Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE BY THE WATER
The first clue came from Grace.
When Ethan returned to the hospital, she listened to Martin’s recording twice.
Then she asked him to play it again.
“What?”
Ethan asked.
“The background.”
There was a faint metallic sound.
Then a horn.
Grace’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s not traffic.”
Ethan listened.
“A ship horn.”
Grace nodded.
Martin was called.
He recognized it immediately.
“The east harbor.”
Charles owned no property there.
But one of his shell companies did.
A maintenance warehouse stood beside an abandoned waterfront residence.
Police were notified.
Ethan was told to stay away.
He didn’t.
At 11:36 p.m., officers entered the property.
They found Martin’s daughter, Anna, in an upstairs bedroom.
Alive.
Terrified.
But alive.
They also found financial records Charles had apparently planned to destroy.
And something else.
Photographs of Grace.
Hundreds of them.
Leaving work.
Entering restaurants.
Visiting her doctor.
Standing outside Ethan’s office.
Someone had been watching her for months.
Ethan stared at the photographs laid across an evidence table.
This had never been impulsive.
Charles had planned everything.
An investigator approached.
“There’s one image you should see.”
He handed Ethan a photograph.
It showed Grace meeting someone outside a café.
The person’s face was partially hidden.
Ethan recognized the coat.
His mother’s.
“When was this taken?”
“Four months ago.”
Ethan returned home before sunrise.
Evelyn was awake.
He placed the photograph in front of her.
“You met Grace secretly.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She came to me with the bank records.”
“You told me she confronted you once.”
“She did.”
“This photograph says there was more.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I tried to help her.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“I told Grace your father had discovered Charles years earlier.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because I asked her not to.”
“Why?”
“I needed time.”
“For what?”
“To move evidence Charles couldn’t reach.”
Ethan sat opposite her.
“So you and Grace were working together?”
“For a while.”
“Then why did you lock her upstairs?”
Evelyn’s face collapsed.
“Because Charles found out.”
Silence.
“He told me if Grace went to the police, he would have you implicated in your father’s crimes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It didn’t have to.”
“He had forged documents with your signature.”
Ethan understood.
“You panicked.”
“Yes.”
“And you sacrificed Grace.”
Evelyn began crying.
“Yes.”
There was no excuse.
No defense.
Just the truth.
Ethan stood.
“You’re going to confess.”
Evelyn looked up.
“To everything.”
“If I do, I’ll go to prison.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m your mother.”
“And Grace is my wife.”
Ethan’s voice remained calm.
May you like
“You made your choice.”
“Now I’m making mine.”
