Chapter 5 - MARGARET’S LIE
Daniel stared at his mother.
“Who is the baby?”
Margaret’s face revealed nothing.
“Put the photograph down.”
“Who is the baby?”
“Daniel.”
“Answer me.”
Margaret entered the study.
Ruiz stepped forward.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Margaret ignored him.
“This is my house.”
“It’s an active crime scene.”
“And yet my son is opening private safes.”
Daniel held up the photograph.
“Who is the baby?”
Margaret finally looked at it.
Something flickered in her eyes.
Fear.
Then it disappeared.
“Your sister.”
Daniel froze.
“I don’t have a sister.”
“You did.”
The room became silent.
Margaret sat down.
“Her name was Catherine.”
Daniel slowly lowered the photograph.
“What happened to her?”
“She died.”
“When?”
“Six weeks after that photograph.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Why have you never told me?”
“Because your father couldn’t bear it.”
Elena watched Margaret carefully.
The explanation sounded polished.
Too polished.
“Where is Catherine buried?”
Margaret looked at Elena.
“That is none of your concern.”
“If she was Daniel’s sister, it is his concern.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“This family existed before you arrived, Elena.”
“And apparently it had plenty of secrets.”
“You have caused enough damage.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Margaret looked at her son.
“She installed cameras in our home.”
“Because someone threatened her.”
“She manipulated you.”
“Vanessa pushed her down the stairs.”
“That has not been proven.”
Ruiz spoke.
“We have it on video.”
Margaret’s eyes shifted toward him.
That tiny movement told Elena everything.
Margaret hadn’t known the local backup survived.
Daniel saw it too.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew Vanessa planned something.”
“No.”
“Then why aren’t you shocked?”
Margaret remained silent.
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“She could have killed my child.”
Margaret finally lost control.
“That child is exactly why this happened!”
Silence.
Even Margaret seemed shocked by her own words.
Elena’s hand moved protectively over her stomach.
Daniel whispered:
“What did you say?”
Margaret stood.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Tell me why my child matters so much.”
Margaret looked toward Ruiz.
“I want my attorney.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Good idea.”
Margaret turned to leave.
Elena stopped her.
“Where’s the server?”
Margaret paused.
“I don’t know.”
“Thomas gave it to you.”
“He’s lying.”
“Then you won’t mind us checking your car.”
Margaret smiled.
It was the first truly frightening expression Elena had ever seen on her face.
“Check anything you like.”
Then she walked away.
Ruiz’s officers searched Margaret’s Bentley.
Nothing.
Her bedroom.
Nothing.
Her office.
Nothing.
But Elena remained in Richard’s study.
She kept staring at the photograph.
Something bothered her.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“Your mother said Catherine died six weeks later.”
“Yes.”
Elena pointed to the picture.
“Look at the baby.”
Daniel did.
“What am I looking for?”
“The bracelet.”
Around the infant’s wrist was a hospital identification band.
Elena zoomed in using her phone.
A surname was barely visible.
PRICE.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Samuel Price.”
Elena nodded.
“That wasn’t your mother’s baby.”
They found Samuel’s home empty.
His phone was disconnected.
His bank accounts had been emptied that morning.
Ruiz issued an alert.
Then Elena received a message.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
Samuel Price sitting inside what looked like a private aircraft.
Beside him sat Vanessa.
Below the photograph was a sentence.
YOU’RE CHASING THE WRONG SECRET.
A second message arrived.
ASK DANIEL WHO REALLY OWNS HOWARD HOLDINGS.
Then a third.
A scanned page from the missing 1998 ledger.
Elena enlarged it.
Her heart stopped.
Howard Holdings had not originally belonged entirely to Richard and Margaret.
Fifty-one percent had belonged to another investor.
A woman.
Her name had been blacked out.
But below it was a transfer notation.
Shares transferred following death of owner and infant beneficiary.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“If that transfer was fraudulent…”
Elena finished the thought.
“Your family built its fortune on stolen shares.”
Daniel sank into a chair.
Then Ruiz’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
Daniel asked.
Ruiz slowly lowered the phone.
“They found Samuel Price’s plane.”
“Where?”
“It never took off.”
“Then where are they?”
Ruiz looked at Elena.
“The pilot is dead.”
Elena went cold.
“And Samuel?”
“Missing.”
“Vanessa?”
“Missing.”
Daniel whispered:
“This isn’t about pushing Elena down the stairs anymore.”
Ruiz shook his head.
“No.”
May you like
“It looks like somebody is cleaning up twenty-eight years of evidence.”
Then the mansion lights went out.
