Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
They found Elena because of a prescription.
Martin remembered that she had a diabetic mother living outside Milwaukee.
Noah searched property records.
A small house had been purchased nine months earlier under the mother's maiden name.
They drove there before sunrise.
Evelyn knocked.
Nothing.
She knocked again.
A curtain moved.
"Elena?"
The door remained closed.
"My name is Evelyn Carrington."
Silence.
"I know you were with my father."
The lock clicked.
A woman in her forties appeared.
She looked exhausted.
"How did you find me?"
"Martin Shaw."
Elena's expression hardened.
"You need to leave."
"Please."
"If Richard knows you're here—"
"He doesn't."
"You don't know that."
Elena tried to close the door.
Evelyn stopped it with her hand.
"My father trusted you."
Elena looked at her.
Something broke in her expression.
She opened the door.
Inside, every curtain was closed.
Elena refused coffee.
She refused to sit near a window.
"What happened that night?" Evelyn asked.
Elena clasped her hands.
"Your father called me at 10:30."
"Why?"
"He was afraid."
"Of Richard?"
"Yes."
Elena explained that Richard had hired her months earlier to provide private medical support during business travel.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
Then Richard began asking questions.
Questions about Charles's heart condition.
Questions about drug interactions.
Questions about what could cause symptoms resembling natural cardiac failure.
"I told him I wouldn't help."
Evelyn's stomach turned.
"What did he do?"
"He doubled my salary."
"And?"
"I quit."
Elena looked ashamed.
"But before I left, I warned your father."
"Why didn't you go to police?"
"I had no proof."
"What happened the night he died?"
"I went to his office."
"Was Adrian there?"
"Yes."
Adrian tensed.
"I waited outside."
"When Adrian left, I entered."
"How was my father?"
"Angry."
"But alive?"
"Very much alive."
Adrian closed his eyes in relief.
"Then Noah arrived."
Noah nodded.
"I left before midnight."
Elena looked at him.
"Yes."
"Was Dad alive when I left?"
"Yes."
Noah nearly collapsed into a chair.
For eleven months, he had carried the fear that he might have been the last person to see his father alive.
Evelyn touched his shoulder.
"Who came next?"
Elena's hands began trembling.
"Richard."
Adrian stared at her.
"You're certain?"
"I saw him."
"What happened?"
"I was in the adjoining records room."
"Why?"
"Charles told me to hide."
Evelyn leaned forward.
"Did you hear them?"
"Everything."
Richard demanded access to the Carrington voting trust.
Charles refused.
Richard threatened Evelyn.
Charles laughed at him.
Then Richard said something Elena had never forgotten.
"You've already lost one child tonight."
Evelyn frowned.
"What did that mean?"
Elena shook her head.
"I don't know."
Noah looked equally confused.
"What happened next?"
"I heard a glass break."
"Then your father shouted."
Elena's voice cracked.
"Then silence."
Evelyn couldn't move.
"Did you see Richard leave?"
"Yes."
"Was my father alive?"
Elena began crying.
"Barely."
"Did you call an ambulance?"
"I tried."
"What stopped you?"
"Someone came back."
"Richard?"
Elena shook her head.
"No."
Evelyn felt cold.
"Who?"
May you like
Elena looked directly at Adrian.
"Your mother."
