Richard had always presented himself to Renee’s daughters as a family friend who sometimes helped their mother out with money, and he’d been careful never to stay at the house while the girls were home.

But one day Elliot showed Nina an old family photograph, and she recognized Richard at once — he was the man who came to her little sister’s school performances, who turned up at their family celebrations.

Nina started going through her mother’s files and found years of receipts, payments, photographs, and letters.

Over several months, quietly, she copied all of it.

“I wanted to reach you,” Elliot said,

“but I knew Dad would find out. He’d destroy the evidence and convince you I was lying. I stayed away because I needed proof before I came back.”