Chapter 5 - THE EVALUATION HANNAH SCHEDULED
Dr. Martin Cole evaluated Eli after child services required an independent clinician. He found anxiety linked to specific visits, not a broad disorder requiring residential care.
Hannah had already obtained a different report.
Her chosen psychologist, Dr. Elaine Porter, diagnosed early-onset conduct disorder, attachment disturbance, and delusional fixation after one telehealth interview. The report recommended a six-month residential program funded by Claire’s trust.
Dr. Porter’s clinic received grants from Diane’s foundation.
Hannah insisted she wanted help, not money. “Eli screams, lies, and hides things. I was scared.”
“He was telling us about a locked room.”
“We didn’t know that then.”
They had known enough to ask.
Rebecca moved to suspend Diane as trustee. Diane countered with the Porter report and accused Daniel of coaching Eli to seize trust assets. She submitted old police interviews from Claire’s disappearance, emphasizing that Daniel and Claire argued on the night of the crash.
The argument was real. Claire planned to expose irregularities in her family’s property company. Daniel begged her to wait until their baby was older. She left angry.
For years, Daniel had carried guilt that delay contributed to her death.
Diane used it precisely.
The probate judge froze major trust transactions but left Diane temporarily in place pending evidence. Eli remained with Daniel and Hannah under a safety plan prohibiting unsupervised visits to Diane.
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That night, Hannah secretly texted her mother:
We need one more session before the court tests her.
