Chapter 12 - WHAT THE CAMERA HEARD
Caroline asked to speak with Bennett privately. Bennett declined.
“You can come to the station,” she said. “You can bring an attorney.”
Caroline’s gaze moved to Victor. He looked away.
By then, the video specialist had recovered the audio following Lily’s scream. Evan’s phone had fallen toward the floor as he ran, so the picture showed shoes and the base of the staircase. The sound remained clear.
Daniel listened with Naomi and Bennett in a small office.
First came Lily’s voice: “I don’t have it.”
Caroline demanded the location of the paper.
Then came the fall.
A few seconds later, beneath the guests’ shouting, Caroline said, “Don’t tell him what I asked.”
Daniel had to stop the recording.
Bennett waited. “I also spoke to the event manager. Caroline asked her for the security password that afternoon. She said she wanted to check where the birthday photos would be taken.”
“Is that enough?” Daniel asked.
“It’s enough to keep investigating. We also need Lily’s account, when she’s ready.”
Daniel thought of his daughter in the hospital bed, answering adults’ questions while her wrist ached. “She’s told us already.”
“I know,” Bennett said. “We’ll keep it brief.”
Meanwhile, Naomi uncovered Whitlock’s draft purchase agreement. It included a consulting payment to a company Caroline had formed six weeks earlier. Victor would receive a separate payment after the sale.
The board suspended Victor pending an independent review. The warehouse deal was paused. Daniel stayed on as chief executive, with Naomi handling communications until the records could be checked.
It should have felt like a victory. Daniel could only think about Lily asking whether her mother would be at home.
That evening, he took Lily to Ruth’s house. Naomi had arranged for them to stay there while she worked out a temporary family court order. Lily ate two pieces of birthday cake and fell asleep on Ruth’s couch.
Daniel carried her upstairs. On the way back down, he found Ruth staring at her old phone.
“What is it?”
“A message from Caroline,” she said.
It read: ASK DANIEL WHAT HIS FATHER REALLY DID TO KEEP THE COMPANY.
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Daniel looked up. Ruth’s expression had changed.
“There’s something I should have told you years ago,” she said.
