Chapter 7 - GRANDPA’S LAST NIGHT
Thomas Bennett had eaten dinner with Charles the night before he died.
The medical examiner had found nothing suspicious because nobody had requested toxicology beyond the standard panel.
Marcus ordered the body exhumed.
Ruth stood beside Thomas’s grave while workers opened the earth.
She felt sick.
Emma did not know.
Not yet.
She believed Grandpa had simply become sick and gone to heaven.
Ruth wanted to preserve that innocence.
But innocence was disappearing quickly.
The toxicology results arrived forty-eight hours later.
Digoxin.
Massive concentration.
Enough to stop a healthy heart.
Murder.
Charles Bennett disappeared the same morning.
His office was empty.
His home had been cleared.
His accounts had been drained.
But he made one mistake.
He used a company vehicle.
Traffic cameras tracked it north.
Toward Wisconsin.
Then another development arrived.
Police found Lucy’s guardian.
Margaret Ellis.
Alive.
Bound inside a motel bathroom.
Lucy was gone.
Margaret told police a man had taken her.
She described him.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Scar on his chin.
Ruth knew the description.
Charles.
“He has Lucy.”
Marcus nodded.
Ruth stared at the map.
“Why?”
“Leverage.”
“For the trust?”
“Maybe.”
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“Charles doesn’t need Lucy alive for the trust.”
Ruth stared.
“What are you saying?”
May you like
Caroline looked terrified.
“He needs her dead.”
