Chapter 9 - THE PARTY PLAN
The police classified Samuel’s disappearance as suspicious but found no immediate evidence of abduction.
Evelyn claimed the frosting symbol proved Harper or Margaret had staged the scene.
Margaret nearly struck her.
Bennett stepped between them.
Harper stood beside the broken phone, watching him protect Evelyn again.
Detective Nolan arrived before sunset.
He was younger than Harper expected, with tired eyes and a notebook he carried everywhere.
He asked Harper to describe the greenhouse cellar.
She told him about the cabinet, the trust documents, and the conversation between Evelyn and Victor.
“Did you hear Evelyn say she harmed your mother?” Nolan asked.
“She said she corrected a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Underestimating Mom.”
“Did she say how she corrected it?”
“No.”
Nolan wrote carefully.
“Did Samuel tell you what was on the missing chip?”
“Mom said her medicine was wrong.”
Evelyn interrupted from across the room.
“This is unacceptable. You’re encouraging a grieving child’s fantasy.”
Nolan looked at her.
“I’ll decide which statements require investigation.”
Bennett asked, “Can you search the greenhouse?”
“We already did.”
Harper stared at him.
“The cabinet is there.”
“It was empty.”
“The folders—”
“Gone.”
Harper looked toward Evelyn.
She had expected that.
Nolan crouched beside Harper.
“Did you take anything else from the cellar?”
Harper touched the silver butterfly pin attached to her dress.
“No.”
It was not entirely true.
She had taken a single folded paper from the floor while escaping. She had not read it until that morning.
It contained a list of dates, payments, and initials.
E.M.
V.S.
D.C.
Beside the final entry were the words:
BIRTHDAY EVENT. PUBLIC BREAKDOWN. TRANSFER SIGNED WITHIN 48 HOURS.
Harper had hidden the paper inside the butterfly pin’s velvet case.
She did not know whether Nolan could be trusted.
Not yet.
After Samuel disappeared, Margaret took Harper to a hotel.
Bennett stayed at Hale House.
For two days, he called every few hours.
Harper refused to speak with him.
On the third morning, he arrived at the hotel carrying a box.
Inside was a new tablet.
“I restored the files from your cloud account,” he said.
Harper looked at the box but did not take it.
“Did Evelyn tell you to buy it?”
“No.”
“Did she come with you?”
“No.”
Margaret watched from the window.
Bennett sat across from Harper.
“I watched the bedroom recording.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I believe Evelyn replaced the worksheet.”
“Only the worksheet?”
He looked down.
“The phone call is less clear.”
“It was Mrs. Carter.”
“I think it may have been.”
Harper’s voice rose.
“You think?”
“I need proof before I accuse your teacher of fraud.”
“You need proof for everyone except me.”
Bennett flinched.
Harper continued.
“When Evelyn says I lie, you believe her. When Mrs. Carter says I cheat, you believe her. When I show a video, you ask whether it is fake.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t fix it.”
“No.”
He folded his hands.
“But I want to start fixing it.”
Margaret spoke from behind him.
“Then stop the birthday party.”
Harper turned.
“What?”
Margaret showed Bennett the payment list.
Harper had finally given it to her that morning.
Bennett read the last entry.
His face drained of color.
“You found this in the cellar?”
Harper nodded.
Margaret pointed to the words PUBLIC BREAKDOWN.
“They are planning something during Harper’s birthday.”
Bennett looked toward his daughter.
“We cancel.”
Harper surprised them both.
“No.”
“Bug—”
“If we cancel, Evelyn knows we found the plan.”
Margaret studied Harper.
“What are you suggesting?”
“We let her think it’s working.”
Bennett shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
“Mom’s recorder is gone. Samuel is gone. The folders are gone. Evelyn always removes everything before adults look.”
Harper picked up the new tablet.
“But she doesn’t know all my videos went to the cloud.”
Bennett’s eyes widened.
“Do you have the greenhouse recording?”
“No. I didn’t bring the tablet.”
“Then what do you have?”
“Enough to make her talk.”
Margaret sat beside Harper.
“This is dangerous.”
“So is going home without knowing what happened to Samuel.”
Bennett walked to the window.
He looked like a man standing between two collapsing buildings.
“We involve Nolan,” he said.
Harper shook her head.
“Not until the party starts.”
“Why?”
“Because someone told Evelyn the police searched the greenhouse before we got there.”
Margaret’s expression sharpened.
“You think there is a leak.”
Harper nodded.
Bennett looked horrified.
“She is eight. We are not using her as bait.”
Harper met his eyes.
“She already used me as bait. The only difference is now I know.”
They planned the birthday party.
Bennett would pretend to reconcile with Evelyn.
Margaret would leave town publicly but stay nearby.
Harper would allow Mrs. Carter to believe she was frightened about her grades.
Nolan would place two officers outside the property without informing the local station.
The tablet would connect automatically to the television.
Every recording would upload simultaneously to three protected accounts.
There was only one problem.
Evelyn had stolen Laura’s letters.
May you like
Harper believed one of them explained what had been hidden inside the butterfly cake.
And Harper had no idea what that meant.
