Chapter 4 - The Meeting in the Abandoned Conservatory|
On Saturday morning, Morgan drove to the Morton estate alone.
She had told Julian she was visiting Denise. He had accepted the explanation too easily, which frightened her more than another argument would have.
The old conservatory stood beyond a narrow path lined with bare trees. Its glass roof was cracked in several places, and the doors had been secured with a temporary chain.
Morgan checked the time.
11:58.
A figure emerged from behind a stone pillar.
The gray trench coat.
The green beret.
The faint scent of lavender.
“You came,” the elderly woman said.
Morgan approached cautiously.
“You told me not to wear the necklace. How did you know my husband would give me one?”
The woman studied her face.
“Because I knew he had been planning it for weeks.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Eleanor Price.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Eleanor glanced toward the road.
“Because I made a mistake twenty years ago, and your grandmother spent the rest of her life trying to prevent me from making it twice.”
Morgan felt the ground shift beneath her.
“You knew my grandmother?”
“I knew Clara very well.”
Eleanor explained that she had worked as a bookkeeper for a small property investment firm before retiring. Years earlier, the firm had been connected to a series of fraudulent land acquisitions in Wisconsin and Illinois.
One of the victims had been a woman who owned a cottage near the lake.
Clara Hayes.
“Someone tried to force your grandmother into selling her property,” Eleanor said. “When she refused, the company began making threats.”
“Who?”
“Gregory Vance's father.”
Morgan stared at her.
“Why would they want her cottage?”
“Because the land around it contains an easement that makes a larger development possible. Your grandmother's property is the last parcel they need.”
Morgan remembered the glossy Northstar website.
“How does Julian fit into this?”
Eleanor lowered her voice.
“Your husband has been working with Gregory Vance for nearly two years. He was promised money if he could persuade you to sell.”
“Julian told me his businesses were independent.”
“He told you what he needed you to believe.”
Morgan felt nauseated.
“Why the necklace?”
Eleanor explained that the modified clasp could contain a tracking component. She had not been able to determine exactly what it did, but she had seen similar devices used to monitor a person's movements and contacts.
“The necklace was supposed to stay on you,” Eleanor said. “If you wore it, someone could learn where you went and who you met. If the device also stored audio, they might use private conversations against you.”
“Against me?”
“Against you, your attorney, anyone who tried to stop the sale.”
Morgan thought of the oily film in the glass.
“Why did you tell me to put it in water?”
“Because the water might reveal that the clasp had been altered. It was the only warning I could give you without drawing attention.”
“You could have called the police.”
“I tried. The first time I reported the scheme, the officer assigned to the case warned Vance before I finished my statement.”
Morgan stared at her.
“So what do we do now?”
Eleanor handed her a small envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of a property map showing the cottage and the surrounding parcels. A red line marked an underground utility corridor that crossed Clara's land.
“What is this?”
“Proof that Northstar has been trying to acquire the property for years. Your grandmother refused because the easement would allow them to build across land that was never meant to support their project.”
Morgan studied the map.
“Why didn't my grandmother tell me?”
“She did. Perhaps not in a way you understood. Clara believed you deserved a life without being dragged into an ugly fight.”
Eleanor reached into her coat and removed a photograph.
It showed Julian standing beside Gregory Vance outside a restaurant.
The date printed on the back was three months before Morgan's wedding anniversary.
Morgan's throat tightened.
“He's been working with him the whole time.”
“Yes.”
“Then why give me an expensive necklace now?”
Eleanor's expression became grave.
“Because the final purchase agreement is ready. They need your signature, and your husband has run out of time.”
A car engine sounded on the road.
Eleanor turned sharply.
“Someone followed you.”
Morgan looked through the broken glass.
A black SUV had stopped beside the path.
The passenger door opened.
May you like
Julian stepped out.
And he was carrying a second velvet box.
