Chapter 8 - FAMILY
Richard Cole entered the mansion like he owned half of it.
Technically, he almost did.
He was sixty-two, silver-haired, charming, and famous for ending arguments by making people believe the argument had been their idea.
He hugged Nathan.
Nathan didn’t hug back.
“I heard about Vanessa,” Richard said.
“From who?”
“Board members talk.”
“Police got here twelve hours ago.”
Richard shrugged.
“Board members talk fast.”
Nathan stared at him.
“So do private investigators.”
Richard’s smile faded slightly.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan tossed the shell-company records onto the table.
“You tell me.”
Richard read them.
His face revealed nothing.
“Creston Holdings.”
“Yours?”
“No.”
“Your signature says otherwise.”
“My office signs hundreds of filings.”
“So that’s your answer?”
“It’s an explanation.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“That company owned the car watching Maria’s apartment.”
Richard finally looked at me.
“I’m sorry. Who?”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“You know who Maria is.”
“I know you employ many people.”
“You sat across from her at Christmas dinner.”
Richard shrugged.
“I don’t memorize staff.”
That sentence told me everything I needed to know about him.
Nathan didn’t like it either.
“The company’s car was outside her apartment.”
Richard spread his hands.
“Then someone used it.”
“Who?”
“I have no idea.”
Nathan threw another document down.
“The law firm that formed Creston also handled Dad’s trust amendment.”
Richard’s face changed.
Small.
But real.
Nathan saw it.
“You knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That the amendment existed.”
Richard sighed.
“Nathan, your father adjusted his trust constantly.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
Nathan froze.
Sullivan stepped forward.
“You told me you didn’t.”
Richard looked at him.
“I told you I wasn’t involved.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
Nathan’s voice was suddenly quiet.
“What did Dad change?”
Richard poured himself water.
“The control provision.”
“Why?”
“He was worried about you.”
Nathan laughed.
“About me?”
“You were thirty-four, unmarried, working sixteen-hour days, taking risks.”
“I built half the company’s current value.”
“And your father still thought you were reckless.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
Richard continued.
“He wanted stability.”
“So if I got married and then died, my wife gets control?”
“For a temporary period.”
“Ten years.”
“Temporary.”
Nathan stared at him.
“And you thought that made sense?”
“I thought your father was dying. I didn’t argue over every clause.”
“Who proposed Vanessa as beneficiary?”
Richard’s eyes shifted.
Nathan saw it.
“So she was named.”
Richard said nothing.
“That amendment wasn’t generic. It named her.”
“Nathan—”
“You knew we were together before Dad died.”
“Everyone did.”
“Did Vanessa know about the clause?”
Richard hesitated.
That was an answer.
Nathan moved fast.
He grabbed his uncle by the jacket.
Reyes stepped forward.
I gasped.
Richard remained surprisingly calm.
“Get your hands off me.”
“Did you tell her?”
“Nathan.”
“Did you tell her?”
Richard shoved him back.
“Yes!”
Silence exploded through the room.
Nathan stared.
Richard adjusted his jacket.
“Yes. I told Vanessa your father liked her. I told her he changed the trust.”
“When?”
“A year ago.”
“Why?”
“She asked questions.”
Nathan looked sick.
“What questions?”
“About your estate.”
“And that didn’t bother you?”
“She was going to be your wife.”
“She wasn’t then.”
Richard said nothing.
Nathan’s hands curled into fists.
“Did you introduce her to Evan Ward?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you help Ward access the estate?”
“Absolutely not.”
Nathan pointed toward the shell-company records.
“Then why is your company watching Maria?”
Richard looked at me again.
This time, he studied me.
I didn’t like it.
“I don’t know.”
Reyes’ phone buzzed.
He read a message.
“Detective Bennett wants everyone in the library.”
“Why?” Nathan asked.
“Lab results.”
We gathered around.
Bennett stood by the desk.
Dr. Mercer was beside her.
Nathan didn’t sit.
“What did they find?”
Bennett looked directly at Vanessa’s empty chair.
“The substance in the wineglass matches the compound in your blood.”
Nobody spoke.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Bennett continued.
“The powder from the pantry also matches.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“And Maria’s apartment?”
“Same compound.”
My knees weakened.
“So they planted the same substance.”
“Likely.”
Nathan looked at Bennett.
“You can arrest Vanessa now.”
Bennett shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Nathan laughed in disbelief.
“What the hell else—”
“Because there’s something else you need to know.”
She held up a report.
“We tested the fingerprints on the silver powder container.”
Nathan stopped.
“Vanessa?”
“One partial.”
“Whose?”
Bennett looked around the room.
Then her eyes settled on Richard.
“His.”
Richard Cole’s face finally broke.
Nathan whispered:
“No.”
Richard stepped backward.
“That’s impossible.”
Bennett said, “Your right thumb.”
“I’ve never seen that container.”
Nathan stared at his uncle.
Richard shook his head.
“Nathan, listen to me.”
“How is your fingerprint on poison in my pantry?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve been in the house.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You owned the car outside Maria’s apartment.”
“I told you—”
“And your print is on the powder.”
Richard’s voice rose.
“I DID NOT POISON YOU!”
Nathan’s face twisted with rage.
“Then who did?”
Richard looked toward the door.
And in that moment, I saw it.
Fear.
Not fear of Nathan.
Fear of someone else.
Richard lowered his voice.
“You don’t understand what Evan found.”
Nathan went still.
“What?”
Richard swallowed.
“He didn’t just find your father’s amendment.”
“What did he find?”
Richard looked toward Detective Bennett.
May you like
Then back at Nathan.
“He found proof your father was murdered.”
