Chapter 8 - A Voice From Seventeen Years Ago
Emily could not move.
The recording continued.
Another man spoke.
His voice was muffled.
“Robert has copies.”
Victor responded.
“Then find them.”
“And if he goes to Hawthorne?”
Victor laughed.
“Hawthorne trusts me.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Her father had been telling the truth.
All of it.
Daniel stood beside the recorder.
His face showed rage.
The second voice continued.
“What about the money?”
“We move it tonight.”
“And Carter?”
“By tomorrow morning, he’ll look like the thief.”
Grant stopped the recording.
Nobody spoke.
Emily stared at the machine.
“Play the rest.”
Grant hesitated.
“Emily.”
“Play it.”
The recording continued.
Victor described forging Robert’s access records.
He described moving cash through false vendors.
He described planting financial documents inside Robert’s office locker.
The pattern was almost identical to what Vanessa had done with the necklace.
The cruelty of it made Emily feel sick.
Then the second man said something unexpected.
“What happens when your children grow up?”
Victor laughed again.
“They’ll never know.”
The recording ended.
Emily looked toward Daniel.
“They knew.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Vanessa and Adrian found the records.”
Grant agreed.
“Or Victor told them before he died.”
Margaret sat down.
“So instead of exposing their father…”
“They continued his system.”
Daniel finished the sentence.
Grant opened a laptop.
“I traced Calder Strategic Holdings further.”
He displayed a network of companies.
“Calder pays three shell corporations.”
Another diagram appeared.
“Those companies then move funds offshore.”
Daniel pointed toward one name.
“Vale Meridian.”
Grant nodded.
“Registered to Adrian.”
Emily looked at the screen.
“And Vanessa?”
Grant opened another document.
Her name appeared as an authorized beneficiary.
Daniel’s expression became hard.
“She was stealing from me before we were engaged.”
Margaret whispered.
“She never loved you.”
Daniel did not answer.
The truth had already answered for him.
Grant’s phone rang.
He listened.
His posture changed.
“Where?”
Everyone watched him.
“When?”
He ended the call.
“Police found Vanessa.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
“She checked into a hotel under another name.”
Emily exhaled.
Grant was not finished.
“But she’s gone now.”
“What?”
“The room was empty when officers arrived.”
Daniel cursed under his breath.
“How did she know?”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“That is the problem.”
Someone had warned her.
Someone with access to the investigation.
Or someone inside the estate.
Emily remembered the power outage.
“She had help here too.”
Grant nodded.
“I believe so.”
He pulled up the staff schedule.
Twenty-three employees had been on the property during the engagement party.
Cooks.
Servers.
Security guards.
Drivers.
Housekeepers.
Emily studied the names.
One immediately caught her attention.
Marcus Reed.
A temporary maintenance technician.
Emily pointed.
“I saw him near the electrical room.”
Grant looked at the schedule.
“What time?”
“Maybe ten minutes before the lights went out.”
Grant searched the employment records.
His face went still.
“There’s no background file.”
Daniel stared at him.
“How was he hired?”
Grant checked.
“Recommendation from an outside staffing company.”
“What company?”
Grant clicked the record.
CALDER FACILITIES SERVICES.
Emily felt a chill.
Another Calder company.
Grant immediately ordered security to locate Marcus.
Three minutes later, they received an answer.
Marcus had left the estate.
But not empty-handed.
The basement archive had been opened again.
The cassette recorder’s duplicate tapes were missing.
Then Emily’s phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared from an unknown number.
It showed Emily standing inside Daniel’s study.
The picture had been taken through the window.
May you like
The message beneath it contained six words.
YOUR FATHER SHOULD HAVE STAYED QUIET.
