Chương 10
Hannah turned on him.
“You knew?”
“Not about the wall.”
“Stop.”
Arthur’s voice cut through them.
Hannah looked back.
“I checked the permit database.”
“When?”
“Two days later.”
“And?”
“There was nothing matching the change.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“So why didn’t you call me?”
Hannah swallowed.
“Because I called the architect.”
Arthur waited.
“He told me the plans had been revised after construction.”
“Who told him to revise them?”
Hannah looked at Michael.
“Victoria.”
Michael shook his head.
“That’s not true.”
Hannah snapped, “I spoke to him.”
Michael said, “Victoria never handled construction directly.”
Arthur looked between them.
Morales stepped closer.
“Name of the architect.”
Hannah gave it.
Morales typed it into her phone.
Arthur asked, “Then what happened?”
“The architect sent me an old PDF.”
Hannah rubbed her palms against her trousers.
“It showed the service void.”
Arthur frowned.
“Service void.”
“That’s what it was labeled.”
“How large?”
“Six feet by nine.”
Arthur’s stomach turned.
Daniel’s room.
Reduced to terminology.
Hannah said, “It looked legitimate.”
“Until today.”
“Until this morning.”
Arthur stared at her.
“What changed?”
“The permit number on the PDF.”
Morales looked up.
Hannah continued.
“It belonged to a different property.”
Michael’s face changed.
Morales noticed.
“So the plan was falsified.”
“Yes.”
Arthur looked at Hannah.
“And then you came to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why not police?”
“Because I still thought it might be fraud involving the property.”
Arthur said, “And the sledgehammer?”
Hannah’s eyes dropped.
“That was not my best decision.”
For the first time in hours, Arthur almost smiled.
It died before it formed.
“No.”
“No.”
“But it found him.”
Hannah looked toward the room.
“Yes.”
Arthur followed her gaze.
Through the small gap beside the curtain, he could see Daniel’s socked feet beneath the blanket.
Hannah said quietly, “I heard something before the first strike.”
Arthur looked at her.
“What?”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“What did you hear?”
“A cough.”
Arthur went still.
Hannah’s voice thinned.
“I thought it came from the HVAC vent.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Arthur said, “Why didn’t you say that?”
“Because Victoria was standing there telling us to stop and I thought she was nervous about damage.”
Arthur stared at Hannah.
She looked exhausted.
More than guilty.
“She knew exactly where I was going to hit.”
Arthur remembered Victoria moving toward the table.
Her eyes fixed not on the hammer but on the wall.
Hannah continued.
“When I shifted left, she moved.”
Morales said, “Moved how?”
“She stepped between me and that section.”
Arthur remembered that too.
At the time it had seemed like panic.
Now it became a clue.
Michael said, “She was protecting the access panel.”
Arthur turned.
“What access panel?”
Michael looked at Morales.
“There used to be one.”
Arthur felt the air change.
Hannah stared at him.
Michael continued.
“Behind the dining-room built-in.”
Arthur said, “You said you didn’t know about the wall.”
“I didn’t know Daniel was inside it.”
“That was not my question.”
Michael looked trapped.
Arthur stepped closer.
“You knew there was a concealed space.”
Michael nodded once.
“What was it for?”
“Dad.”
Arthur blinked.
“What?”
“The room existed before Victoria bought the house.”
Arthur stared at him.
“It was Dad’s.”
“For what?”
Michael rubbed his jaw.
“Documents.”
“That’s your answer?”
“He kept records there.”
“What records?”
“Things he didn’t want at the office.”
Morales asked, “Financial records?”
“Some.”
“What else?”
Michael looked at Arthur.
“Insurance files.”
Arthur felt a strange tightening in his chest.
“What insurance files?”
Michael hesitated.
Arthur’s patience broke.
“What insurance files?”
“Key-man policies.”
Arthur stared at him.
Michael continued carefully.
“On senior executives.”
“And?”
“On family members.”
Arthur’s face went cold.
“Daniel?”
Michael looked away.
Arthur understood.
He took one step backward.
Morales said, “Was there a policy on Daniel?”
Michael nodded.
“How much?”
“I don’t know the final amount.”
“Estimate.”
Michael swallowed.
“Twenty million.”
Hannah whispered, “Jesus Christ.”
Arthur stared at his brother.
“Who was beneficiary?”
Michael did not answer.
He did not need to.
Arthur’s voice became quiet.
“The company.”
Michael nodded.
Arthur looked at Morales.
“You need those records.”
“We’ll obtain them.”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“If Dad kept originals in that room, Victoria may have moved them.”
Michael said, “Not all of them.”
Arthur turned.
“How do you know?”
“Because Dad never trusted anyone with everything.”
Arthur stared at him.
Michael gave a small humorless shrug.
“You remember him.”
Arthur did.
Their father had kept spare keys in three different places because he expected betrayal from locksmiths.
He had once sent the same contract to two law firms simply to see whether they found different problems.
Paranoia had been one of his least charming qualities.
For the first time, Arthur felt grateful for it.
Michael said, “There was a floor compartment.”
Hannah frowned.
“In the chamber?”
“Under the original shelving.”
Arthur looked toward Daniel’s room.
“Could Daniel have known?”
Michael shook his head.
“Probably not.”
Arthur said, “Victoria renovated it.”
“Yes.”
“Then she could have found it.”
“Unless Dad sealed it first.”
Morales raised her radio.
Arthur stopped her.
“Wait.”
She looked at him.
Arthur turned toward Michael.
“Why are you telling us this now?”
Michael’s face changed again.
There it was.
The calculation.
Arthur almost admired how long his brother had managed to hide it.
Michael said, “Because Victoria is going to blame everything on me.”
Arthur stared at him.
“She should.”
“No.”
Michael’s voice sharpened.
“I started something unforgivable.”
Hannah looked disgusted.
Michael continued anyway.
“But I did not keep Daniel for six years.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
Michael stepped closer.
“I did not drug him.”
“I don’t know that.”
“I did not build that room.”
“You knew it existed.”
“For Dad’s records.”
“You knew Daniel was alive.”
Michael’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
Arthur looked at him.
Michael wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to understand that Victoria had another reason.”
Arthur did not move.
“What reason?”
Michael looked toward Daniel’s room.
May you like
“She wasn’t keeping him for the shares.”
Arthur felt a chill.
