Chapter 5 - Emily’s Voice
The state investigators arrived twenty-six minutes later.
By then, nobody in the house was allowed near Emily.
Nobody touched the hidden compartment.
Nobody went upstairs without an officer.
My mother hated every second of it.
Caleb hated it more.
Detective Marcus Reed was the first state investigator through the door.
He was in his early fifties.
Quiet.
Observant.
The kind of man who looked at the room before he looked at the people.
He listened to my explanation without interrupting.
Then he asked one question.
“Where is the death certificate?”
My mother answered.
“The funeral director has it.”
“Name?”
“Harlan Pierce.”
“Doctor who certified death?”
“Dr. Voss.”
Reed wrote both names down.
“Hospital?”
“There was no hospital.”
That made him stop.
“You said she died in childbirth.”
“She delivered here.”
Reed looked toward the staircase.
“At home?”
“Yes.”
“Planned home birth?”
My mother hesitated.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward me.
“Emily and I had already chosen St. Matthew’s Medical Center.”
My voice sharpened.
“We had a doctor.”
“We had a delivery plan.”
“She would never have changed it without telling me.”
My mother folded her arms.
“She did.”
“Show me.”
Silence.
Reed looked at her.
“Show him what?”
“The updated birth plan.”
My mother said nothing.
Reed closed his notebook.
“Mrs. Carter, until I confirm otherwise, this residence is now being treated as a potential death scene.”
Caleb stood abruptly.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m extremely serious.”
Officers escorted Caleb and my mother into separate rooms.
I stayed with Noah.
Elena arrived shortly after.
The moment she saw me holding him, her face changed.
For the first time since I had called, she stopped being an investigator.
She became my friend.
“Daniel.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
She touched Noah’s blanket.
“He looks like Emily.”
That almost broke me.
“She named him Noah.”
Elena swallowed.
“She always liked that name.”
I looked at her.
“You talked to her?”
“More than you knew.”
My stomach tightened.
“About what?”
“You.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
“She worried about you.”
“I worried about her.”
“I know.”
Elena looked toward the sealed evidence boxes.
“She also worried about Caleb.”
Detective Reed approached us.
“We found something.”
He held up the prepaid phone from the compartment.
“Our tech got it powered on.”
My pulse jumped.
“There are recordings.”
We moved into the library.
An evidence technician connected the phone to a speaker.
The first recording was static.
Then Emily’s voice filled the room.
I stopped breathing.
“June fourteenth.”
Her voice sounded tired but clear.
“I found another transfer today.”
“Caleb moved three million dollars through North Harbor Consulting.”
“I asked Margaret about it.”
So my mother had known.
Emily continued.
“She told me it wasn’t my concern.”
“I told her Daniel’s name was on the authorization.”
“She said Daniel would sign whatever was necessary when he came home.”
A pause followed.
Then Emily’s voice lowered.
“That means he doesn’t know.”
My fists tightened.
The next recording began.
This time Caleb’s voice was unmistakable.
“You need to stop digging.”
Emily answered.
“I need to protect my husband.”
“You think Daniel wants to come home from war and deal with accounting?”
“I think Daniel wants people to stop stealing from him.”
A chair scraped.
Then Caleb said something that changed the air in the room.
“If you make this a problem, you won’t like how Mom solves it.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Reed looked at me.
“There are seven more.”
The technician selected the final file.
Emily sounded different.
Breathless.
Afraid.
“Daniel, if you ever hear this, I’m sorry.”
My eyes burned.
“I thought I had more time.”
There was a sound in the background.
A door opening.
Then my mother’s voice.
“Emily?”
Emily whispered.
May you like
“They’re here.”
The recording cut off.
