Chapter 6 - Twenty-Four Minutes
Julian left Richard’s office with a copy of the phone log.
He did not confront him.
Not yet.
Instead, he drove to the hospital.
Martha was sitting upright when he arrived.
Claire was beside her.
Julian closed the door.
“Vanessa called Richard twenty-four minutes before you went into the pool.”
Martha looked unsurprised.
Claire did.
“Why would she call him?”
Martha answered.
“Because Richard knows.”
Julian turned toward her.
“You said someone inside the family was involved.”
“I said someone who knows the family.”
“Is it Richard?”
Martha looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I’ve been afraid to accuse anyone because every time I did, another doctor appeared with another diagnosis.”
Julian sat beside her.
“Tell me everything.”
Martha took a long breath.
“It started after the engagement.”
Vanessa began managing household schedules.
Then Martha’s vitamins.
Then her medical appointments.
Soon, Martha started feeling dizzy.
She forgot conversations.
She woke up confused.
Sometimes she could barely remember what day it was.
“She told everyone I was declining.”
Martha’s voice shook.
“And the more people believed her, the more frightened I became.”
Claire took her hand.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I did.”
Julian remembered.
The phone calls.
The complaints.
The accusations.
Martha had told him Vanessa moved documents.
Martha had said employees were disappearing.
Martha had accused Dr. Mercer of changing her medicine.
Julian had dismissed it.
Because Vanessa always had an explanation.
Julian looked away.
Martha touched his wrist.
“She wanted you to think I was unreliable.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered something.”
Martha lowered her voice.
“Your father changed the trust before he died.”
Julian frowned.
“I know.”
“No.”
Martha shook her head.
“You know the version Richard showed you.”
Julian stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Martha reached beneath her hospital pillow.
She removed a small brass key.
“I kept one thing from everyone.”
“What does it open?”
“A safe-deposit box.”
“Where?”
“First Commonwealth Bank.”
Julian looked at the key.
“What’s inside?”
Martha met his eyes.
“The document your father actually signed.”
Claire whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Martha continued.
“And there is something else.”
Julian waited.
“Your father wrote a letter.”
“To whom?”
“To you.”
Julian felt the room become very still.
Martha closed his fingers around the key.
“He told me to give it to you only if someone tried to take the company through marriage.”
Julian stared at her.
May you like
His father had been dead for six years.
Yet somehow he had anticipated the exact danger now standing inside their home.
