Chapter 5 - CELIA'S STORYCelia surrendered just before dawn.
She was arrested immediately.
But she insisted on telling detectives one thing before requesting an attorney.
“I poisoned Daniel’s plate.”
No denial.
No excuses about what the video showed.
Then came the second sentence.
“But I didn’t choose to do it.”
According to Celia, someone had been blackmailing her for nearly four months.
The blackmailer knew about Robert.
Knew about Ward Development.
Knew about the money.
And threatened to expose everything unless Celia followed instructions.
The final instruction arrived Christmas Eve.
Put Robert’s medication in Daniel’s food.
Make it look like an accidental overdose.
Except Daniel didn’t take that medication.
That didn’t make sense.
Celia claimed she was told police would discover pills in my office after my death.
Someone intended to fabricate a story that I secretly suffered from a heart condition.
It sounded elaborate.
Almost ridiculous.
But Detective Chen didn’t dismiss it.
Because Celia had saved some of the messages.
Anonymous emails.
Prepaid-phone texts.
Photographs taken through windows of her house.
One message read:
YOU OWE FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ROBERT.
Another:
CHRISTMAS ENDS THIS.
A third:
DANIEL FOUND THE ACCOUNT. HE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO OPEN IT.
That changed everything.
The blackmailer wasn’t protecting Celia.
They wanted access to the missing money.
And they believed my investigation threatened them.
Who knew about the account?
Me.
My attorney.
Elise.
Martin.
And Celia.
But perhaps someone else had always known.
Detective Chen returned to the corporate records.
The fourth partner, Everett Knox, died years earlier.
Thomas Bell lived in Florida and had dementia.
That seemed to narrow things.
Until investigators discovered Martin had been in contact with Thomas Bell’s daughter for months.
Why?
Martin said he was researching his father’s death.
Elise believed him.
Detectives weren’t so sure.
Then financial records revealed Martin owed nearly $400,000.
Failed businesses.
Credit cards.
Private loans.
One creditor had filed suit.
Suddenly, my unemployed brother-in-law had motive.
And access.
And knowledge.
I didn’t want to believe it.
But I had learned something during the previous twenty-four hours.
Wanting to believe something didn’t make it true.
Police questioned Martin again.
He denied everything.
Then his wife Rachel asked to speak privately to Elise.
They met in a hospital family room.
I wasn’t supposed to hear the conversation.
But Elise told me afterward.
Rachel had discovered Martin keeping a second phone.
He claimed it belonged to a business partner.
She didn’t believe him.
A week before Christmas, she saw a message on it.
HE’LL BE AT DINNER.
Rachel assumed Martin was planning some investment meeting.
Now she wasn’t sure.
Detectives obtained the phone.
Most messages had been deleted.
But deleted doesn’t always mean gone.
Technology recovered fragments.
One was devastating.
Mom will do it. She has no choice.
Elise cried when Detective Chen showed her.
I stared at the words for a long time.
Martin.
The uncle who taught Noah to throw a baseball.
The man who built Sophie’s backyard playhouse.
Could he have blackmailed his own mother into poisoning me?
Detective Chen cautioned us.
“A fragment doesn’t establish context.”
But then another message appeared.
Once Mercer is gone, nobody opens the escrow until we control Elise.
That sounded clearer.
Police arrested Martin before sunset.
He screamed that they were making a mistake.
Elise watched from the hallway as they handcuffed him.
“Tell them!” Martin shouted at her. “You know me!”
Elise didn’t answer.
He looked at me.
“Daniel, I didn’t do this!”
I wanted to believe him.
I truly did.
Then he said something strange.
“Ask Ryan!”
My brother’s name.
Detective Chen stopped.
“What about Ryan?”
Martin’s face changed as though he realized he had said too much.
I stepped toward him.
“What about my brother?”
Martin shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“You just said ask Ryan.”
“I was angry.”
“About what?”
He wouldn’t answer.
Ryan had been at dinner.
Ryan knew about my company.
Ryan knew I was researching Lakeview because he worked for me.
My younger brother was operations director at Mercer Construction.
I suddenly remembered something else.
Ryan had been the one encouraging me to pursue the Ward property quickly.
He said it was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.
What if the property wasn’t the opportunity?
What if the dormant account was?
I called Ryan.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
A third time.
Nothing.
Detective Chen asked where he lived.
“Twenty minutes away.”
Officers were dispatched.
The apartment was empty.
Laptop missing.
Clothes gone.
Then my phone received a text.
From Ryan.
DON’T BELIEVE MARTIN.
I typed immediately.
WHERE ARE YOU?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Returned.
Then:
I KNOW WHO SENT THE MESSAGES.
My heart started pounding.
WHO?
No response.
I called.
Nothing.
Then another text.
MEET ME ALONE.
An address followed.
An abandoned warehouse owned by my company.
Detective Chen read over my shoulder.
“You are absolutely not going alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
But Ryan sent one final message.
IF POLICE COME, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT ELISE DID.
I stared at my wife.
Her face had turned white.
“What does he mean?”
May you like
She whispered, “I don’t know.”
For the first time, I didn’t immediately believe her.
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