Chương 13
Ortiz waited.
He remembered kitchen counters covered in papers.
Tax forms.
Insurance renewals.
A refinance packet.
Claire sliding a tablet toward him while Sophie threw peas onto the floor from a high chair.
Sign here.
And here.
He had signed.
Of course he had signed.
“Jesus.”
Ortiz watched his face.
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“Enough that someone could reuse a signature sample?”
“Probably.”
Daniel sat in the nearest chair.
The fluorescent lights buzzed softly above him.
Claire had not accused him of murder.
That should have relieved him.
Instead it made the betrayal feel more intimate.
She had looked at his name on a bank record and wondered whether the man sleeping beside her was stealing from her.
Ortiz said, “There’s more.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes.
“Just say it.”
“Claire believed someone was using your identity to make the transfers appear domestic.”
“Why?”
“To discourage scrutiny.”
“That’s Ethan’s theory?”
“No.”
“Claire’s?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Sophie through the curtain gap.
“She thought I was being framed.”
“She thought it was possible.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Ortiz closed the notebook.
“That question isn’t on the recording.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
No one could answer it now.
A nurse approached and handed him discharge papers.
He signed where she pointed.
The irony nearly made him laugh.
Ortiz waited until the nurse left.
“We’re going to North Ridge Storage.”
Daniel stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“The unit belonged to my wife.”
“It is potentially evidence in a homicide investigation.”
“You said the case isn’t reopened.”
“It is now.”
That stopped him.
Ortiz’s voice remained matter-of-fact.
“The district attorney authorized a renewed investigation after reviewing the preliminary extraction.”
Daniel swallowed.
“What changed?”
“There’s another file.”
His pulse quickened.
“What file?”
“Audio recorded the night Claire died.”
He stared at her.
“You said the main recording was four days before.”
“This is separate.”
“What’s on it?”
Ortiz hesitated.
“Vanessa’s voice.”
Daniel felt his body go cold.
“Saying what?”
“Enough that we are treating Claire’s death as suspicious.”
“Enough means what?”
“She tells Claire to get into a car.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Whose car?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Is Claire scared?”
“Yes.”
“Does Vanessa threaten her?”
“Not directly.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Then what?”
Ortiz met his eyes.
“Claire says, ‘You already killed Martin.’”
The hallway seemed to empty of sound.
Daniel remembered Rachel mentioning the missing records clerk.
“Martin Vale?”
Ortiz nodded.
“And Vanessa answers?”
“Yes.”
“What does she say?”
Ortiz’s mouth tightened.
“‘That wasn’t supposed to happen.’”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The phrase sounded exactly like Vanessa.
Not evil.
Not theatrical.
A mistake she had already begun explaining to herself.
“What happened to Martin?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“And the storage unit?”
“If Claire kept corroborating records there, we may finally know.”
He looked toward Sophie.
“I need to take her somewhere.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Your sister-in-law is on her way.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You called Rachel?”
“She called us.”
Of course she had.
Rachel arrived twenty-five minutes later wearing sweatpants under a long coat, as if she had dressed while moving.
She saw Sophie first.
Her face collapsed.
Sophie ran to her.
Rachel dropped to her knees and held her too tightly.
“Ow.”
Rachel released her immediately.
“Sorry.”
Sophie touched Rachel’s face.
“You’re crying.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
He shook his head slightly.
“Because I’m happy you’re okay.”
Sophie considered that.
“That’s weird.”
Rachel laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
Daniel watched them for a moment.
Then Rachel stood.
“I’m taking her.”
“I know.”
“You should come too.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
He glanced toward Ortiz.
“I need answers.”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“You need sleep.”
“I’ll sleep when I know what happened to Claire.”
“You’ve been saying versions of that for two years.”
Daniel stared at her.
Rachel touched his sleeve.
“This time you might actually get the answer.”
That was precisely why he could not leave.
Sophie overheard enough to understand.
“Daddy’s coming later?”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“Promise?”
He almost said it automatically.
Then he stopped.
Promises had begun feeling dangerous.
“I’ll do everything I can.”
Sophie frowned.
“That’s not promise.”
“No.”
She studied him.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
The acceptance hurt more than if she had cried.
Daniel kissed her forehead.
Rachel led her toward the exit.
Sophie turned once and raised her bandaged wrist.
“Don’t forget my rabbit.”
Daniel managed a smile.
“I won’t.”
Three hours later, Ortiz called him from North Ridge Storage.
Daniel had been placed in a small interview room at the police station while another detective took his statement.
He had described the straightener.
The restraints.
The knocks.
The memory card.
Sophie’s drawing.
Every answer seemed to produce three more questions.
When Ortiz entered, she carried no file.
Daniel stood anyway.
“What did you find?”
She pulled out a chair.
“Sit down.”
“I’m tired of sitting.”
“So am I.”
Something in her face made him obey.
Ortiz sat opposite him.
“C-14 contained financial records, photographs, two external drives, a laptop, and a locked document box.”
“Claire’s?”
“Most appear to be.”
“And?”
“We found records connecting Vanessa and Martin Vale to the shell company.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Martin was involved?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Ortiz folded her hands.
“The documents suggest Martin helped create false property filings and corporate registrations.”
“For money?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough to matter to him.”
“And then?”
“Then he appears to have tried to stop.”
Daniel understood before she said it.
“He disappeared.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Two weeks after withdrawing cash and sending Claire copies of records.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Did Vanessa kill him?”
“We don’t know.”
“But Claire thought so.”
“Yes.”
“What about my name?”
Ortiz reached into her pocket and placed a photocopied sheet on the table.
Daniel recognized his electronic signature at the bottom.
Above it was authorization for a transfer of one hundred eighty thousand dollars.
“I never signed that.”
“We believe you.”
Daniel looked up.
That startled him.
May you like
“Why?”
“Because the device metadata shows the authorization originated from Claire’s laptop while you were on a flight to Chicago.”
