Chapter 13 - The Man in the Black Range Rover
Police found the Range Rover through insurance records.
It had belonged to Dr. Jonathan Mallory.
He reported it stolen two days before Laura’s death.
It was recovered three weeks later.
Burned.
At the time, investigators treated it as unrelated vehicle theft.
Five years later, that report looked very different.
Mallory disappeared before detectives could question him.
His clinic closed overnight.
His bank accounts began emptying.
His passport was flagged.
Victor denied knowing where he was.
Rebecca claimed Mallory had always been Victor’s weakest link.
“He likes money more than loyalty.”
She told investigators.
“That means Victor will assume he’ll talk.”
He did.
Two days later, Mallory was arrested at a private airfield.
He had purchased a ticket under another name.
Inside his bag were seventy thousand dollars and a second passport.
He asked for an attorney.
Then he asked for protection.
By sunset, he began negotiating.
I learned the details through Andrew.
Mallory admitted he had written false evaluations for years.
Adults.
Children.
Elderly beneficiaries.
Anyone Victor needed declared unstable, incompetent, or unfit.
“And Emily?”
Andrew said.
“He never examined her.”
I already knew that.
But hearing it confirmed still made me angry.
“He created the report from information Rebecca provided.”
“Did Rebecca pay him?”
“Victor did.”
“What about Laura?”
Andrew hesitated.
“Mallory says Victor borrowed his Range Rover.”
My chest tightened.
“The day Laura died?”
“Yes.”
“Was Victor driving?”
“Mallory claims he doesn’t know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everybody suddenly doesn’t know.”
“There’s more.”
Mallory admitted Rebecca had contacted him months earlier.
She told him the plan involved getting Emily into Hawthorne.
Mallory warned her the documentation was weak.
Rebecca told him marriage would make the situation easier to sell.
Not legally automatic.
Socially believable.
A married couple making a joint decision.
A concerned stepmother.
An exhausted father.
A troubled child.
The illusion only needed to survive long enough for Victor to access the trust archive.
“How?”
Andrew explained.
Once I was portrayed as medically impaired, Victor planned to use a forged power of attorney.
Rebecca would support it as my wife.
Temporary control would shift.
Then the evidence Laura stored could disappear.
“And Emily?”
“She would remain at Hawthorne until everything was finished.”
“How long?”
Andrew looked at me.
“Victor told Mallory possibly a year.”
A year.
Emily had been counting the days until our honeymoon because Rebecca promised we would all go to Hawaii together.
Instead Rebecca had planned to lock her inside a residential center.
I went home early.
Emily was drawing at the kitchen table.
She looked up.
“Did you find the bad man?”
I sat beside her.
“We found one of them.”
“Is Rebecca a bad person?”
The question hurt more than I expected.
I chose my words carefully.
“Rebecca made bad choices.”
“Really bad choices?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked down at her picture.
It showed three people.
Me.
Emily.
Laura with angel wings.
Rebecca was not there.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“If Mommy knew Rebecca, why didn’t she tell us?”
I stared at the drawing.
“Maybe she tried.”
Emily reached into her backpack.
“I forgot something.”
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
My heart stopped at the sight.
“What is that?”
“I found it inside my flower basket after the wedding.”
I unfolded it.
May you like
There were only six words.
ASK REBECCA WHO WAS DRIVING THE SUV.
