's
2:02footage from the bridal lounge recorded
2:04about 40 minutes after your party left.
2:07I think you need to see it today and
2:09alone.
2:10Did a staff member take something?
2:12No, sir, he said. It's your wife and
2:14your daughter-in-law.
2:16The phone went quiet in my hand. Barbara
2:18and Kayla, that made no sense. They
2:21barely tolerated each other. Barbara was
2:23a church-going woman from a mar time
2:25family who believed in casseroles and
2:27handwritten thank you notes. Kayla was
2:2929, a yoga instructor with a wellness
2:31blog and opinions about my diet. At the
2:34rehearsal dinner, they'd been so stiff
2:36with each other that Blake had made a
2:38joke to cover it.
2:39I'll be there in an hour, I said.
2:42Barbara turned and dried her hands. Her
2:44smile was exactly the one I'd woken up
2:46to for nearly four decades. Who was
2:48that? You look pale.
2:50The pharmacy, I said. Something about my
2:52blood pressure prescription. I'll go
2:54sort it out.
2:55I'll drive you. You've been so foggy
2:57lately.
2:58She was right about that. For about a
3:00month, I'd been tired and slow, losing
3:02words, forgetting why I'd walked into a
3:04room. Barbara had been worried. She'd
3:06said so to Blake, to our neighbors, to
3:08our doctor. I'd been worried, too.
3:11I'm fine, Barb, I said, and I took her
3:13hand off my shoulder as gently as I
3:15could. I need the air.
3:17In the garage, I climbed into my 2016
3:19F-150. I could have taken the Lexus, but
3:22the truck had always kept me honest. As
3:24I backed out, I looked at the kitchen
3:25window. Barbara stood there watching me
3:28go. She wasn't smiling. Her face had
3:30gone smooth and blank, like a lake with
3:32no wind on it. I had never seen that
3:34look before.
3:36On the drive down the Parkway, I went
3:38back over Saturday. When I'd given the
3:40kids their gift, I'd taken them aside
3:42after the toasts and handed over the
3:44paperwork for our cottage on Lac Simon,
3:46a property worth around $600,000,
3:49signed over clear. Blake had cried and
3:51hugged me. Kayla had smiled, looked over
3:54the papers for a long moment, and then
3:56looked across the room at Barbara. It
3:58was a quick look, a nod. I'd taken it
4:00for gratitude. Now it looked like one
4:02partner checking in with another.
4:04Sean met me at the service door by the
4:06loading dock. He was 35, usually
4:09polished like a showroom floor. And that
4:12morning he looked like he hadn't slept.
4:14He walked me through the kitchen, past
4:15the cooks prepping for lunch, down a
4:17narrow staircase into a windowless
4:19office that smelled like old coffee.
4:22Sit, Mr. Moore.
4:24Sean, I've tipped your people for 5
4:26years. Just tell me.
4:27He didn't. He just clicked a file open
4:30and stepped back.
4:31The timestamp said 11:48 p.m. Saturday.
4:35The bridal lounge empty of guests.
4:37The door opened and Barbara walked in.
4:39She wasn't favoring the bad hip she'd
4:41been complaining about for weeks. She
4:43strode across the room like a woman half
4:45her age, took a bottle of champagne from
4:47the bar fridge and popped it. Then Kayla
4:49came in, still in her wedding dress,
4:51kicking her heels off at the door.
4:53My wife poured two glasses. They
4:55clinked.
4:56"To the dumbest man in Ottawa," Kayla
4:58said.
4:59Barbara laughed. I had never heard that
5:01laugh in 38 years. It was dry and sharp,
5:04like a branch snapping. "To Gregory,"
5:06she said. "God love him. Easiest man in
5:08the world to steer."
5:10My hands closed on the arms of that
5:11chair so tight my fingers hurt. Kayla
5:14dropped onto the couch and put her feet
5:16on the table.
5:18"Did you see his face when he handed
5:19over the cottage?
5:21He honestly thinks I want to spend
5:22weekends at a lake with black flies.
5:25It's an asset, sweetheart. 6 months we
5:27list it. 600,000 less the agent. That
5:30clears your student loans and puts the
5:32down payment on the condo in Toronto.
5:35And the big one?"
5:37"The big one is the farm trust," Barbara
5:39said. "It's all in the wording. When
5:41Gregory's father set it up, he made it
5:43release on the birth of a grandchild.
5:451.8 million dollars. And Gregory can't
5:48touch it, but the guardians can.
5:50I knew that trust. I'd mentioned it to
5:52Barbara once years ago over a glass of
5:54wine, a footnote in an old estate file.
5:57I'd never told Blake the terms. I had
5:59never told anyone else.
6:00Kayla made a face and tapped her flat
6:02stomach. Thank God nobody's checked.
6:05Another 6 weeks I say I'm showing and
6:07the paperwork starts.
6:09My heart stopped, then started again
6:11painfully. There was no baby. She wasn't
6:13pregnant. The grandchild I'd been
6:15bragging about to my friends at the golf
6:17club since August, the one I'd already
6:19started a little savings account for,
6:21did not exist.
6:23And Blake? Barbara asked.
6:25Blake does what he's told. He's a golden
6:27retriever with a mortgage. He thinks
6:29it's all for Gregory's own good.
6:31It is for Gregory's good, Barbara said,
6:34and they both laughed.
6:35Then Barbara put her glass down and her
6:38voice turned business-like. Todd has the
6:40power of attorney drafted. He says an
6:42assessment from Dr. Whitlock will carry
6:44it. A few more weeks of the zopiclone in
6:47his evening tea, he'll be confused
6:49enough to fail any capacity test they
6:50give him. Poor Gregory, early cognitive
6:53decline, it happens all the time at his
6:54age. Then Blake and I sign as attorneys
6:57for property. And Todd handles the
6:59accounts.
7:00Todd, Todd Powell, my financial advisor
7:03for 20 years, the man I'd had over for
7:05Christmas dinners.
7:06And if the stubborn old goat won't take
7:08the assessment, Kayla said.
7:11Barbara looked right at the camera
7:12without knowing it was there.
7:14He's already had two falls this month.
7:17A third on those cottage stairs wouldn't
7:18surprise anyone.
7:20I sat there in a basement in Ottawa with
7:22the sound of my own breathing in my
7:24ears. The tea, the foggy mornings, the
7:26lost words, every night Barbara bringing
7:29me my chamomile with a kiss on the head,
7:31and I thought, what did I ever do to
7:33deserve this woman?
7:34The video ended. Shawn turned his chair
7:37around and I could see he'd been crying,
7:39a 35-year-old man in a nice suit who had
7:42watched this a dozen times and still
7:44couldn't believe it.
7:45"I didn't know whether to call the
7:47police first," he said.
7:49"I was afraid they'd take the server for
7:50evidence, and you'd walk in blind. I
7:53didn't want you to go home to her
7:54without knowing."
7:55I stood up. My legs held. A very quiet,
7:58very cold thing had settled in my chest.
8:01The same thing that settled in me 30
8:03years ago when a supplier tried to
8:04bankrupt me, and I decided I would
8:06rather lose everything than be played.
8:09"Can I get a copy?"
8:10"It's on a drive. And Mr. Moore, I
8:12exported it with the original metadata
8:14and wrote down who touched it and when.
8:16The hash is on the label. If anyone says
8:18it's fake, there's a record."
8:20I looked at him. "You've done this
8:22before?"
8:23"My brother-in-law is a detective with
8:25the Ottawa police," he said.
8:27"I asked him what to do before I called
8:29you."
8:30I could have hugged him. I took the
8:31drive and put it in my breast pocket,
8:33where it sat like a stone.
8:35"What are you going to do?"
8:38"What I always did when somebody tried
8:39to cheat me," I said. "Read the whole
8:42contract before I sign."
8:44I went back out to the truck. I did not
8:46drive home. I drove to a Tim Hortons
8:48parking lot on Richmond Road, sat with
8:50the engine off, and made two phone
8:52calls. The first was to my lawyer,
8:54Nicole Phillips, who had handled my
8:56estate for 15 years and had a reputation
8:58for ruining people politely. I told her
9:00everything in about 6 minutes. She was
9:03quiet for a count of five.
9:05"Gregory, where are you right now?"
9:07"In a parking lot."
9:09"Good. Do not go home yet. Do not
9:11confront anyone. Do not eat or drink
9:13anything Barbara gives you. I'm calling
9:15Detective Elliott. He's Shawn Ellis's
9:17brother-in-law, I think. Small city. Be
9:19in my office in 40 minutes."
9:21The second call was to my own family
9:23doctor, Dr. Porter, who has known me
9:25since my 50s. I asked him to run a full
9:28toxicology panel on a blood sample that
9:30afternoon, quietly, under his own
9:31authority. He didn't ask why. He just
9:34said, "Come in now."
9:35By 3:00, I'd given blood, given a
9:38statement, and sat in the Coles
9:39conference room across from a quiet,
9:42square-shouldered detective named Mark
9:44Elliott, who watched the footage twice
9:46without blinking.
9:48"Mr. Moore," he said, "you've got real
9:49evidence here. Conspiracy, fraud,
9:51administering a noxious substance. But
9:54I'll be honest, right now it's a video
9:56of two women talking in a room, and a of
9:58husband who's been feeling foggy. A
10:00defense lawyer will call it a joke or a
10:02drunken fantasy. I need the zopiclone in
10:04your system, the drug in the tea, and I
10:06need them to do something, not just
10:08talk."
10:09"So I go home," I said.
10:11Nicole put her pen down. "Gregory, you
10:13can't."
10:14"Divorce won't touch them," I said. "You
10:16told me yourself, Nicole. Ontario splits
10:19property no matter who cheated or lied.
10:21They'd walk away with half in a story
10:23about a paranoid husband. And the moment
10:25I move out or make a fuss, Barbara goes
10:27to doctor. Whitlock says I'm confused
10:29and violent, and she has her capacity
10:31assessment by Friday. She's already
10:33warmed the ground for months. I know my
10:35own wife. If I run, she wins."
10:38Detective Elliott rubbed his jaw. "We
10:40can wire you. We can put a camera in
10:42your house, but you'd be living with the
10:44person who's drugging you. If something
10:46goes wrong,
10:47"then I'll have drunk nothing she made,"
10:49I said. "I've been a builder my whole
10:51life. I know how to check a foundation
10:53before I put weight on it."
10:55That night, I went home.
10:57Barbara met me at the door in her blue
10:59cardigan. "Where were you? I called
11:01twice."
11:02"The pharmacy, then Tim's," I said, and
11:04I let myself sound a little slow. I got
11:06talking to old Jack from the site, lost
11:08track of time.
11:10She searched my face. I gave her the
11:12vague, soft look of a man whose brain
11:14has been going out of focus for a month,
11:16and I watched her relax.
11:18It was awful how easy it was. I had been
11:20wearing that look for weeks without
11:22knowing it.
11:23At 9:00, she brought me my chamomile, as
11:25she had every night for weeks. The cup
11:27was warm. She kissed the top of my head.
11:29"Drink up, love. You've got a big week."
11:32Thanks, Barb.
11:33She went back to the kitchen.
11:35I walked down the hall to the guest
11:37bathroom, poured the tea into a small
11:39glass jar Detective Elliott had given
11:41me, capped it, and tucked it into a sock
11:43in my dresser.
11:45Then I rinsed the cup and put it back on
11:46the nightstand so the pattern of my
11:48night would look the same. I got into
11:50bed. I lay awake until 3:00, looking at
11:53the ceiling, listening to the woman I'd
11:55loved for 38 years sleep peacefully
11:57beside me.
11:58That was Tuesday.
12:00Over the next 3 days I played the part
12:02of my own decline.
12:03I forgot my keys on purpose. I asked
12:05Barbara what day it was. I stood in the
12:07hallway looking confused until she came
12:10and took my elbow. In the mornings I
12:12told her I felt better but cloudy
12:14because by then my own blood was
12:15starting to clear, Doctor. Porter's lab
12:17had confirmed that I had zopiclone in my
12:19system at a level far above what anyone
12:22had prescribed me. Detective Elliott's
12:24team collected the first jar, a second,
12:26a third. Every one of them showed the
12:28same drug and the same dose.
12:31And Barbara got bolder.
12:33On Thursday she took me aside and said
12:35in a soft concerned voice, "Gregory,
12:37I've asked Todd to come by on Friday.
12:39Just some paperwork so Blake and I can
12:41help with the bills while you're not
12:42feeling yourself. It's nothing, just a
12:45precaution."
12:46"A precaution?" I said.
12:49"Power of attorney, dear. Everyone our
12:51age should have one."
12:53"Of course," I said, "whatever you
12:54think, Barb."
12:55I thought, "Yes, I would sign."
12:58But I'd sign it in Nicole's office where
13:00there was a camera in the corner and a
13:01detective in the next room.
13:03Blake came by that evening. My son was
13:0631, tall like my father, a quiet man who
13:08had spent most of his adult life trying
13:10to please whoever was in the room. He
13:12sat at my kitchen table and wouldn't
13:14meet my eyes.
13:16"Dad, Mom told me about the paperwork. I
13:18think it's a good idea. It's just to
13:20make things easier."
13:21"Is it?" I said.
13:23He fidgeted with his wedding band.
13:25"You've been so out of it lately. We're
13:27worried about you." Kayla says.
13:29What does Kayla say?
13:32That it's better to be safe.
13:33He looked up and for a second I saw the
13:35boy who used to wait for me at the end
13:37of the driveway when I came home from a
13:39job site.
13:40"Dad, you'd tell me if something was
13:42wrong, right?"
13:43This was the moment, I think. He gave me
13:45a door. All I had to do was say, "Son,
13:48something is very wrong." and we could
13:49walk through it together. Part of me
13:51wanted to. I wanted it more than I can
13:53say.
13:54But I thought about the footage. Blake
13:56does what he's told. I watched my son's
13:58face and tried to see whether he'd
14:00known, whether he knew about the T, the
14:02trust, the empty womb. His hands shook,
14:05but his eyes slid away from mine and
14:07that was an answer of a kind.
14:09"I'm just tired, son." I said. "Nothing
14:11a good week won't fix."
14:12He nodded, relieved. He actually looked
14:15relieved. That cut deeper than anything
14:17on the screen.
14:18On Friday morning, Todd Powell arrived
14:20at 10:00 in a charcoal suit carrying a
14:22leather briefcase and the same warm grin
14:25he'd had at my kitchen table for 20
14:27years. Barbara poured coffee. Blake and
14:29Kayla sat close together on the sofa
14:31like a couple in a catalog. Kayla had a
14:34hand on her stomach and it was all I
14:36could do not to look at it.
14:37"Gregory," Todd said, "the documents are
14:40all drafted. We can sign here in your
14:42living room."
14:43"I'd rather do it at Nicole Phillips'
14:45office." I said. "She's handled my files
14:47for years. It's a big step. I want it
14:49witnessed properly."
14:51Tiny pause. I watched four people trade
14:53a look in under a second.
14:55"Well," Todd said, "that's not really
14:57necessary."
14:58"It's what I want." I said and I let a
15:00little of my old voice into it, the
15:02voice that had once talked a union rep
15:04out of a strike. "Humor an old man."
15:07Barbara smiled and patted my knee. "Of
15:09course, dear. Whatever makes you
15:10comfortable." "Todd, can we do it this
15:12afternoon?"
15:14They had no choice. They were so close.
15:16They would not give me one reason to
15:18doubt.
15:19At 2:00 we all filed into Nicole's
15:21conference room on the 14th floor of a
15:23tower on Albert Street. Dark wood, a
15:25long table, a view of the Parliament
15:27buildings catching the afternoon light.
15:29Nicole sat at the head composed as a
15:31judge. On the side wall, a large
15:33television stood dark. Todd laid out his
15:36documents. Barbara sat on my right with
15:38her hand resting on mine.
15:40"Before we begin," Nicole said, "Mr.
15:42Moore has asked me to show a short
15:44video. It's about the family. He feels
15:46it's important context."
15:48Barbara smiled. She thought it would be
15:50photographs. "That sounds lovely."
15:52Nicole pressed a button. The screen lit
15:54with grainy gray footage. A timestamp,
15:5611:48 p.m. Rideau Cellar, Bridal Lounge.
16:00For a moment, nobody understood. Then
16:02Kayla's voice filled the room. To the
16:04dumbest man in Ottawa.
16:06I will never forget Barbara's face. It
16:08didn't crumple. First, it just stopped.
16:11The smile stayed where it was, frozen,
16:13while her eyes went wide and her skin
16:15went the color of paper.
16:16Then the color drained all the way to
16:18her lips.
16:19"Turn it off," Todd said, half rising.
16:21"Nicole, this is highly improper."
16:23"Sit down, Mr. Powell," said a new
16:25voice.
16:26The door to the adjoining room had
16:27opened. Detective Elliott came in,
16:30followed by two uniformed officers and a
16:32woman in a dark blazer I hadn't met, who
16:35turned out to be from the Ontario
16:36Securities Commission. On the screen,
16:39Barbara was laughing about the zopiclone
16:40in the tea. Kayla was patting her flat
16:43stomach. Barbara was calmly mentioning
16:45my third fall on the cottage stairs.
16:48Blake stood up. The chair behind him
16:49tipped over and hit the floor. "Mom," he
16:51said. "Mom, you said."
16:53"It's fake," Kayla said very fast. "It's
16:56AI. They can make anything now. Blake,
16:58listen to me. He's lost his mind.
16:59They're trying to"
17:01"The original file came from the
17:02restaurant's own system with its
17:04metadata and an audit trail, Ms. Moore,"
17:06Detective Elliott said. "Forensics have
17:08already confirmed it hasn't been
17:10altered. We also have toxicology from
17:12Mr. Moore's blood and from the tea he
17:14handed us across three nights.
17:16Zopiclone, Mrs. Moore. quite a lot of it
17:19in the cup you made.
17:21Barbara finally spoke. Her voice was
17:23tiny. "Gregory," she said, "I did it for
17:25the family."
17:26I looked at her. All those years of
17:28lilies and hymns and hip-hugging
17:29cardigans, I felt grief like a stone in
17:32my throat, and it was real, and I won't
17:34pretend it wasn't. But under it was
17:36something harder.
17:37"For the family," I said. "You were
17:40going to push me down the stairs at the
17:41cottage, Barb."
17:43She opened her mouth, and nothing came
17:45out.
17:45Detective Elliott read the charges one
17:47by one. Conspiracy to commit fraud,
17:50administering a noxious substance,
17:53attempted forgery of a legal instrument.
17:55Barbara stood. They cuffed her in front
17:57of the window with the whole of
17:58Parliament Hill behind her. She didn't
18:00look at me. She looked at her own hands
18:02as if they belonged to somebody else.
18:05Todd Powell was arrested for fraud over
18:07$5,000
18:08with a note that the Securities
18:10Commission would be reviewing his
18:11license and every file he'd ever
18:13touched. As they let him out, he kept
18:16saying, "I want my lawyer." And nobody
18:18in the room even turned their head.
18:21Kayla went last, and she went loudly.
18:23She screamed that she was pregnant, that
18:25they couldn't touch her, that she'd sue
18:27the whole province. Then Nicole slid one
18:29more folder across the table.
18:31"Miss Moore," she said, "this is a
18:34letter from your own clinic. It confirms
18:36you've never been a patient there for
18:38anything resembling prenatal care. And
18:40these are text messages recovered from
18:42your phone with a warrant about the
18:44timing of a fake announcement.
18:46Pretending to be pregnant to trigger a
18:47trust distribution is fraud. So is the
18:50forged paperwork we found in your bag."
18:53Kayla stopped screaming.
18:55For the first time in the whole ordeal,
18:57she looked like what she was, a
18:58frightened 29-year-old in a very
19:00expensive dress who had run out of lies.
19:03That left my son.
19:05Blake stood by the window with his arms
19:07wrapped around himself. The detective
19:09looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I
19:11nodded.
19:12"Mr. Moore Jr.," Elliott said, "we'd
19:14like to speak with you downtown,
19:16voluntarily. You're not under arrest
19:18right now."
19:19Blake looked at me. His face was wet.
19:22"Dad, I didn't know about the tea. I
19:23swear to God. I didn't know about the
19:25trust or the baby. I thought you were
19:27sick. Mom said you were sick."
19:30"But you knew about the power of
19:31attorney," I said. "You'd have signed as
19:33her co-attorney today. You'd have put
19:35your own father in a care facility so
19:37you could pay for a condo."
19:39"Kayla said it was temporary, that we'd
19:41give it back."
19:43He wiped his face with the back of his
19:44hand. "I wanted to believe her. It was
19:47easier than looking at what I was
19:48doing."
19:49I've thought about that sentence ever
19:51since. It was easier than looking.
19:54"I know," I said, "I know it was."
19:56He went with Detective Elliott. As it
19:58turned out, Blake gave a full statement
20:00that afternoon, handed over his phone
20:02without being asked, and testified
20:04against his wife and his mother without
20:06a single hesitation. For that, I'll say
20:09this for my son. When the lie finally
20:11came apart in front of him, he didn't
20:13try to save it. The Crown agreed he'd
20:15been a fool and not a conspirator. He
20:17took a plea on a minor charge of his own
20:19and received a conditional discharge and
20:21a year of probation.
20:23I did not hand him a check. I did not
20:25hand him back the cottage. I told him in
20:27the lobby of the courthouse 6 months
20:29later that I loved him and always would,
20:31and that he would have to build the next
20:33part by himself. He nodded. He's working
20:36now on a framing crew for Chad, my old
20:38foreman. It's early. He's learning what
20:40a hammer weighs. I check in on Sundays,
20:43and some weeks he answers the phone.
20:45Barbara pleaded guilty to the drugging
20:47and the fraud, and the judge sentenced
20:49her to 6 years. In Ontario, with the
20:51evidence they had, there wasn't much to
20:53argue. Kayla got four, and the fake
20:55pregnancy, which the judge called a
20:57cruel and calculated deception of an
20:59entire family, added to it. Todd Powell
21:02lost his license for life, was ordered
21:04to repay the clients he'd cheated over
21:06the years, including me, and received a
21:08federal sentence. Detective Elliott told
21:11me later that seven other seniors had
21:13come forward after the news got out.
21:15Seven.
21:16As for me, I didn't give my money to
21:18anyone dramatic. I did what a builder
21:20does. I sold the house in Westborough
21:22because I couldn't sleep in it and
21:24bought a small, well-built place near
21:26the river with a workshop in the back.
21:28Nicole had the court unwind the transfer
21:30of the cottage on Lac Simon as fraud,
21:33and I put it up for sale and used part
21:35of it to fund a legal clinic for seniors
21:37in Ottawa, run by Nicole's old law
21:39school classmate, so that when
21:41somebody's relatives start talking about
21:43a little paperwork, they have somewhere
21:45to go. I kept enough for a decent
21:47retirement and put the rest into a trust
21:49with Blake's name on it, locked until
21:51he's 40 and has held steady work for 5
21:53years. Whether he earns it is his
21:55business.
21:56I also sent Shawn Ellis a case of very
21:58good scotch and a letter. I told him
22:00he'd saved my life and that if he ever
22:02needed a reference, a loan, or a roof
22:04over a house, he had it. He sent back a
22:06one-line note, "Just doing my job, Mr.
22:08Moore." It was the best performed job
22:10I've ever seen.
22:12People ask me what I'd do differently.
22:14I think about that more than anything. I
22:17think about the tea and the foggy
22:18mornings and the kiss on the top of my
22:21head every night.
22:22I would have asked more questions the
22:24first time I couldn't find a word. I
22:26would have trusted my own mind a little
22:27longer. And I'd have remembered that
22:29love is something you can see in a
22:31person's actions over a long time,
22:33not something a person says in the
22:35kitchen.
22:36But I'm not bitter most days. I get up
22:39early. I drink my coffee black and
22:41nobody touches it but me.
22:43I walk the canal path in the morning
22:44when the mist sits on the water and I
22:46notice the leaves turning, and every
22:48single one of those mornings feels like
22:50something I was nearly robbed of.
22:52Shawn's footage is in a locked drawer in
22:54my workshop. Sometimes I take out the
22:56little drive and turn it over in my
22:58fingers. Then I put it back and I go
23:00outside and I breathe.

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