Goddamn it, what was there for her to do? Sure Eddie had seen Albert with some woman, screwing like animals in the living room… but it was only his word, the word of a relative child against that of a grown, seemingly responsible man. No judge would believe it if she, Lily, tried to go to court to open a new fight for Eddie's custody, not without more concrete evidence… they would think the boy was lying.
Concrete evidence…
Suddenly, Lily stopped pacing as an idea took shape in her mind, became full-blown. Suppose she did have concrete evidence? Suppose she had proof that Albert was having an affair with some woman, blatantly screwing her in full view of an impressionable fourteen year old boy? Would a judge rescind the restraining order against her, Lily, and allow the mother to have her son? There was a chance… a good chance, especially when Lily could prove she had led a virtuous existence the past two years, living in this small town without a hint of a scandal of any kind. Goodness, people in Mill Valley even tended to make fun of her because she was such a prude…
A private detective, that's what she needed, an investigator to follow Albert, find out about his other life, get definite evidence of his sexual activities with women – the more graphic and potent evidence the better. Albert wouldn't have a leg to stand on to fight a new custody trial, not with that hanging over his head, and if she knew Albert, he'd back down without a legal battle because his impeccable reputation was the most important thing in the world to him. To expose him as the hypocrite he apparently was, in a court of law, would really hurt him.