Chương 8
Richard waited.
“Mom spent her last year trying to protect you from something, and you spent her last year avoiding being in the room because you couldn’t stand watching her get worse.”
Richard looked down at the wrapper.
Claire continued.
“And I was the one changing sheets. I was the one arguing with insurance. I was the one she screamed at when she didn’t recognize me. Then you would come in with flowers and she would have a good hour and call you darling.”
“Claire.”
“I know she was sick.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
She stopped.
Richard had rarely seen his daughter lose control.
She looked annoyed with herself.
“I know,” she said again. “But some part of me hated both of you for it.”
Richard said nothing.
There was no defense that would improve the truth.
Claire wiped beneath one eye.
“So when she gave me the folder, I put it away. I told myself it was because she was confused. Maybe part of me wanted her to be wrong because if she was right, then I had one more thing to take care of.”
Richard folded the wrapper again.
It tore.
“I left you alone with too much.”
Claire laughed softly.
“That almost sounded like an apology.”
“It was approaching one.”
“Careful. Your heart.”
He looked at her.
She smiled.
Then he said, “I’m sorry.”
The smile disappeared.
Claire stared at him.
Richard looked away first.
“I should have been there.”
She swallowed.
“You paid for everything.”
“That was easier.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
They sat quietly.
A hospital cart squeaked somewhere in the corridor.
Someone down the hall complained loudly about decaf coffee.
Richard found himself listening to the complaint because it was easier than looking at his daughter.
Claire finally said, “I’m sorry too.”
“For what?”
“Lying about the pipe. Going through your records. Trying to change the proxy without explaining it.”
“Slapping Noah’s hand.”
Her face tightened.
“That most of all.”
Richard nodded.
Forgiveness did not arrive.
Neither did condemnation.
There was only the next thing.
Detective Brooks returned at five.
“We found something.”
Richard and Claire both looked up.
“Your security chief admitted he disabled the hallway camera.”
Claire stood.
“Why?”
“He says Mr. Voss asked him to.”
Richard felt vindication rise.
Brooks raised a hand.
“Don’t get comfortable.”
He disliked her slightly for that.
“Voss told Dawson he needed private access to retrieve corporate documents from your home office. Dawson says you had previously allowed Voss after-hours access.”
“I had.”
“Dawson says he believed it was authorized.”
“Do you?”
“I believe he’s telling us part of something.”
Richard leaned forward.
“Was Martin in the house?”
“Yes.”
Noah had been right.
Claire sat slowly.
Brooks continued.
“Vehicle records place him near the estate. We also recovered partial footage from an exterior camera. He entered at 9:51.”
“And left?”
“10:26.”
Richard remembered the silhouette.
“Then why did I see someone after ten-thirty?”
Brooks looked at him.
“That is one of our questions.”
Claire said, “There were two people.”
“Possibly.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Richard thought of Mercer arriving in the rain.
“What time did Dr. Mercer arrive?”
“According to his vehicle, 10:34.”
Richard felt the pieces move again.
Martin entered.
Martin left.
Mercer arrived.
Someone remained in the hallway.
Maybe Richard had seen Mercer.
Maybe Noah had seen Martin.
Two shadows mistaken for one conspiracy.
Or two men connected by something they had not yet found.
Brooks asked Claire, “Did you know Voss was in the house?”
“No.”
“Did you speak to him by phone?”
“Yes.”
“While he was physically inside?”
Claire went still.
Richard understood before she answered.
“Yes.”
Martin had called Claire while standing somewhere in the same house.
Why?
To make her believe he was elsewhere.
Brooks asked for Claire’s phone.
Claire handed it over.
The call had lasted seven minutes.
During it, Martin had discussed Richard’s procedure, the proxy amendment, and the company accounts.
He had kept Claire occupied.
Noah had overheard part of that conversation.
While Martin moved through the house.
“What was he retrieving?” Richard asked.
Brooks looked at him.
“Maybe nothing.”
“What does that mean?”
“We found your office safe open.”
Richard’s stomach tightened.
“What’s missing?”
“That’s what you need to tell us.”
The answer took three hours.
Richard was discharged against Mercer’s preference and returned to the estate with Claire, Brooks, and two investigators.
The safe contained property documents, old stock certificates, Eleanor’s jewelry, emergency cash, and a blue archival folder.
The folder was empty.
Richard recognized it.
He had kept the original corporate succession agreement inside.
Claire looked at him.
“Martin took it.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re still defending him?”
“I’m refusing to replace evidence with satisfaction.”
She walked away.
Richard understood her frustration.
He also understood how badly he wanted Martin to be guilty.
That frightened him.
The missing document had been superseded electronically years earlier. Stealing it accomplished little legally.
Unless the paper contained something else.
Richard sat at his desk.
The silver family photograph was where it had always been.
Eleanor stood between him and Claire in the picture, laughing at something outside the frame. Noah had not been born yet.
Richard picked it up.
The backing felt loose.
He turned it over.
A folded piece of paper slipped out.
Claire stopped.
“What is that?”
Richard unfolded it.
Eleanor’s handwriting.
Only six words.
If Martin asks, I found nothing.
Beneath that was a number.
Not a phone number.
An account number.
Claire sat beside him.
“Mom hid this.”
Richard looked at the photograph.
For four years it had been on his desk.
Martin had probably seen it dozens of times.
So had Richard.
Neither had known.
Claire whispered, “She knew.”
Richard traced Eleanor’s handwriting with one finger.
A memory came without permission.
Eleanor in this room, thin from medication, asking him whether Martin still had access to the reserve accounts.
Richard had been answering emails.
He had said yes.
She had asked why.
Because I trust him.
May you like
He remembered those exact words.
Not because they had seemed important then.
