“She won’t believe me,” I said. “She knows my people can fabricate legal documents in a matter of hours. We can alter it, falsify it, destroy court records or create published testimony overnight. And don’t forget, she loves the bastard, and he’s persuasive. His last girlfriend still believes Kathleen beat herself up all those years to maintain control in the relationship.”
Lauren was running out of ideas. I knew the feeling. “What if you sent the information anonymously?” she asked.
“Janet would know I did it,” I said, “and she wouldn’t believe it anyway. She really hates me.”
“Honestly, sugar, if this is your best idea, I can see why she might feel that way.” Lauren gestured toward the photos on the bed. “I admit there’s a resemblance,” she said, “but we’re not even close to identical. Really, this whole thing is insane. Even if I agreed to do it, when Janet sees the real photographs, she’ll know I’m not Kathleen.”
“I’ll take photos of you before and after the beating, and my people will alter the police photos to match your face and body. They’ll even do an age regression on you to show the beatings over a period of years. Then they’ll superimpose Kathleen’s injuries on your photographs. The updated packet will be delivered to your home address by courier within eight hours.”
“You can’t possibly know where I live,” she said.
To her horror, I recited her address from memory. “So the story and paperwork will be real,” I continued. “Only the police photos will be doctored.”
Lauren said, “How do you know that Janet never met Kathleen?”
“There’s no way Ken would have let them meet. He wouldn’t want Janet to learn about the beatings.”
“Why can’t I just pay her a visit, pretend to be Kathleen, and tell her the truth about Ken?”
“I thought about that, but we have to make Janet want to protect Kathleen.”
“Why?”
“Because if Janet thinks Ken beat Kathleen half to death as a warning, she’d be putting Kathleen’s life in danger by implicating her.”
“You’re talking about later on, when Janet breaks off the wedding,” Lauren said.
“Exactly. If Kathleen just shows up on Janet’s doorstep without any injuries, Janet will tell him, and he’d either say Kathleen was crazy or that it all happened years ago and he’s cured. Remember, he can prove he’s been to anger management courses.”
“Required by the court.”
“Right, and also counseling.”
“Also a provision of his probation.”
“You know the drill.”
She nodded.
