Chapter 16
Eleanor visited the casino for the first time after Daniel’s death.
She hated the place.
Always had.
“Your husband smelled like smoke every time he came home from here.”
“No smoking inside.”
“He found a way.”
Probably.
We stood in the private room.
Poker table repaired.
No Langs.
No black panel hidden anymore.
I had left it open.
The recorder sat inside.
Visible.
Eleanor touched the wall.
“He planned too much.”
“Yes.”
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“At him?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Good mother.
No defense.
“He learned that from his father.”
Of course.
Voss men protecting people by withholding choices.
Family tradition dressed as sacrifice.
“I’m changing it.”
“I know.”
She looked toward me.
“Daniel would complain.”
“I know.”
Then she smiled.
“He would still be proud.”
That one I accepted.
We discussed the burial.
Whether to return the ring.
Eleanor surprised me.
“Don’t.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“He wore it because he was your husband.”
A pause.
“Not because the grave owns it.”
That landed.
I took the ring home.
That evening I threaded it onto a simple chain.
Not around my neck.
I placed the chain inside the family memory box with photographs, Daniel’s watch, Piper’s first hospital bracelet, and Owen’s terrible drawing of a horse that looked like furniture.
Ordinary memory.
Not evidence.
Not key.
Not leverage.
Just part of him.
The casino vault was rebuilt with a different mechanism.
No dead man’s jewelry required.
Samuel called that less romantic.
May you like
I called it practical.
Daniel would definitely complain.
