“Currently only Mia.
Daniel said she’s willing to speak directly with me.”
“I’d like to speak with her too, with your permission.
If we can get her account on record, and if there’s any paper trail connecting the contribution to the placement timeline, that becomes significant leverage.” Another pause.
“Not leverage in a threatening sense.
Leverage in the sense that it strongly incentivizes Nathan’s side to settle quickly and fairly rather than drag this into a prolonged dispute.”
“That’s what I want,” I said.
“A fair settlement.
Not a war.”
“Then let’s build the case for a fair settlement.” I could hear her writing something.
“The joint account withdrawals — do you have access to the account records?”
“Online access, yes.
I can pull the full statement history tonight.”
“Do that.
Screenshot everything and email it to me.
I’ll send you my address now.” A brief pause.
“One more thing.
The recording Daniel made in the courtyard — Nathan made a statement about you having nothing to prove any financial agreement existed.
That’s actually useful.
It establishes that he was aware of the financial dimension and was attempting to minimize it.
Combined with the account records, that builds a picture.”
“Will the recording hold up?”
“Daniel made it in a public space during a conversation Nathan chose to have publicly.
It’s admissible in this state.
Yes.”
I exhaled slowly.
“Get some sleep after you send me the statements,” Ruth said.
“I’ll review everything tonight and we’ll talk at nine.
This is manageable.
I’ve seen much worse with far less documentation.”
We hung up.
I pulled up the joint account online and started screenshotting.
The withdrawals went back further than I had expected.
