Chapter 4 - The Trust Written in Blood
Daniel returned to Whitmore House shortly before dawn.
Mud covered his coat. Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow, but he carried the evidence Eleanor needed.
He placed his phone on the library desk and played the recording.
Julian’s voice filled the room.
“This was supposed to be finished tonight.”
Victoria’s reply followed.
“And lose access to the trust?”
Eleanor listened without moving.
When Sophie’s name was mentioned, Arthur turned away in horror.
Daniel stopped the recording.
“There’s more, but not enough to prove exactly what happened to Sophie.”
“It proves Julian knows.”
“It proves he was involved in something Victoria considers comparable.”
Eleanor looked toward the windows, where the first gray light of morning had begun to appear.
“What trust are they talking about?”
Daniel leaned back in his chair.
“That is what we need to determine.”
Eleanor walked to a portrait of her late husband, Henry Whitmore, hanging behind the desk. She pressed a concealed latch in the frame. A steel safe opened in the wall.
From it, she removed a thick leather folder.
“Henry revised the family trust six months before he died,” she said. “After Julian began gambling.”
Arthur looked surprised.
“I thought Mr. Julian’s debts were settled.”
“They were settled repeatedly.”
Eleanor opened the folder.
“Henry no longer trusted him with direct control of Whitmore Industries. The shares were divided. I retained voting authority during my lifetime. After my death, the controlling interest would pass to Chloe.”
Daniel frowned.
“What happens if Chloe dies before you?”
“The shares pass to a charitable foundation.”
“Not Julian?”
“No.”
“Then why would burying her help him?”
Eleanor turned several pages.
Her expression changed.
“There is an amendment.”
“You didn’t know about it?”
“I did not sign this.”
The amendment appeared to carry Eleanor’s signature.
It stated that if Chloe died before reaching adulthood, her shares would revert to her surviving parent.
Julian.
Daniel examined the page.
“Who had access to these documents?”
“My former attorney, Samuel Vale.”
“Victoria’s father?”
“Yes.”
Samuel Vale had served as Whitmore family counsel for eighteen years. He died suddenly the previous winter, supposedly from a stroke.
Daniel photographed the amendment.
“This gives us motive.”
“It also means Julian may gain control the moment Chloe is legally declared buried.”
“Why not simply kill her?”
“Because the original trust requires physical confirmation of burial before the transfer can be processed.”
Daniel studied her.
“That is an unusual clause.”
“Henry added it after a distant relative faked his death to avoid creditors. He believed legal death certificates were too easily manipulated.”
“And Victoria created a casket with a hidden compartment.”
Eleanor understood.
“They planned to hold the funeral, confirm the burial, and remove Chloe afterward through the tunnel Owen mentioned.”
“Then kill her somewhere else.”
Arthur covered his mouth.
Eleanor looked down at the forged amendment.
“No. There is something else.”
“What?”
“If Chloe truly died before the trust transferred, Julian’s claim might be challenged. But if she remained alive during the legal confirmation and died afterward, he could argue the transfer had already occurred.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“They are exploiting the timing.”
“They turned my granddaughter into a legal mechanism.”
Eleanor closed the folder with shaking hands.
“Call the police.”
“I contacted Captain Reeves on my way here.”
“And?”
“He advised me not to interfere with the funeral.”
“That is all?”
“He said he would review the recording.”
“He should raid Briarwood immediately.”
“He should.”
Eleanor understood the meaning behind Daniel’s answer.
“You don’t trust him.”
“Victoria said she owned police officers. We need to assume she was not exaggerating.”
Arthur entered with coffee none of them drank.
“What can we do without the police?”
Daniel unfolded a floor plan he had taken from Briarwood’s basement office.
“There is an old service tunnel connecting the funeral home to a mausoleum at the northern edge of the cemetery. It was built during Prohibition for moving liquor.”
“And they plan to remove Chloe through it after the burial?”
“That is my guess.”
Eleanor studied the plan.
“What about before the service?”
“The building is heavily guarded. Breaking in again would cause them to relocate her.”
“Then we take her during the funeral.”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“That means opening the casket in front of everyone.”
“Good.”
“If Owen was wrong, or if Chloe does not survive until then, Julian will paint you as a grieving woman who desecrated her granddaughter’s body.”
“Let him.”
“This could destroy your credibility and the company.”
“Let it.”
“It could also make you the primary suspect if violence occurs.”
Eleanor raised her eyes.
“Daniel, I have spent fifty years protecting a name carved onto buildings. I will burn every building and bury the name myself if that is what it takes to save Chloe.”
Daniel folded the plan.
“Then we prepare for Saturday.”
At ten that morning, Julian arrived at Whitmore House without warning.
Arthur met him in the foyer.
“Mrs. Whitmore is resting.”
“I need to see her.”
“She is not receiving visitors.”
Julian pushed past him.
Eleanor waited in the library, composed and dressed in black.
She had expected him.
Julian entered and closed the door.
“You sent someone to Briarwood.”
Eleanor did not look up from the trust documents.
“Did I?”
“Victoria’s security caught an intruder.”
“Then perhaps she should hire better security.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Mother, I am warning you.”
Eleanor raised her eyes.
“Your daughter is dead, and you came here to warn me?”
Pain crossed his face, but Eleanor could no longer tell whether it was real.
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Turn everything into an accusation.”
“Then answer one simple question. Why was Chloe released from a hospital that has no record of treating her?”
Julian’s expression went still.
Eleanor knew she had struck the truth.
“Who told you that?”
“You just did.”
He moved toward the desk.
“She was treated under a privacy code because of the family’s public position.”
“Give me the code.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Give me the name of the admitting nurse.”
“I don’t know.”
“The room number?”
“Stop.”
“The time of death?”
“Stop it!”
Julian struck the desk with both hands.
For one instant, Eleanor saw the frightened boy he had once been.
Then the anger returned.
“You never loved me,” he said.
Eleanor’s expression softened despite herself.
“That is not true.”
“You loved Father. You loved the company. You loved Sophie. You loved Chloe. I was always the failure you had to correct.”
“You were my son.”
“Was?”
“You tell me.”
Julian stepped backward.
Eleanor watched him fight with words he could not speak.
Finally, he said, “Do not open that casket.”
“Why?”
“Because you will regret what you see.”
He left before she could answer.
Outside, Victoria waited in a black car.
Julian entered the passenger seat.
“She knows,” he said.
Victoria kept her eyes on Whitmore House.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Then Eleanor cannot leave the funeral alive.”
Julian turned sharply.
“We never agreed to that.”
May you like
Victoria started the engine.
“You agreed the moment you let me solve Sophie.”
