Chapter 13
Claire asked the driver to stop the car.
We were still ten blocks from the foundation.
“Stop.”
The driver pulled over.
Claire got out.
I followed her.
She walked half a block before turning around.
Her entire body was shaking.
“My father asked her for help.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“She told him he was paranoid.”
“Claire.”
“And then he died.”
She covered her face.
I held her.
Cars moved around us.
People passed.
For once, I didn’t care who recognized us.
“I need to know how he died.”
“We’ll find out.”
“What if Charles killed him?”
“We don’t know that.”
“What if my mother helped him?”
“We don’t know that either.”
“She already helped him steal everything.”
“I know.”
Claire pulled away.
“Stop saying we don’t know.”
“I’m saying it because I don’t want Charles destroying another part of your life before we have evidence.”
Her eyes flashed.
“He may have killed my father.”
“Then we prove it.”
She stared at me.
“How are you calm?”
“I’m not.”
I touched her hand.
“I’m terrified you’re going to let this man take every good memory you have and turn it into evidence.”
That stopped her.
“Your father loved you.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“He did.”
“That part doesn’t change.”
She nodded slowly.
We returned to the office.
Elena had already found the source of the toxicology rumor.
One of Daniel’s former business partners had spoken to a reporter after hearing about the trust case.
His name was Samuel Price.
Robert knew him.
We called.
Samuel answered reluctantly.
“I wondered when somebody would contact me.”
Claire sat beside the speakerphone.
“What did my father tell you?”
Samuel sighed.
“A lot.”
“Did he think Charles was poisoning him?”
“He thought someone was tampering with his medication.”
“What medication?”
“Heart medication.”
Daniel had suffered from a congenital heart condition.
His death had been ruled cardiac failure.
Samuel explained that Daniel once noticed his pills looked different.
He had them tested privately.
“Do you know the result?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He died before he told me.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Did he suspect my mother?”
Samuel was silent.
“That’s not a no.”
“He loved Victoria.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“He suspected Charles.”
Claire asked, “Did he ever tell police?”
“I begged him to.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Because Charles threatened you and Noah.”
Claire went still.
“How?”
“He said accidents happen to families too.”
The exact phrase Victoria had repeated.
Accidents happen to people who panic.
Charles liked recycling threats.
That made my stomach turn.
Samuel told us Daniel had placed evidence in a bank box.
We had already found it.
But he also mentioned a recording.
“Daniel recorded a meeting with Charles.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“He told me if anything happened to him, the recording would explain everything.”
We searched the box again.
Nothing obvious.
No cassette.
No drive.
No disc.
Then Noah picked up Daniel’s old watch.
The back was unusually thick.
“This wasn’t Dad’s normal watch.”
Claire frowned.
“I remember it.”
Noah pressed the side button.
Nothing happened.
Elena looked at it.
“That’s not a watch.”
She removed the back plate carefully.
Inside was a tiny digital storage card.
Noah laughed in disbelief.
“Dad was dramatic.”
Claire smiled through tears.
“He really was.”
The card contained three audio files.
The first was Daniel dictating notes.
The second was a meeting with his attorney.
The third began with Charles’s voice.
Daniel said, “You moved seven million dollars without authorization.”
Charles answered, “I invested it.”
“You stole it.”
“Careful.”
“I’m removing you from the partnership.”
A long silence.
Then Charles laughed.
“You think Victoria is choosing you?”
Claire closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
Daniel said, “My marriage is not your business.”
“It became my business a long time ago.”
“You stay away from my children.”
“Then don’t make this ugly.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Is that a threat?”
Charles answered softly.
“It’s advice.”
Then Daniel said the sentence that made everyone freeze.
“If anything happens to me, this recording goes to the police.”
Charles laughed again.
“No, it won’t.”
The audio ended.
It wasn’t proof of murder.
But it was enough to reopen questions.
Claire sent the file to detectives.
By evening, the district attorney’s office requested Daniel’s complete medical records.
Victoria sat alone near the conference window.
Claire approached her.
I stayed back.
“Why didn’t you believe him?”
Victoria answered quietly.
“Because believing him meant admitting what I had done.”
Claire’s voice cracked.
“So you chose yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Every time.”
Victoria began crying.
“Yes.”
Claire stared at her mother for a long time.
Then she said, “I don’t know if I will ever forgive you.”
“I know.”
“But if Charles hurt Dad…”
Victoria looked at her.
“I will tell them everything.”
“You already said that.”
“No.”
Victoria wiped her eyes.
“I mean everything.”
Claire frowned.
Victoria continued.
“There is something I never told anyone about the night Daniel died.”
I felt the room tighten.
“What?”
Victoria looked at both of us.
“I saw Charles leave our house.”
Claire stopped breathing.
May you like
“What time?”
“About forty minutes before I found your father unconscious.”
