Chương 6
“Who benefits if they’re exposed?”
Daniel looked at her. “You’re asking whether Elena framed them.”
“I’m asking who had reasons to create, remove, or manipulate evidence. That includes everyone.”
Daniel’s fatigue opened into anger. “My wife predicted the circumstances of her death.”
“She predicted a story about the circumstances. We need to determine whether it was true.”
“You heard her.”
“I heard a frightened woman make an accusation. Fear can be accurate. It can also be used, misunderstood, or shaped by incomplete information.”
Daniel turned away before he said something that would help no one.
On the refrigerator, beneath a magnet from Savannah, Elena had left a grocery list.
Coffee filters. Oat milk. Ginger. Batteries. Toothpaste.
At the bottom she had written, D—please buy the normal toothpaste, not the gritty military cement.
He stared at the handwriting until the letters blurred.
Ortiz’s voice softened. “When did you last buy groceries?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Was this list here when you came home after her death?”
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s okay.”
“It isn’t.”
“No. But it’s normal.”
Daniel folded his arms.
The technicians worked for three hours. They collected the piano bench, the lock records, several fibers, and latent prints from the living room. They found no blue folder.
At seven, Naomi Price arrived.
She wore jeans, a dark raincoat, and the expression of someone who had been trying not to cry during a long drive. Her hair was tied back carelessly. Daniel had not seen her since Christmas.
She stopped inside the doorway when she saw the police.
“I went to the funeral home,” she said. “Paul told me you were here.”
Daniel’s anger found her immediately.
“Elena named you on the recording. Where have you been?”
Naomi accepted the question without defending herself. “Trying to get access to her files. Trying to keep Margaret’s attorney from locking me out of the foundation system. Failing at both.”
“You didn’t call me.”
“Elena asked me not to share anything unless she died under suspicious circumstances.”
“She fell down a staircase.”
“Margaret said Elena had mixed medication with wine. That was terrible, but it wasn’t proof of what Elena feared.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m here.”
Daniel looked at Ortiz. “Can she hear the recording?”
“Not yet.”
Naomi removed her raincoat. “There was a blue folder.”
Daniel’s attention snapped back to her.
“What was in it?”
“Copies of grant records, board consents, bank transfers, emails, notes Elena made after meetings. Enough to show a pattern, not enough by itself to prove who benefited.”
“She said she signed incomplete reports.”
Naomi’s face tightened. “She did.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How much money?”
“Possibly three million. Possibly more.”
Daniel laughed once, without humor. “You’re unsure by a million?”
“The foundation moved funds among program accounts and affiliated entities. Some transactions may have been improper but recoverable. Some may have been theft. Elena discovered that Ethan had used bridge loans to cover losses in a private investment fund. Margaret approved transfers to keep the foundation’s public reports clean.”
“Why would Elena sign anything?”
“Because Margaret told her the money would be restored within a quarter. Because a public scandal would have closed the clinic and frozen housing grants. Because Elena believed she could control it if she stayed inside.”
“That sounds like something Margaret would say.”
“It’s also what Elena told herself.”
Daniel looked at the kitchen floor.
Naomi continued, “By the time Elena came to me, she understood that remaining quiet had made her part of it. We were preparing a disclosure.”
“To whom?”
“Independent counsel for the board, then law enforcement if necessary.”
“Did Margaret know?”
“She suspected.”
“Did Ethan?”
“He sent Elena three messages warning her not to ‘burn everyone because she needed attention.’ She saved screenshots.”
“Where?”
“In the blue folder and an encrypted archive.”
Ortiz stepped closer. “Do you have access to the archive?”
“No. Elena was supposed to deliver the password in person.”
“When?”
“The morning she died.”
The room became still.
“What time?” Ortiz asked.
“Ten.”
“Did she appear?”
“No.”
“Did you call her?”
“Repeatedly. Her phone went straight to voicemail.”
“Why didn’t you report her missing?”
“I called Margaret at eleven thirty. She said Elena had arrived at her house upset and wanted space. She said Elena had taken a sedative and gone upstairs to rest.”
“When were emergency services called?”
“Just after three, according to Margaret.”
Daniel felt pressure behind his eyes. “Elena was at that house for four hours.”
Naomi nodded.
Ortiz asked, “What did Margaret say happened?”
“That Elena woke, came downstairs unsteady, argued with Ethan, and fell.”
“Did she say where the argument took place?”
“At the top of the main staircase.”
“What time did she say Elena arrived?”
“About nine fifteen.”
Daniel looked at Ortiz. “Her appointment was at ten. She wouldn’t go to Margaret’s first.”
Naomi pressed her lips together. “She might have if Margaret told her she had proof the money was being returned.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
Ortiz asked Naomi to give a formal statement. Detective Cole arrived to take it in the dining room.
Daniel stood alone in the kitchen while technicians moved around him. His uniform jacket hung over a chair. He had rolled his sleeves unevenly, something he would normally have corrected without thinking.
Naomi joined him after her interview.
“You should change,” she said.
He looked down at the medals on the jacket. “Into what?”
“I meant clothes.”
“I know.”
She leaned against the counter but kept her hands away from every surface. “Elena loved that uniform.”
“She said it made me look unavailable.”
“She also said you looked good in it.”
“That sounds like her.”
They listened to a technician open and close a cabinet.
Daniel asked, “Was she leaving me?”
Naomi’s eyes shifted toward the living room.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
“She had looked at apartments.”
He nodded slowly.
May you like
“She hadn’t signed anything,” Naomi added. “She was trying to decide whether she needed physical distance from everyone, including you.”
“Did she tell you why?”
