Chapter 11 - The Second Name
Emily read the sentence again.
Victor was not working alone.
Grant carefully removed the remaining papers.
A list of names appeared inside Robert’s ledger.
Most were former employees and shell companies.
One name was circled twice.
CHARLES HAWTHORNE.
Daniel stopped breathing for a moment.
Margaret whispered.
“No.”
Charles Hawthorne had been Daniel’s father.
Emily looked at Daniel.
He stared at the page.
“My father?”
Grant did not jump to conclusions.
“This doesn’t prove Charles participated.”
Emily turned another page.
Her father had written notes beside the name.
C.H. APPROVED PAYMENT AFTER VICTOR’S REQUEST.
DOES HE KNOW?
OR IS VICTOR USING HIS SIGNATURE?
Daniel exhaled.
Margaret sat on an old bench.
“My husband trusted Victor completely.”
Grant nodded.
“Then Victor may have manipulated him.”
Emily continued reading.
Another note appeared.
MET C.H. PRIVATELY.
HE DID NOT KNOW.
HE PROMISED TO INVESTIGATE.
Three days later, Robert had been fired.
Emily’s eyes filled with anger.
“He promised my father he would investigate.”
Daniel looked devastated.
“And then he fired him.”
Susan stood beside her daughter.
“That was why Robert changed.”
Emily looked at her mother.
“He thought Charles betrayed him?”
Susan nodded.
“He believed your father’s boss knew the truth and chose the company instead.”
Margaret began crying quietly.
Daniel remained still.
Then Grant found another page.
“Wait.”
A later entry appeared.
C.H. CALLED.
SAYS RECORDS WERE ALTERED BEFORE HE SAW THEM.
WANTS TO MEET AGAIN.
Robert had written a date.
The meeting had been scheduled for the following Friday.
Emily knew that date.
Her father’s accident happened Thursday night.
The day before the meeting.
Susan turned pale.
Daniel looked toward Grant.
“You think his accident wasn’t an accident?”
Grant chose his words carefully.
“We don’t know.”
Susan whispered.
“His brakes failed.”
Emily stared at her.
“You told me he lost control in the rain.”
“That was what police believed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the brakes?”
“Because the mechanic said the lines were damaged from impact.”
Grant wrote down the original case number.
“We need the accident file.”
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
What had started with a diamond necklace now reached into her father’s death.
Daniel looked at her.
“You don’t have to continue tonight.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Emily.”
“My father waited seventeen years for someone to listen.”
She pressed the letter against her chest.
“I’m listening.”
Grant removed the VHS tape.
The label showed the same date as the missing mansion footage.
“This may be Robert’s copy.”
Daniel looked toward an old television unit in the station office.
With help from the building caretaker, they found a working player.
Grant inserted the tape.
Static filled the screen.
Then the mansion appeared.
Seventeen years younger.
The camera showed Victor entering Charles Hawthorne’s office.
Five minutes later, another person appeared.
Emily leaned closer.
The figure wore a hooded raincoat.
Victor handed the person an envelope.
The person turned toward the camera.
Margaret gasped.
Daniel whispered.
“That’s impossible.”
Emily stared.
The woman on the screen was young.
But unmistakable.
May you like
It was Vanessa’s mother.
And according to Vanessa, her mother had died when Vanessa was a child.
