Chapter 14 - The Daughter Who Knew Too Much|
Chelsea stood beneath the depot's broken floodlight, her white coat whipping in the wind.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then I walked toward her.
“What are you doing here?”
She looked past me at Victor, who was being held between two officers.
“I came to stop this.”
“You came alone?”
Her eyes flicked toward the vehicle.
“No.”
A second person emerged from the passenger side.
Evelyn.
I stared at her in disbelief.
“What is going on?”
Evelyn raised both hands.
“Let me explain before you make a decision.”
“Then explain.”
She looked toward the detective.
“We received a message from Chelsea thirty minutes ago. She said she had information about Maureen's location and evidence linking Victor to the missing will.”
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because we couldn't risk the message being intercepted.”
I turned toward Chelsea.
“You knew where Maureen was?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what did you know?”
Chelsea's face crumpled.
“I knew Mother had been meeting Victor for months. I knew she was transferring money. I didn't know about Dad's death until recently.”
“Recently?”
She looked down.
“Two weeks ago, I found a box of old paperwork in her closet. There was a medical report, a copy of the property transfer, and a letter from Victor. He wrote that the original recording had to be recovered before the investigation reached the court.”
My chest tightened.
“What did the letter say about Dad?”
“That he had become a liability.”
I struggled to breathe.
“And you said nothing?”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
Chelsea looked at me, tears gathering in her eyes.
“I know.”
“No, you don't. You watched her take my wages. You helped her humiliate me. You stole my shift because you wanted a man with money to notice you. You knew I was being threatened, and you still went along with her.”
“I thought I could make her stop.”
“By doing what?”
“By getting the money back.”
I stared at her.
“You took money from Larkspur?”
“Not for myself. I moved it into an account that Mother couldn't access.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“She provided the account records to the authorities. We have not verified all of them, but her information helped us identify a second property Victor was using.”
“Where is Maureen?” I asked.
Chelsea swallowed.
“She was taken to a house outside the city. Mother called me from a hidden number yesterday. She said Victor wanted the ledger, and if I helped him, he would let her go.”
“Why would he trust you?”
“He didn't. He wanted me to bring him the original recording.”
I stared at her.
“You have it?”
Chelsea shook her head.
“No. But I know where it is.”
Every person in the depot seemed to turn toward her.
She took a small envelope from her handbag.
Inside was a photograph of a metal cabinet in the basement of our house.
I recognized it immediately.
The cabinet stood behind the old furnace, where Maureen kept cleaning supplies and spare lightbulbs. I had never been allowed to open it.
“There's a false panel at the back,” Chelsea said. “I found it when I was looking for the money. The recording is inside.”
“Why didn't you tell us sooner?”
“Because I didn't know whether Mother was guilty of killing Dad. I thought if I told you, you would never forgive me.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You thought silence would save our relationship?”
“No. I thought it might save me.”
The admission was so naked that I couldn't find an answer.
Adrian stepped beside me.
“Did you know Victor was going to take Maureen?”
Chelsea shook her head.
“He said he was moving her somewhere safe. I believed him until I saw the photograph he sent Nora.”
She looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
I wanted to tell her that sorry was meaningless. That it couldn't return the years she had helped Maureen take from me, or erase the way she had smiled when my braid fell to the floor.
But I also saw the fear in her face.
For the first time, Chelsea wasn't asking me to rescue her from the consequences of her choices.
She was offering information that could help us find the truth.
The detective took the envelope and instructed officers to secure the house.
Then Victor, who had been silent throughout the conversation, began to laugh again.
“You're all chasing the wrong recording.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
Victor smiled at me.
“The tape in the cabinet proves your father discovered the fraud. It doesn't prove who was in the room when he died.”
My blood ran cold.
“Then what does?”
Victor leaned toward the officer holding him.
“The original recording.”
May you like
He looked directly at me.
“And I know exactly who has it.”
