Chapter 6
Police traced Lucy Grant's number within minutes.
Her address was forty miles outside the city.
Officers were dispatched.
Arthur wanted to go.
The detective refused.
Clara wanted to go too.
The detective refused her as well.
So they waited.
Waiting was worse.
Every minute gave Clara another image of her father she had never known.
His car.
The cut brake line.
Victoria holding his missing watch.
Her mother being threatened.
Arthur walked constantly.
Samuel made calls.
Dr. Harris stopped pretending Arthur would rest.
Finally, the detective entered.
Arthur: Lucy?
Detective: Alive.
Clara released a breath.
Detective: A neighbor heard screaming and came outside. Whoever entered the house ran through the back.
Arthur: Did Lucy identify him?
Detective: She got a partial look.
Arthur: Who?
Detective: She believes it was Richard Beckett.
Clara frowned.
Clara: He's in the hospital.
Detective: He was.
Arthur: Was?
Detective: He disappeared during transport.
Arthur stared.
Detective: The ambulance transporting him from the venue was diverted after receiving what appeared to be a legitimate hospital instruction.
Samuel: Appeared?
Detective: Fake authorization.
Arthur: So Richard arranged his own escape?
Detective: Possibly with help.
Clara: Then his injuries may have been staged.
Detective: Some were real. But apparently not serious enough to stop him.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
Detective: Lucy gave officers the old report.
He held up a sealed evidence sleeve containing photocopied pages.
Clara stared at them.
Detective: According to the mechanic who inspected Jonathan's car, damage to the brake line was inconsistent with the crash.
Arthur: Meaning?
Detective: It appeared deliberately cut before impact.
Arthur closed his eyes.
Clara whispered.
Clara: My mother was right.
Arthur looked at her.
Clara: She spent twenty-four years being told she was grieving, irrational, obsessed.
Arthur: Clara—
Clara: She was right.
Arthur had no defense.
Detective: There's more.
Arthur: Of course there is.
Detective: The mechanic later withdrew his statement.
Samuel: Why?
Detective: He received fifty thousand dollars through a shell company.
Clara: Connected to whom?
Detective: We're tracing it.
Arthur: Richard?
Detective: Possibly.
Arthur: Victoria?
Detective: Possibly.
Arthur slammed his hand against the table.
Arthur: Stop saying possibly!
Detective remained calm.
Detective: Because evidence matters, Mr. Vance. Anger isn't evidence.
Arthur breathed heavily.
Clara touched his arm.
He looked down at her hand.
She quickly withdrew it.
Arthur sat.
Detective: We also tested the wine.
Everyone turned.
Detective: The substance in the decanter was a concentrated prescription heart medication.
Dr. Harris's face hardened.
Arthur: Would it have killed me?
Dr. Harris: Combined with the sedative in your system and alcohol, it could have caused a catastrophic drop in blood pressure.
Clara: Could it look natural?
Dr. Harris: In a seventy-two-year-old man with a documented cardiac history, yes.
Arthur looked at the detective.
Arthur: Arrest Victoria.
Detective: We need to establish that she knowingly placed the medication there.
Clara: The video shows her pouring it.
Detective: It shows her pouring a liquid. Her attorney will argue she didn't know what was in the vial.
Arthur almost shouted.
Samuel stopped him.
Samuel: He's right.
Arthur glared at him.
Samuel: Legally, he's right.
Clara: Then find the vial.
Detective: We're searching.
Arthur's phone vibrated.
A text message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel was sitting in a chair.
His hands were tied.
Arthur stood so fast the chair fell backward.
Clara: What?
Arthur showed the screen.
Clara's stomach dropped.
Daniel's face was bruised.
Behind him was a concrete wall.
A second message arrived.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR SON ALIVE.
Arthur stared at it.
Detective: Give me the phone.
Arthur: No.
Detective: Mr. Vance.
Arthur: They want me.
Detective: Which is exactly why you won't go alone.
Another message.
NO POLICE.
Then a video call began.
Arthur answered.
Richard Beckett appeared.
His forehead was bandaged.
Richard: Hello, Arthur.
Arthur: If you hurt him—
Richard: I've already hurt him.
The camera turned.
Daniel lifted his head.
Daniel: Dad, don't come.
Someone struck him.
Clara gasped.
Arthur: STOP!
Richard turned the camera back.
Richard: Then listen carefully.
Arthur: What do you want?
Richard: The retirement transfer canceled.
Arthur stared.
Richard: And a statement declaring Victoria your sole successor.
Arthur: You expect me to believe you're doing this for Victoria?
Richard smiled.
Richard: You still don't understand your wife.
Arthur: Help me understand.
Richard: She doesn't love you.
Arthur's expression didn't change.
Richard: She never did.
Arthur: Keep talking.
Richard: Victoria and I had a plan twenty-four years ago.
Clara stepped closer.
Richard couldn't see her.
Arthur: Jonathan found it.
Richard's smile faded.
Richard: Jonathan couldn't mind his own business.
Clara's hands curled into fists.
Richard: He found accounts. Transfers. Our marriage record.
Arthur: So you killed him.
Richard: I didn't say that.
Arthur: You cut his brakes.
Richard: Be careful.
Arthur: You murdered my son.
Richard's eyes hardened.
Richard: Your son destroyed himself long before that road did.
Clara suddenly stepped into view.
Richard froze.
Clara: Did he?
Richard stared at her.
Clara: Look at me.
Arthur tried to move her away.
She stayed.
Clara: I'm Jonathan's daughter.
Richard whispered.
Richard: I know who you are.
Clara's blood went cold.
Clara: You sent me the message.
Richard smiled slightly.
Clara: You told me to watch the gold decanter.
Richard: Very good.
Arthur: Why would you warn her?
Richard: Because Victoria got greedy.
Arthur looked confused.
Richard: Killing you wasn't part of the plan.
Arthur: What plan?
Richard: We only needed you weak long enough to stop tomorrow's transfer.
Clara: Victoria decided to kill him instead.
Richard: Victoria decided she was tired of sharing.
Arthur: Sharing what?
Richard laughed.
Richard: Your money.
Arthur looked sick.
Richard: For twenty-four years, I helped her build the perfect life. She married you. I controlled the foundation. Money moved quietly. Nobody asked questions.
Arthur: How much?
Richard: Enough.
Arthur: How much?
Richard: Almost ninety million.
Samuel swore.
Arthur: You stole ninety million dollars from me?
Richard: From your charities, mostly.
Clara stared.
Richard: Don't look so shocked. Rich people love charity. It makes them feel clean.
Arthur: Where is Daniel?
Richard: Safe for now.
Arthur: Why take him?
Richard: Because your wife has decided I'm expendable, and your son has evidence I need.
Arthur: What evidence?
Richard looked toward someone off-camera.
Richard: Jonathan's ledger.
Clara frowned.
Arthur: What ledger?
Richard: The one he kept when he discovered our accounts.
Arthur: Jonathan died with no ledger.
Richard: That's what we thought.
He turned the camera toward Daniel.
Richard: Apparently Daniel found it two weeks ago.
Arthur stared at his son.
Daniel: Dad—
Richard: Tell him.
Daniel's eyes filled.
Daniel: I found a metal box behind the wall in the old lake house.
Arthur: Jonathan's lake house?
Daniel nodded.
Daniel: There were papers. Account numbers. Names.
Arthur: Why didn't you come to me?
Daniel looked ashamed.
Daniel: Because I saw the missing money.
Arthur understood.
Daniel: I thought if I used some of it to cover my losses, nobody would know.
Arthur looked devastated.
Daniel: I'm sorry.
Richard laughed.
Richard: Beautiful family, Arthur.
Arthur ignored him.
Arthur: Where is the ledger now?
Daniel: Safe.
Richard struck him again.
Richard: Wrong answer.
Arthur: Stop!
Richard: Bring me the ledger, Arthur.
Arthur: I don't have it.
Richard: Then find out where your son put it.
Daniel shouted.
Daniel: DON'T!
The video ended.
Arthur stared at the black screen.
Clara: He warned me because he wanted Victoria caught.
Samuel: And now he wants the evidence before police find it.
Detective: Which means Daniel's ledger may connect both of them to Jonathan's death and the theft.
Arthur looked at Clara.
Clara saw something in his eyes.
A decision.
Arthur: Daniel said it was safe.
Clara: Yes.
Arthur: He wouldn't trust anyone in this family.
Clara: Probably not.
Arthur suddenly remembered.
Arthur: Except his sister.
Clara: Sister?
Arthur: Emily.
Samuel's face changed.
Arthur: Daniel has a younger sister.
Clara: Where is she?
Arthur pulled out his phone.
He called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He opened a family location app.
His face went pale.
Arthur: Her phone is at the lake house.
Clara: Jonathan's lake house?
Arthur nodded.
Then another text appeared.
This one was from Emily.
DAD, I FOUND THE LEDGER.
A second message arrived immediately.
DON'T TRUST MOM.
May you like
Then a third.
SOMEONE IS IN THE HOUSE.
