Chapter 16 - THE KEY INSIDE THE HOUSE
The statement haunted Ryan.
The nursery door had been locked that afternoon.
Only four people had keys.
Ryan.
Maya.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Alvarez.
And the security manager, Thomas Grant.
Mrs. Alvarez had been visiting family in Arizona.
Her flight records confirmed it.
Thomas Grant had worked for the Whitmores for seven years.
He was one of the former security employees named by Samuel Price.
Police searched his apartment.
It was empty.
His passport was gone.
A map of the Whitmore home lay on the kitchen table.
The nursery was circled in red.
Detective Torres issued a nationwide alert.
Ryan reviewed the home security logs.
Grant had disabled two cameras the night of the attack.
He had also created a temporary access code.
Someone used that code at eight thirty-four.
Thirteen minutes before the nursery camera captured Evelyn entering the room.
“He let them inside.”
Maya sat beside Ryan in the district attorney’s office.
“Why?”
“Money.”
Ryan wanted the answer to be simple.
But nothing about Evelyn was simple.
Torres found several transfers from a foreign account.
The money had passed through Marcus Hale’s shell companies.
Grant received three payments.
The final payment was scheduled for the morning after Maya’s planned hospitalization.
Then investigators found a fourth payment.
It had been sent to someone listed only by initials.
C.W.
Claire Whitmore.
Ryan stared at his sister’s name.
“No.”
Claire had admitted helping create the camera account.
She had turned over her phone.
She had cried beside Oliver’s hospital room.
But Evelyn had taught them all how to perform.
Police brought Claire in for questioning.
She denied receiving money.
The account was registered in the Cayman Islands.
Her passport number appeared in the file.
Claire began shaking.
“I never opened that account.”
“Then who had access to your passport?”
“My mother.”
Ryan looked at Torres.
Evelyn had kept family documents inside her private office.
She could have used Claire’s identity.
But another possibility remained.
Claire might have been part of the plan.
Torres placed a photograph on the table.
It had been recovered from Thomas Grant’s apartment.
The picture showed Claire meeting Grant outside a coffee shop.
The date was two days before the attack.
Claire stared at it.
“I met him because Mom asked me to.”
“What did she ask you to do?”
“She gave me a sealed envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
Ryan stood.
“You keep saying you did not know.”
“You did not know about the camera.”
“You did not know about the money.”
“You did not know about the envelope.”
“When were you planning to know anything?”
Claire began crying.
“I was afraid of her.”
“So was Maya.”
“But Maya fought back.”
Claire looked at him.
“You think I never tried?”
She reached into her bag.
The officers moved instantly.
Claire slowly removed a flash drive.
“I copied this from Mom’s computer six months ago.”
“I was too scared to open it.”
Detective Torres took the drive.
“What is on it?”
May you like
Claire’s answer chilled the room.
“A list of people she planned to remove.”
