Chapter 9 - THE DEATH OF THOMAS CARTER
Daniel’s father, Thomas Carter, had died eight years earlier.
The official cause was a heart attack.
He had collapsed inside the original Carter Development office late one evening.
Michael found him.
Patricia insisted there had been no reason for an autopsy.
Daniel had never questioned it.
Until now.
“What did Michael do to him?” Daniel asked.
Emily replayed the recording.
Patricia’s question was clear.
Michael’s answer was not.
A chair scraped, then the audio cut out.
Bennett searched old company records.
Thomas had scheduled a private meeting with the corporate attorney on the morning after his death.
The subject line read:
MICHAEL — FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES.
Daniel stared at the calendar entry.
“He knew.”
“Your father discovered Michael was stealing,” Emily said.
“And then he died before he could expose him.”
Bennett cautioned them.
“Suspicion isn’t evidence.”
Emily remembered something Thomas had given her shortly before his death.
A small brass key.
He said it opened a box containing the company’s real history.
She had searched his office after the funeral but never found the box.
For years, the key remained in her jewelry drawer.
That drawer was now inside the mansion.
Emily and Daniel devised a plan.
Daniel called Patricia and apologized.
He blamed Emily for turning him against the family.
Patricia cried, then immediately invited him home.
That evening, Daniel returned to the mansion wearing a hidden microphone.
Patricia embraced him.
Michael watched from the staircase.
His face showed no surprise.
“You look terrible,” Michael said.
“You hit me with an SUV.”
Michael laughed.
“You must be on strong medication.”
Daniel forced himself to smile.
“I want my family back.”
During dinner, he claimed Emily had manipulated the entire investigation.
Patricia relaxed.
Michael did not.
After midnight, Daniel entered Emily’s former bedroom.
He found the brass key beneath a false bottom in her jewelry drawer.
Michael appeared in the doorway.
“Looking for something?”
Daniel turned.
“My watch.”
“In Emily’s jewelry?”
Michael stepped inside and closed the door.
“You were never a good liar.”
“And you were never a good brother.”
Michael’s smile vanished.
“You got everything.”
“I got a bankrupt company and spent ten years rebuilding it.”
“Emily rebuilt it.”
The truth landed harder than the SUV.
Michael continued.
“She found the investors. She put in the money. She stopped every stupid decision you made.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“At least I didn’t steal from her.”
“You stole her work and called it yours.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
Michael blocked him.
“Give me the key.”
“What does it open?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Daniel struck Michael with his good shoulder and reached the hallway.
Patricia stood there holding a fireplace poker.
May you like
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Then she swung it at Daniel’s head.
