Chapter 6 - THE OTHER HEIR
The fire destroyed the garage.
The house survived.
By sunrise, police cars filled the circular drive.
Lily sat in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a blanket, sipping apple juice.
I refused to let her out of my sight.
Daniel stayed beside her.
Richard spoke to detectives.
Then Colin arrived.
His face was bruised.
“What happened to you?” Richard demanded.
Colin looked embarrassed.
“Someone hit me behind the guesthouse.”
“You didn’t start the fire?”
“No, sir.”
“Did Margaret?”
“I didn’t see her.”
Richard told Detective Harris about Samuel Harlan.
The detective started making calls.
By nine o’clock, we had a name.
Marcus Harlan.
Fifty-two.
Samuel’s acknowledged son from his marriage.
Daniel’s half brother.
Marcus had spent thirty years believing Richard Whitmore destroyed his father.
The ugly part?
Margaret had encouraged that belief.
Emails recovered from her old account showed she had remained in contact with Marcus for years.
She told him Richard drove Samuel to suicide.
But Samuel hadn’t committed suicide.
His death had been ruled accidental.
Richard stared at the emails.
“She turned him against me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Why?”
I knew.
“Because angry men are useful.”
Everyone looked at me.
“Margaret needed someone else to blame if her old secrets surfaced.”
Detective Harris nodded slowly.
“And possibly someone willing to frighten Richard.”
My phone rang.
Margaret.
I answered on speaker.
“You almost got Lily killed.”
Margaret’s voice came fast.
“That fire was not me.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Marcus has lost control.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You brought him into this?”
Silence.
Then Margaret said, “I needed pressure.”
“To do what?”
“Convince you to change the trust.”
Richard looked sick.
“You used Samuel’s son against me?”
“I told Marcus you were hiding evidence about his father.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
Daniel stepped toward the phone.
“Did you tell Marcus I was Samuel’s son?”
Margaret went silent.
“Mother.”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And what did he say?”
“He said you stole his life.”
I felt ice move through my veins.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret answered quietly.
“He believes everything Samuel would have left him eventually went to Daniel.”
“That makes no sense,” I said.
“He isn’t thinking clearly.”
A car horn sounded outside.
Then another.
Detective Harris looked through the window.
A black SUV had stopped at the estate gate.
Nobody moved.
The driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Gray at the temples.
He held both hands where police could see them.
Richard whispered, “Marcus.”
Detectives surrounded him.
Marcus didn’t resist.
He looked toward the house.
Straight at Daniel.
Then at Lily.
His expression changed.
He shouted something.
We couldn’t hear through the glass.
Richard opened the front door despite police warning him back.
Marcus yelled again.
This time we heard him.
“GET THE GIRL OUT!”
Detective Harris grabbed Marcus.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus pointed toward the mansion.
“I didn’t burn the garage!”
Daniel stepped outside.
“Then who did?”
Marcus laughed.
A horrible, exhausted laugh.
“You still don’t understand.”
He looked at Richard.
“Margaret didn’t contact me first.”
Richard frowned.
Marcus pointed toward Colin.
“He did.”
Every head turned.
May you like
Colin took one step backward.
Then reached inside his jacket.
