Chapter 7 - The Secret Before the Marriage
Robert refused to continue without immunity.
Laura refused to offer it.
For three hours, he said nothing.
Then Marcus placed a photograph in front of him.
It showed Margaret withdrawing cash two days before the Europe trip.
Robert looked at the image.
His shoulders dropped.
“She paid someone to search Emily’s father’s storage unit.”
My father had been an accountant.
Careful.
Quiet.
Private.
After his death, I stored his remaining files in a rented unit outside the city.
I had not opened it in years.
“What was she looking for?” I asked.
“Records connected to Carter Medical Holdings.”
I stared at him.
“That was your company.”
“Our family’s company.”
Jason’s grandfather had founded it.
Robert had sold it before retirement.
“What did my father have to do with it?”
“He audited the company twenty years ago.”
Laura sat across from Robert.
“What did he find?”
Robert rubbed his forehead.
“Missing pension funds.”
“Whose funds?” Laura asked.
“Employees.”
“How much?”
“At the time, around six million dollars.”
I felt sick.
“Who took it?”
Robert closed his eyes.
“My father authorized the transfers.”
“Jason’s grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I found out later.”
“What did Margaret know?”
“Everything.”
My voice sharpened.
“Why did this matter now?”
“Because when your father discovered the transfers, he made copies.”
“Why didn’t he report it?”
“He planned to.”
“Then what happened?”
Robert looked at me.
“He died.”
The room went silent.
“My father died in a car accident.”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying it wasn’t an accident?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“I said Margaret believed he had copies.”
“Jason found them?”
“One page.”
“Where?”
“In your attic.”
I remembered the old boxes Jason had insisted on sorting last year.
He said he wanted to clear space.
He had spent an entire weekend upstairs.
After that weekend, something in him changed.
He became colder.
More impatient.
He started questioning my medical appointments.
He suggested increasing the insurance policy.
Laura watched my face.
“When did your symptoms begin?”
“About eight months after he searched the attic.”
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She did not answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at Robert.
“Did Margaret ever discuss making Emily sick?”
Robert stood.
“No.”
“Sit down.”
“I said no.”
“Did Jason?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
Robert’s face flushed.
“Jason complained that Emily was always tired.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“He said she was becoming a burden.”
“And?”
Robert looked toward the door.
“Margaret said burdens sometimes solve themselves.”
My stomach turned.
Laura’s voice became colder.
“What exactly did Jason find in the attic?”
“A ledger page.”
“Where is it now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Margaret has it?”
“Probably.”
“Why kill Emily instead of destroying the page?”
Robert looked at me.
“Because your father wrote something on the back.”
“What?”
“I never saw it.”
“What did Margaret say?”
Robert hesitated.
“She said it named a witness.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Jason know?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the witness?”
Robert’s lips parted.
Before he could answer, an officer rushed into the room.
“We found the rental car.”
“Where?” Laura asked.
“Abandoned near the Wisconsin border.”
“Any sign of Jason or Margaret?”
“No.”
The officer handed Laura a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a bloodstained scarf.
Sophie gasped from the observation room.
It belonged to Margaret.
Then the officer added one more detail.
“There was a body in the trunk.”
I stopped breathing.
“Who?”
The officer looked directly at Robert.
May you like
“It’s a man.”
“And his wallet says Jason Carter.”
