Chapter 8 - Behind the Family Photograph
Claire wanted to search anyway.
Rebecca refused.
“Wait until someone you trust arrives.”
Megan stayed beside her.
Rebecca sent an investigator named Marcus Cole.
He arrived forty minutes later.
Former police officer.
Quiet voice.
Gray suit.
He asked Claire to show him the security footage.
He watched it twice.
Then he asked one question.
“Did Linda ever have unrestricted access to your home?”
“Not officially.”
“Keys?”
“Emergency spare.”
“Alarm code?”
Claire thought.
“She knew the old one.”
“When did you change it?”
“Six months ago.”
Marcus looked at the video timestamp.
“How did she get inside without triggering the alarm?”
Claire felt cold.
The alarm had not sounded.
She opened the security history.
System disarmed.
Tuesday, 3:41 p.m.
Code 0718.
Claire stared.
That was Ethan’s code.
Megan whispered.
“Mom knows Ethan’s birthday code.”
Claire shook her head.
“Ethan stopped using his birthday years ago.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What does 0718 mean?”
Claire swallowed.
“July eighteenth.”
Noah’s birthday.
Linda knew it.
Marcus made a note.
Then they walked room by room.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Kitchen.
Living room.
Office.
Guest room.
Nursery.
Claire stopped at the nursery doorway.
The walls were pale cream.
A small wooden crib waited beneath the window.
Ethan had assembled it three weeks earlier.
He had kissed Claire afterward and told her they were almost ready.
The memory hurt.
Marcus noticed a framed family photograph on the bookshelf.
“Was that always tilted?”
Claire frowned.
“No.”
He put on gloves.
Then carefully lifted the frame.
Behind it was a thin brown envelope.
Megan gasped.
Claire did not move.
Marcus placed it on the desk.
“Do you recognize this?”
“No.”
He photographed the envelope before opening it.
Inside were photocopies.
The property deed.
Claire’s driver’s license.
Her signature from a Christmas card.
Bank statements.
And photographs of her attorney’s guardianship documents.
Megan covered her mouth.
“They were building her signature.”
Marcus looked at Claire.
“Possibly.”
At the bottom lay a handwritten sheet.
Dates.
Times.
Notes.
April 8 - Rebecca office.
April 17 - bank.
May 3 - lunch with Thomas.
Ethan believed Thomas was Claire’s brother.
He was.
Daniel had written beside the May entry.
Possible meeting regarding separation funds.
Claire laughed bitterly.
“She had lunch with her own brother.”
Megan looked furious now.
Claire continued scanning.
May 22 - emotional at dinner.
June 2 - argued with Ethan.
June 14 - crying in driveway.
Each ordinary moment had been rewritten as evidence.
Her pregnancy stress.
A disagreement.
Tears after a difficult prenatal appointment.
Someone had cataloged her life.
Marcus turned the page.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Claire asked.
He slid the paper toward her.
At the bottom was tomorrow’s date.
August 20.
Beside it were three words.
BANK SIGNATURE APPOINTMENT.
Claire stared.
“I don’t have a bank appointment tomorrow.”
Marcus looked toward Rebecca on speakerphone.
Rebecca’s voice sharpened.
“Which bank?”
The paper listed one.
It was the lender Richard had mentioned.
Claire felt her baby move.
She pressed her palm against her belly.
Somebody expected her signature at a bank tomorrow.
But Claire had never made an appointment.
Marcus photographed everything.
Then he found one final item.
A sticky note attached to the last page.
It contained a sentence.
If she refuses, use Plan B.
Claire stared at it.
“What is Plan B?”
Nobody answered.
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Marcus checked the camera.
A man stood outside.
Dark suit.
Leather briefcase.
Claire recognized him from Megan’s description.
May you like
Daniel Cross.
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