Chương 7
Finally, someone behaved normally.
Michael produced documentation showing he was Thomas’s son and estate beneficiary.
Still no.
They would need authorization from the estate’s legal representative or a court order unless a specific exception applied.
Diane was the executor.
Michael laughed in the parking lot.
“Of course.”
Claire bought coffee from a kiosk.
It was terrible.
She drank it anyway.
They sat in the car.
“What happened May twelfth?” Michael asked.
Claire looked at the clinic entrance.
“Your father came here.”
“Probably.”
“Two days before he died.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe he was sick.”
“Maybe.”
Michael’s phone buzzed.
Daniel.
He answered.
The estate attorney sounded frightened.
Someone had broken into his office overnight.
Nothing obvious had been stolen.
Except the unsigned draft of Thomas’s revised trust.
Michael closed his eyes.
“Call the police.”
“I have.”
“Tell them everything.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Everything, Daniel.”
“I understand.”
“No. I don’t think you do. Someone knew exactly what document mattered.”
After he hung up, Claire said, “We need to stop.”
Michael stared at her.
“What?”
“We need to stop chasing this ourselves.”
“You think I’m going to walk away now?”
“No. I think we hire people who know what they’re doing.”
That afternoon they retained a forensic accountant and an attorney specializing in trust and fiduciary litigation.
The attorney’s name was Elena Park.
She was forty-four, blunt, and unimpressed by Bennett money.
She listened for nearly an hour without interrupting.
Then she said, “You have three different problems and you’re treating them like one.”
Michael leaned forward.
“What problems?”
“First, whether documents affecting Bennett Holdings were forged. Second, whether your mother breached fiduciary duties. Third, whatever your father believed about your daughter.”
Claire said, “They’re connected.”
“Maybe.”
“They have to be.”
“No, they don’t.”
Claire disliked her immediately.
Which was useful.
Elena continued, “People get into trouble when they fall in love with a theory. Evidence doesn’t owe you a satisfying story.”
Michael looked at Claire.
She ignored him.
Elena tapped the copy of the fake death certificate.
“Where did this come from?”
“Anonymous mail,” Claire said.
“When?”
“Eleven days ago.”
“Before the airport confrontation?”
“Yes.”
“Who knew you had it?”
“The document examiner.”
“Anyone else?”
“Diane guessed.”
“Did you tell Daniel?”
“No.”
“Your husband?”
“Not until the airport.”
Elena nodded.
“So somebody wanted you to find it.”
Claire had considered that.
Hearing it aloud made the thought uglier.
“Why?”
“That’s the question I’d start with.”
The forensic accountant, Marcus Bell, started somewhere else.
Money.
Within four days, he found a series of transfers from a Bennett Holdings subsidiary into consulting entities controlled through intermediaries.
The total was $8.4 million over three years.
Michael stared at the spreadsheet.
“Mom stole eight million dollars?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Where did it go?”
“Ultimately? Mostly into an investment vehicle called Halcyon Ridge Partners.”
“Who owns it?”
“I’m still tracing that.”
Claire pointed to a date.
The largest transfer had occurred May 11.
The day of Sophie’s concert.
The day Thomas visited Daniel.
The day someone forged Thomas’s signature.
Michael stood.
“Dad found this.”
Marcus said, “Possible.”
“He found it and tried to change the trust.”
“Possible.”
“And two days later he went to a medical clinic.”
“Also possible.”
“And the next day he had a heart attack.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
Elena said, “Don’t.”
Michael’s voice hardened.
“Don’t what?”
“Turn financial misconduct into murder because the dates scare you.”
Nobody spoke.
Claire felt grateful to her.
And hated her a little less.
The paternity results arrived that afternoon.
Michael opened them alone.
Claire found him sitting on the back steps.
It was cold enough that he should have been wearing a coat.
He held his phone.
She knew before he spoke.
“99.9998 percent.”
Claire stood in the doorway.
Michael looked up.
“She’s mine.”
Claire’s anger surprised her.
Not because of the result.
Because of his relief.
She crossed her arms.
“Congratulations.”
He winced.
“Claire.”
“No, really. What a wonderful day for you.”
“I deserved that.”
“You did.”
He stood.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked away.
“I believed you.”
“You believed me enough to test.”
“I believed you and still needed certainty. Those can both be true.”
“That’s convenient.”
“It’s ugly. It’s not convenient.”
That stopped her.
Michael came closer but did not touch her.
“My father put doubt in my head. I let it in.”
Claire swallowed.
“I don’t know what to do with that yet.”
“You don’t have to.”
They stood in the doorway while a neighbor dragged garbage bins to the curb.
After a while Claire said, “Then why did Thomas ask?”
Michael looked toward the yard.
“I don’t know.”
The answer came two days later from an unexpected source, though not by accident.
Elena had petitioned the probate court for limited access to Thomas’s archived personal records based on evidence of potentially fraudulent trust documents. During that process, Daniel disclosed something he should have disclosed earlier.
Thomas had hired a private investigator.
Her name was Rachel Moreno.
She arrived at Elena’s office carrying a battered laptop bag and an expression that suggested wealthy families had disappointed her before.
“Thomas hired me in February of last year.”
“To investigate Diane?” Michael asked.
“No.”
Michael frowned.
“Then who?”
“You.”
The room went silent.
Michael leaned back.
“Me?”
Rachel opened her notebook.
“Your father believed someone was using your identity.”
“For what?”
“Financial authorizations.”
Marcus looked interested.
Rachel continued.
“Several transfers appeared to have been approved using your credentials while you were traveling.”
Michael’s face changed.
“I was in London.”
“For two.”
“Yes.”
“One approval came from your office computer in Boston.”
Michael looked at Marcus.
Marcus nodded slowly.
“That fits.”
Rachel said, “Thomas initially thought you were hiding something. He asked me to establish whether you had returned to Boston secretly.”
“I hadn’t.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Flight records, hotel records, meetings, photographs. You were extremely boring.”
Claire almost laughed.
Michael said, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
May you like
Rachel turned a page.
“Then Thomas became concerned someone inside the company had access to both his credentials and yours.”
