Chapter 8 - HIS FATHER’S HANDWRITING
Arthur’s letter was four pages long.
Ethan recognized the slanted handwriting before he finished the first line.
Children,
I have mistaken loyalty for honesty, and I have allowed that mistake to last too long.
Olivia sat beside him at the kitchen table.
Neither wanted the study.
Neither wanted the room where Grant had spent years explaining their father to them.
The letter described irregular payments to Harbor House Services. Properties billed for repairs that never happened. Emergency housing funds diverted into inflated contracts.
Arthur had begun collecting copies after Grant dismissed his questions as confusion.
Then came the sentence that made Ethan lower the page.
I signed reports I did not read because I trusted my brother. That does not excuse me.
“He knew,” Olivia whispered.
“He found out.”
“And didn’t tell us.”
Ethan kept reading.
Arthur had scheduled a meeting with an outside accountant. His stroke came two days before it.
There was no accusation of anything beyond the financial scheme. No secret explanation for his death.
Just unfinished work.
And a name.
Daniel Price, maintenance supervisor, who raised concerns before anyone else.
Rosa heard it from the stove.
“Danny?”
Ethan looked up.
“You knew him?”
“Worked here six years. Margaret said he stole tools.”
“What happened to him?”
“He left. His wife was sick. He needed his health insurance.”
Maya sat near the window, a blanket around her shoulders.
Ethan looked at her.
Same pattern.
Same convenient thief.
Rachel called Daniel that evening. He agreed to speak with investigators, but refused to return to the estate.
“No offense,” he said over the speaker. “That house cost me enough.”
Afterward, Olivia opened the remaining documents.
One was a printed email from Grant to Margaret.
D. PRICE IS BECOMING DISRUPTIVE. HANDLE THROUGH STAFF PROCEDURES.
Below it, in Margaret’s reply:
UNDERSTOOD.
Maya’s phone began vibrating on the table.
An unfamiliar number.
She let it ring.
A voicemail appeared.
Rachel told her not to delete it.
Maya pressed play.
Margaret’s voice filled the kitchen.
“You think they’re protecting you? Ask Ethan what happened to the complaint you sent him six months ago.”
Maya stared at him.
Ethan felt the room change.
“What complaint?”
May you like
Her voice cracked.
“The one you answered.”
