Chapter 10: The Woman Who Knew My Mother
My father stared at the security monitor as if he had seen a ghost.
"Don't let her leave," he told the guard.
Then he turned to Catherine.
"Check her identity before she comes inside. And make sure the recording is preserved.""
I stood slowly, one hand resting against my belly.
"Who is she?""
My father didn't answer.
"Why does she know my mother?""
He looked at me, and the pain in his eyes told me that whatever came next would be worse than anything I'd heard so far.
"I don't know why she's here," he said.
"But I intend to find out.""
I almost laughed.
"You don't know why she's here? Dad, she just mentioned the woman who supposedly died in an accident thirty years ago. She was also the person Chloe handed that ring to.""
"I know.""
"Then stop talking to me as if I'm a child.""
His expression crumpled.
"You're right.""
The admission silenced me.
My father had always been the person with answers. When I was six and frightened of thunderstorms, he'd sat beside my bed until the rain stopped. When I was sixteen and my first boyfriend broke my heart, he'd taken me for ice cream and told me that loving someone didn't mean abandoning yourself.
But now, whenever I asked about my mother, he looked as though he were carrying a truth too heavy to put down.
The front door opened.
Emily Carter entered with a worn leather handbag clutched against her chest. She was in her early fifties, with silver beginning to thread through her brown hair. Her black coat was buttoned to the throat, and her eyes moved quickly around the room.
When she saw me, she stopped.
"You're Margaret's daughter.""
I stepped forward.
"Who are you?""
"Emily Carter. I worked at the Grand Wellington when your mother was investigating its finances.""
My father stood.
"You told the police you knew nothing about her work.""
Emily's fingers tightened around her handbag.
"I told them what Jonathan Bennett instructed me to tell them.""
The room went silent.
My father moved toward her.
"Are you accusing Jonathan of involvement in Margaret's death?""
"I'm telling you that he threatened my family if I spoke.""
She looked at me.
"And I have spent thirty years wishing I had been brave enough to ignore him.""
I pulled out a chair.
"Please sit down.""
Emily sat, but she didn't remove her coat.
She placed her handbag on the table and opened it carefully. Inside were old photographs, folded papers, and a small cassette recorder.
"I kept these because I knew one day someone would ask the right questions.""
Catherine moved closer.
"Have these materials been preserved in their original condition?""
"As far as I know. I never opened the sealed envelope until last night.""
"Why last night?""
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"Because I saw what happened to you at the wedding.""
She looked down at her hands.
"I was working as a consultant for the wedding planner. Chloe hired me to coordinate some last-minute details. I knew who you were, but I never imagined Jonathan would turn the wedding into another attempt to frighten your father.""
My stomach tightened.
"You knew about the ring?""
"I knew Chloe had been told to create a distraction. I didn't know she would accuse you of stealing it until she did.""
"Why did you take the ring?""
Emily looked ashamed.
"Chloe handed it to me because Jonathan had instructed her to keep it out of sight until security arrived. I refused to hide it. I gave it back to the venue manager as soon as I could.""
Catherine wrote down her statement.
"Did Jonathan tell Chloe to accuse Vivienne specifically?""
"Yes.""
My father gripped the back of a chair.
"Why?""
"Because he believed the Sterling family would react more strongly to a public scandal than to a private financial dispute. He wanted Richard to abandon the acquisition and withdraw the people investigating the old records.""
I looked at Emily.
"And you went along with it?""
Her eyes dropped.
"I was afraid. Jonathan has spent years reminding me what happened to people who crossed him.""
"That doesn't excuse what you did.""
"No," she whispered.
"It doesn't.""
She opened the cassette recorder.
"This is a copy of a conversation I recorded in 1996. I was working late at the hotel when Jonathan came into the accounting office with another man. They didn't know I was in the storage room.""
Catherine examined the device.
"We'll need to establish its authenticity before relying on it as evidence.""
Emily nodded.
"I understand.""
She pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
Then a man's voice filled the room.
Jonathan Bennett.
"If Margaret gives those records to the authorities, the entire company will collapse.""
Another voice answered.
"Then make sure she doesn't.""
My father's face turned white.
I gripped the edge of the table.
The recording continued.
Jonathan spoke again.
"What about Sterling?""
"Richard will do whatever it takes to protect his wife. That makes him predictable.""
A chair scraped against the floor.
My father had stepped backward.
"Stop it," he whispered.
Emily stopped the recording.
I turned to him.
"Dad?""
He pressed a hand against his mouth.
For the first time in my life, I saw him look genuinely frightened.
"That second voice," I said.
"Who was it?""
He stared at the recorder.
"I don't know.""
Emily slowly shook her head.
"You do, Richard. You heard him that night.""
My father looked at her sharply.
"Don't.""
Emily's voice trembled.
"You promised Margaret you'd tell the truth if anything happened to her.""
I felt my heart hammering.
"What truth?""
Emily reached into her handbag and removed a faded photograph.
She placed it in front of me.
It showed my mother standing beside a dark sedan outside the Grand Wellington. The date was printed on the back.
The night she died.
On the driver's side stood a man whose face was partially visible.
I recognized him from the old family photographs in my father's study.
My father's younger brother.
Uncle Thomas.
The man who had supposedly died in a boating accident two years after my mother.
I looked up slowly.
"Why was Uncle Thomas with Mom that night?""
My father sank into his chair.
Emily whispered the answer.
"Because Thomas was the person your mother planned to meet. And he was the last person anyone could prove had seen her alive.""
Before I could speak, Catherine's phone rang.
She answered, listened, and went completely still.
"What do you mean the archive has been opened?""
My father stood.
"Which archive?""
Catherine looked at him.
"The secure archive beneath the Grand Wellington.""
She swallowed.
"Someone accessed it twenty minutes ago.""
May you like
Then she delivered the final blow.
"The original records about Margaret's death are missing.""
