Chapter 8 - Richard’s Last Week
The police did not arrest Margaret that night.
Not yet.
Nathan warned us against accusations we could not prove.
A suspicious payment was not murder.
A corrupt financial transaction was not proof of poisoning.
But Richard’s death had suddenly become something none of us could ignore.
Daniel barely slept.
Neither did I.
The next morning, he called me from his father’s old office.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A voicemail.”
The message had been saved on an outdated office phone system.
Richard had recorded it six days before his death.
Daniel played it for me.
Richard’s voice filled the speaker.
“Daniel, I need to talk to you privately.”
“I’ve made changes to the company.”
“Your mother won’t like them.”
“There are things happening with our money that I don’t understand.”
“If anything happens to me, talk to Mark.”
Then the recording ended.
I felt my skin turn cold.
“Did you ever hear that?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Mom told me Dad’s phone system crashed after he died.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course she had.
By noon, Nathan had contacted a forensic accountant.
Mark brought him three boxes of company files.
Jessica remained at Margaret’s house with Noah.
Mark had not gone home.
When I asked where he was staying, he told me a hotel.
Nobody in that family trusted anybody anymore.
But something unexpected happened that afternoon.
Jessica called me.
I almost ignored it.
Then I remembered Noah.
He was innocent.
Just like Lily.
I answered.
“Emily?”
Her voice was small.
“What do you want?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A key.”
I waited.
“It was taped beneath Margaret’s desk.”
“How do you know it matters?”
“Because there was a tag on it.”
“What did it say?”
Jessica swallowed.
“R.C. Storage.”
Richard Carter.
She sent me a photograph.
Nathan immediately traced the key number.
It belonged to a private storage facility eleven miles outside the city.
The unit had been rented five days after Richard died.
Margaret had paid the bill every month.
Daniel wanted to drive there immediately.
Nathan stopped him.
“If it’s in Margaret’s name, you cannot break in.”
“So what do we do?”
“We document everything and get legal access.”
It took nearly two days.
Those forty-eight hours felt endless.
Margaret sent messages to Daniel.
Then apologies.
Then threats.
Then silence.
Finally, on Friday morning, Nathan obtained permission through the estate proceedings.
Daniel, Mark, Nathan, and I entered the storage facility together.
The manager unlocked Unit 318.
The door rolled upward.
Inside were boxes.
Furniture.
Old company records.
And Richard Carter’s missing desk safe.
Mark whispered.
“That was in Dad’s office the week he died.”
Daniel approached it.
Nathan stopped him.
“We photograph everything first.”
Inside the safe were business documents.
A watch.
Several handwritten letters.
And one small digital recorder.
Daniel pressed play.
Richard’s voice came through.
But he wasn’t alone.
Margaret was speaking too.
May you like
And the first sentence we heard changed everything.
“If Lily inherits those shares, Emily will control this family through that child.”
