Chapter 7 - the night before edward died)
Edward Carter died of a heart attack in his study.
At least that was what everyone had believed.
The hidden camera footage did not show his death.
It showed what happened twelve hours earlier.
Detective Hayes would not allow Mark or Elena to watch the original file until investigators made a copy.
When they finally viewed it, neither was prepared for the man who appeared on screen.
Edward Carter entered the upstairs hallway at 11:43 p.m.
He was sixty eight.
Gray haired.
Tall.
Still physically imposing despite the exhaustion visible in his face.
He walked directly toward the hidden camera.
Then he looked into the lens.
“If Mark ever sees this,” Edward said, “then I waited too long.”
Mark’s hand tightened around the arm of his chair.
Elena looked at him.
He did not move.
On the recording, Edward glanced toward the staircase.
“I made the mistake of assuming theft was the worst thing happening in this house.”
He held up a blue folder.
Vail Domestic Holdings.
Victoria’s hidden company.
“I traced three point one million dollars through this corporation.”
Mark inhaled sharply.
The current investigation had found just over two million.
Edward had known about more.
“I confronted Victoria yesterday,” Edward continued.
“She denied ownership.”
He opened the folder.
“But the company is controlled through a trust administered by Marshall Vale.”
Hayes paused the recording.
“Your father knew Vale.”
Mark stared at the frozen image.
“He never told me.”
Hayes resumed.
Edward spoke again.
“Marshall has worked for this family. That gave him access. I should have been more careful.”
Footsteps sounded on the recording.
Edward looked away.
The hallway remained empty for several seconds.
Then Victoria appeared.
She wore a black robe.
Mark looked physically ill.
Victoria stopped several feet from Edward.
“What are you doing?”
Edward closed the folder.
“Leaving insurance.”
“For what?”
“For my son.”
Victoria smiled.
“You always loved drama.”
“You married him for access.”
“I married Mark because he loves me.”
“You married Mark because you thought love made him easy to control.”
Her smile disappeared.
Edward stepped closer.
“I know about Vail.”
For the first time, Victoria looked afraid.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know enough.”
“You think Mark will believe you?”
“He won’t need to.”
Edward lifted the folder.
“He’ll believe bank records.”
Victoria’s voice became colder.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
“Then explain it.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Victoria looked directly toward the hallway mirror.
Toward the hidden camera without apparently realizing it was there.
Then she said something that made Mark stop the video.
“I did not start this.”
Silence filled the guesthouse study.
Elena whispered, “Play it.”
Mark hesitated.
Then continued.
Edward frowned.
“Who did?”
Victoria did not answer.
“Marshall?”
Still nothing.
Edward moved closer.
“Who is above him?”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“You still think this is about stealing from your trust.”
“What is it about?”
“Your family.”
Edward’s expression changed.
“What about my family?”
Victoria stepped backward.
“You should ask what happened before Mark was born.”
The recording ended abruptly.
Mark stared at the black screen.
“No.”
Hayes looked at him.
“What?”
“My father would have mentioned this.”
“Maybe he intended to.”
“He died the next morning.”
Hayes did not respond.
Mark understood the implication.
“My father’s death was investigated.”
“As a natural death.”
“He had heart problems.”
“Yes.”
“So don’t turn this into something it isn’t.”
“I’m not.”
But Hayes’ silence told him she was reopening every assumption.
The hidden recorder contained thousands of files.
Most were ordinary.
Delivery workers.
Household staff.
Mark walking through the hallway.
Victoria carrying groceries.
Edward visiting.
Claire pushing a vacuum cleaner.
But investigators found repeated appearances by Marshall Vale.
Sometimes he entered through the front door.
Sometimes the garage.
Sometimes the basement.
Often Mark was away.
Victoria was nearly always home.
Then they found a clip dated six months before Sophie’s birth.
Marshall stood beside Victoria near the staircase.
Their conversation was partially muffled.
Marshall said, “He’s asking questions again.”
Victoria answered, “Then give him something else to investigate.”
“Edward won’t stop.”
“He will.”
“How?”
Victoria looked toward the staircase.
The video had no clear answer.
Mark left the room.
Elena found him outside ten minutes later.
He stood beneath an oak tree behind the guesthouse.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” she said.
He laughed bitterly.
“I’m discovering my father may have died while investigating my wife.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I also didn’t know my wife was stealing millions.”
Elena stepped closer.
“You trusted someone.”
“I ignored things.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
Mark looked toward the house.
Through the window, Sophie was visible sleeping in her bassinet.
“I almost left her alone with Victoria yesterday.”
Elena said nothing.
“I had a meeting. I changed my mind at the last second and worked upstairs.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have.”
“Mark.”
He looked at her.
“If you keep trying to rewrite yesterday, you’ll destroy yourself.”
His eyes filled with something Elena had not seen before.
Shame.
“I hired you to protect my daughter from ordinary things.”
“Falls. Bottles. Fevers.”
“Not her mother.”
Elena swallowed.
“No.”
The guesthouse door opened.
Hayes stepped outside.
“We found another clip.”
Mark straightened.
“Of what?”
“Claire.”
The recording was dated the night before Claire resigned.
Claire stood alone in the hallway.
She approached the hidden camera.
Unlike Victoria, she knew exactly where it was.
Claire looked directly into the lens.
“If Edward is right, somebody will eventually find this.”
She held up a piece of paper.
“I copied the account number.”
She read a sequence of digits.
Hayes paused the video.
“We traced it.”
Mark asked, “Where?”
“Switzerland.”
His expression hardened.
“Victoria?”
“The account isn’t in her name.”
“Marshall?”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
Hayes handed Mark a document.
The beneficiary information had been heavily protected, but investigators had obtained one registered name.
Mark read it.
His face became blank.
Elena stepped closer.
“What?”
Mark gave her the paper.
The beneficiary was listed as:
THE E.C. FAMILY LEGACY FOUNDATION.
Elena frowned.
“E.C.”
Mark looked toward the house.
“My father’s initials were Edward Carter.”
Hayes nodded.
“The account was created seventeen years before Victoria met you.”
Mark stared at her.
“If Victoria didn’t start this…”
May you like
Hayes finished the thought.
“Then someone inside your family did.”
