Chapter 7 - The Missing Half of Claire's Letter)
Jonathan Bell swore the letter had been intact when Claire gave it to him.
"Then who tore it?" Ethan asked.
Jonathan looked shaken.
"I don't know."
"Who had access?"
"My former assistant. Cleaning staff. Clients."
"Corinne?"
"Never."
Samuel stepped toward the desk.
"Was your former assistant Paul Renner?"
Jonathan's face changed.
"No."
"Then who?"
Jonathan hesitated.
"Daniel Mercer."
Ethan stared at him.
The surname struck like a physical blow.
"Mercer?"
Jonathan nodded.
"Corinne's former surname."
"Her relative?"
"I didn't know that at the time."
Marcus confirmed it an hour later.
Daniel Mercer was not Corinne's father.
Not a brother.
Not a husband.
He was her uncle.
Her mother's older brother.
He was also the silver-haired man in the security footage.
Ethan looked at the photograph Marcus sent.
Daniel Mercer, sixty-two.
Attorney.
Corporate restructuring specialist.
Former legal consultant to Eleanor Shaw's investment firm.
Claire's mother's company.
The connection had been in front of them all along.
Daniel had worked alongside Martin Vale.
Corinne's father.
Marcus found more.
Twenty-one years earlier, when money disappeared from Eleanor Shaw's company, Daniel had supervised the internal investigation.
Martin Vale was blamed.
Daniel Mercer wrote the report.
Ethan felt the structure of the mystery shift.
Maybe Corinne's motive was revenge.
Maybe she believed Claire's family had destroyed her father.
But if so, why did Daniel, the man who blamed Martin, work with Martin's daughter?
Unless the original story was false.
Unless both men had been involved.
That evening Samuel received the preservation records from Wellington Federal.
Security footage showed Corinne entering the bank ten months earlier.
A second person accompanied her.
Daniel Mercer.
The authorization document carried Ethan's forged signature.
And Paul Renner's notary seal.
Police now had enough for a fraud investigation.
But Corinne had vanished again.
Her phone was off.
Her vehicle remained parked at the Carter house.
Her attorney claimed ignorance.
Ethan should have felt safer.
Instead he felt hunted.
At nine that evening, Rachel called from the guest room.
"Ethan?"
Something in her voice made him stand.
"What?"
"Maisie keeps saying a word."
"What word?"
"Bike."
Ethan looked toward the child's red bicycle visible through the live security camera at home.
"What about it?"
"I don't know. She points at her rabbit and says bike."
"She's fourteen months."
"I know."
"She says a lot of things."
"Come here."
Ethan entered the guest room.
Maisie sat on the bed holding the stuffed rabbit.
Rachel pointed at the toy.
"Ask her."
Ethan crouched.
"Maisie, what about Bunny?"
Maisie hugged it.
Then she patted its back.
"Bike."
Ethan frowned.
Rachel carefully took the rabbit.
Maisie protested.
"It's okay," Ethan said.
Rachel squeezed the toy.
Something crinkled inside.
They looked at each other.
A seam along the rabbit's back had been crudely resewn.
Ethan fetched scissors.
He opened two inches of stitching.
Inside the stuffing was a small plastic memory card.
Rachel whispered, "Claire?"
Ethan did not answer.
They inserted it into a laptop disconnected from the internet.
One video file appeared.
Timestamped six days before Claire's death.
Claire appeared on screen.
She was sitting inside her parked car.
Rain struck the windshield.
Her face looked exhausted.
"If you're watching this, then I either became paranoid for no reason..."
She smiled faintly.
"...or I was right."
Ethan gripped the edge of the desk.
Claire continued.
"Rebecca Vale is Corinne Mercer. Daniel Mercer knows she has been using the foundation to access our financial information. I don't think Rebecca knows the full truth about her father."
Claire looked toward the rearview mirror.
"I found payments from Daniel to Martin Vale beginning three months before the missing money was discovered. I also found a second account Eleanor never knew existed."
She swallowed.
"Martin didn't steal from my mother."
Ethan leaned closer.
"Daniel did."
Rachel whispered, "Oh my God."
Claire continued.
"He used Martin's credentials. Then he led the investigation and blamed him. Rebecca grew up believing my family destroyed her father. Daniel has been feeding that belief for years."
Claire's expression tightened.
"I think he is using her."
A car passed behind Claire.
She looked over her shoulder.
"When I confronted Daniel, he told me something about Maisie's trust."
The video glitched.
Audio vanished for three seconds.
Then returned.
"...if Ethan is declared unfit, a forged amendment can redirect interim control."
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"I have replaced the vulnerable documents. Jonathan has copies. The original declaration is hidden in the hallway cabinet behind the photograph albums."
There it was.
Claire looked directly at the camera.
"Ethan, if you're seeing this, open the cabinet."
Rachel whispered, "We need to go now."
But Claire was still speaking.
"There is one more thing."
Her face had changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
"Daniel knew where I was yesterday even though I told no one."
She looked toward the mirror again.
"I think he has access to my car."
Ethan stopped breathing.
Claire said the next words slowly.
May you like
"If anything happens on the road, do not assume it was an accident."
The video ended.
