Chapter 16
I left the building furious.
Paul’s final words followed me all the way to the car.
Protect Claire from her mother.
Victoria had admitted terrible things.
Forgery.
Financial theft.
The affair.
Silence after Daniel died.
But murder?
I didn’t want to believe it.
Claire deserved at least one parent who had not crossed that line.
I told her anyway.
We had promised no more secrets.
She sat completely still.
“Why would Paul say that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe he’s afraid.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not lying to make me feel better.”
We returned to Victoria’s temporary apartment, where she was staying under security supervision.
Claire asked one question.
“What pharmacy did Dad use?”
Victoria’s face changed.
“Why?”
“Answer.”
“Lawson Pharmacy on East Seventy-Third.”
Elena searched.
It had closed nine years ago.
The owner was dead.
His daughter had inherited the records.
Her name was Dr. Grace Dalton.
D.G.
My stomach dropped.
We gave the name to investigators.
Victoria sat down.
“I knew Grace.”
Claire stared at her.
“How?”
“She was Daniel’s pharmacist.”
“And?”
“His friend.”
“Was she the person who tested his pills?”
Victoria looked surprised.
“Tested?”
Claire told her about Samuel’s account.
Victoria shook her head.
“I didn’t know.”
I watched closely.
She looked genuinely confused.
Then her expression changed.
“What?”
Victoria stood.
“Grace came to the funeral.”
“So?”
“She tried to speak to me privately.”
Claire’s face tightened.
“What did she say?”
“I wouldn’t listen.”
“Why?”
“Charles told me she was obsessed with Daniel.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Of course he did.”
Victoria looked horrified by her own memory.
“She gave me an envelope.”
Everyone stopped.
“What envelope?”
“I threw it away.”
Claire closed her eyes.
I thought she might scream.
Instead she whispered, “You threw away everything that made you uncomfortable.”
Victoria cried.
“Yes.”
Investigators found Grace Dalton before midnight.
She lived in Vermont.
The six hundred thousand had not reached her.
Instead, the funds had gone to an intermediary who contacted her offering money for the pharmacy’s old paper archives.
She refused.
That was why Charles was panicking.
Grace still had them.
The next morning, detectives retrieved boxes from a storage facility.
Inside was a handwritten dispensing ledger.
Daniel Lawson’s name appeared repeatedly.
Then, two weeks before his death, something changed.
His prescription dosage was doubled.
The doctor’s signature authorizing the change was fake.
Worse, the medication listed was not the medication Daniel’s cardiologist had prescribed.
The substitute could dangerously lower blood pressure when combined with another drug Daniel took.
Claire read the report once.
Then pushed it away.
“Who picked it up?”
Grace’s old records included initials.
V.H.
Victoria Harrington.
Claire stood.
Victoria went white.
“No.”
The investigator looked at her.
“Mrs. Harrington?”
“I picked up Daniel’s medication sometimes.”
Claire backed away.
“No.”
“Claire, I did not change his prescription.”
“Your initials are there.”
“I picked up a bag.”
“What was in it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave it to him?”
“Yes.”
Claire started crying.
Victoria reached toward her.
“Don’t touch me.”
Victoria stopped.
“I swear I didn’t know.”
Claire screamed.
“You always didn’t know!”
The room went silent.
“You didn’t know Charles wanted Dad’s company. You didn’t know he stole from my trust. You didn’t know he threatened Dad. You didn’t know what was in the medicine.”
Her voice broke.
“You built your whole life out of not knowing.”
Victoria sank into a chair.
Claire ran out.
I followed her.
She made it to the stairwell before collapsing onto a step.
I sat beside her.
“I gave him back to her.”
“What?”
“The last time I saw Dad.”
She cried into her hands.
“He was tired. He asked me to stay home from school.”
I listened.
“I had a chemistry test.”
“Claire.”
“I left.”
“You were sixteen.”
“I left him with her.”
I pulled her against me.
“You were a child.”
“He asked me to stay.”
“You were a child.”
She sobbed against my chest.
I held her until she could breathe again.
Then the stairwell door opened.
Noah sat on her other side.
He didn’t say anything.
He just leaned against her shoulder.
For several minutes, we stayed that way.
Three people sitting on concrete steps while an entire family history broke open around us.
Then Noah said quietly, “Dad wouldn’t want you blaming yourself.”
Claire looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because he never blamed us for adult problems.”
That made her cry again.
My phone buzzed.
The investigator.
They had authenticated Paul’s recording.
I answered.
“What does it say?”
The investigator paused.
“Charles asks Grace whether the old ledger still exists.”
“And?”
“Grace tells him to stay away from her.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“There’s another voice at the beginning.”
My stomach tightened.
“Whose?”
“We’re still verifying.”
“Man or woman?”
“Woman.”
Claire watched me.
The investigator continued.
“She tells Charles, ‘You promised nobody would ever find out what we did to Daniel.’”
I closed my eyes.
“Do you know who she is?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
I already knew.
“Victoria?”
“No.”
My eyes opened.
May you like
“Then who?”
The investigator said, “Charles’s first wife.”
