Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH|
Margaret did not come home that night.
She checked into a hotel under her maiden name and refused to answer calls from the family.
By morning, the story had spread through the relatives.
Some blamed me.
Others blamed Ethan.
A few claimed the entire dispute was a misunderstanding that could be solved over Sunday dinner.
Aunt Pauline called me at nine.
"Don't let them talk you into apologizing," she said.
"I won't."
"Good. And don't forget your mother's letter."
I looked at the brass key on my desk.
"I haven't."
Pauline paused.
"There's something I should tell you. Your mother gave me another envelope after she found the missing money."
"Where is it?"
"Not with me. She told me to hide it somewhere Margaret would never look."
"Where?"
"In the old greenhouse."
The greenhouse had been closed for years. It stood behind the eastern gardens, near the strip of land Margaret had tried to transfer.
I drove there with Daniel.
The glass panels were dusty, and the iron door was stiff with age. Inside, old gardening tools leaned against the walls. A cracked stone bench sat beneath a dead climbing rose.
Pauline had told me to look beneath the bench.
We found a small metal box.
Inside were bank statements, a flash drive, and a photograph of my father with a man I recognized from the old corporate records.
His name was Victor Hale.
He had been the estate's former accountant.
The flash drive contained scanned documents and a recording.
Daniel played it.
My father's voice filled the greenhouse.
"Margaret, the money must be returned. I won't let you use the estate to cover your private debts."
Margaret answered.
"You don't understand. I was trying to protect Ethan."
"By stealing?"
"By making sure he had a future."
"His future is not yours to arrange."
There was a long silence.
Then Margaret spoke again.
"Naomi will inherit everything. Ethan will spend his life being treated like an outsider."
"Naomi is my granddaughter. She is the rightful beneficiary."
"She's a child."
"She's more capable than you give her credit for."
The recording ended.
I stood motionless.
Daniel checked the files.
"There's more."
A spreadsheet showed payments to Victor Hale, followed by transfers to a company registered in the Cayman Islands.
"Your father knew," Daniel said.
"Yes."
"And your mother found the same records years later."
I looked at the photograph.
"Where is Victor now?"
Daniel checked the company file.
"Retired. Florida."
"Contact him."
"Naomi, he may be involved."
"Then he can explain himself."
Daniel nodded.
As we left the greenhouse, I noticed a fresh tire track in the mud.
Someone had been there recently.
May you like
The metal box had not been hidden as carefully as we thought.
And on the ground near the door lay a white lily.
