Chapter 8 - The Night Thomas Died)
Thomas Whitmore had not been sailing for pleasure when he died.
He had been trying to rescue his wife.
Richard admitted that much.
The rest came slowly.
"Thomas came to me the night before," Richard said.
The library felt colder now.
"He said Victoria was alive."
Claire stood by the fireplace, watching him.
"You thought she had disappeared."
"I thought she left him."
"Because someone told you that."
"Yes."
"Who?"
Richard's eyes moved toward Daniel.
"Arthur Reed."
Daniel's grandfather.
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
Claire felt sorry for him.
Every answer seemed to uncover another layer of his family's involvement.
Richard continued.
"Thomas said Victoria had discovered irregularities in the company's employee pension accounts. She confronted Arthur."
"The lawyer."
"Yes."
"Then she disappeared."
"Thomas was told she had left the country."
"But he discovered St. Orison."
Richard nodded.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"What happened that night?"
"He wanted me to go with him."
Claire's voice softened despite herself.
"Did you?"
Richard looked at her.
"No."
"Why?"
"I was afraid."
The confession was quiet.
Not defensive.
Just true.
"Thomas was furious. He called me a coward."
Richard looked toward the window.
"He was right."
"What did you do?"
"I gave him my car."
Claire frowned.
"Why?"
"His was being watched."
"By whom?"
"Thomas believed Arthur Reed had hired people."
Daniel looked sick.
Richard continued.
"He drove north. The next morning the police said his boat had been found."
Claire shook her head.
"But he drove."
"He apparently took the boat from Gloucester."
"Why?"
"I never knew."
Detective Ortiz spoke.
"Or the story was invented."
Richard nodded slowly.
"That's what I believe now."
Claire looked at him.
"When did you start believing it?"
"The year Evelyn disappeared."
Claire stared.
"Then you knew there was a pattern."
"I suspected."
"And still signed the commitment papers."
Richard closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Claire turned away.
That was the part she could not forgive.
Not yet.
Perhaps not ever.
But she was beginning to understand the shape of his guilt.
Richard had not created the machine.
He had simply been too weak to stop it.
And then, when that machine came for his own wife, he had helped open the door.
Daniel asked, "Where is St. Orison?"
Richard answered.
"Officially, nowhere."
"What does that mean?"
"It closed in 2009."
"Where was the building?"
"Near Ashford, Maine."
Ortiz immediately began searching.
After several minutes, she found an old corporate record.
St. Orison Behavioral Retreat.
A private residential facility owned by Orison Health Holdings.
The parent company had dissolved.
Its registered attorney had been Marcus Reed.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"I need to talk to him."
Claire shook her head.
"Not alone."
"He's my father."
"Exactly."
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time since their wedding stopped, something passed between them that had nothing to do with the mystery.
Pain.
Their relationship had always been easy.
Safe.
Daniel was the one person Claire never doubted.
Now his family stood inside the darkest part of hers.
Claire took his hand.
"I'm not saying you're like him."
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"What if I missed things?"
"You were a child when most of this happened."
"So were you."
Claire squeezed his hand.
Daniel called Marcus.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Ortiz checked her phone.
"I had an officer drive to his house."
"And?"
"No one there."
Daniel's face tightened.
Marcus's car had been found at Logan Airport.
No record showed him boarding a commercial flight.
But airport cameras captured him entering a private aviation terminal.
Ortiz asked, "Does he have access to private aircraft?"
Richard answered.
"Yes."
Everyone looked at him.
"The Whitmore corporate jet."
Claire laughed in disbelief.
"You're telling me Marcus used our jet?"
"Apparently."
Ortiz called the company.
Seven minutes later she had the flight plan.
The jet left Boston at 6:42 that evening.
Destination.
Portland, Maine.
Claire stared at the screen.
"St. Orison."
Richard stood.
"No."
Claire turned.
"No what?"
"You are not going there."
"Watch me."
"Claire, if Marcus went north after hearing about the locket, that means whatever is there matters enough for him to run."
"Exactly."
"And the man at the blue house?"
"Maybe Marcus sent him."
Richard shook his head.
"Marcus doesn't work like that."
Claire stared.
"You seem very familiar with how he works."
Richard did not answer.
Daniel picked up his jacket.
"I'm going."
Claire looked at him.
"So am I."
Detective Ortiz sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
They left Whitmore Hall after dark.
Richard stayed behind.
At least that was what he promised.
Three hours later, Claire received a photograph from an unknown number.
It showed Evelyn standing outside a large stone building.
She was holding today's newspaper.
Alive.
The message beneath it contained an address.
And four words.
Come without the police.
Claire looked toward Detective Ortiz in the back seat.
Then at Daniel.
May you like
Another message appeared.
Or your mother disappears forever.
