Chapter 4 - the dead man with a bank account
Thomas Lawson was not dead.
That fact took Naomi Ellis less than four hours to prove.
He had changed his surname after a securities investigation in Nevada and was living under the name Thomas Vale in Connecticut.
Arthur stared at the photograph on Naomi's laptop.
The man was sixty seven.
Gray hair.
Expensive glasses.
A country club smile.
Arthur had seen him before.
Not in person.
In a photograph.
Claire's office.
Years ago.
Arthur stood so quickly his chair rolled backward.
"Where did you get this?"
Naomi looked confused.
"Private database."
"No. The face."
Arthur grabbed his phone and called Marcus.
"Go to the basement. Claire's storage boxes. Find anything marked foundation."
Twenty minutes later, Marcus sent a photograph.
Arthur enlarged it.
There he was.
Thomas Lawson.
The photograph had been taken at a Bennett Foundation gala seven years earlier.
Claire stood at one side.
Thomas stood near the back.
Victoria was beside him.
Arthur stared at the image.
Victoria had told him she met Claire twice.
This photograph was taken almost five years before Claire died.
Naomi whispered.
"My God."
Arthur called Detective Mitchell.
By noon, the conference room had become an investigation center.
Bank statements covered the table.
Northstar Meridian had received money from seven shell companies.
Three had historical connections to Hamilton Asset Strategies, Victoria's former employer.
One had received payments from a pharmaceutical distributor that supplied medication to Claire's private clinic.
Mitchell studied the records.
"This is not proof of murder."
Arthur's voice was sharp.
"I didn't say it was."
"But you're thinking it."
"Wouldn't you?"
Mitchell did not answer.
She pointed to another transaction.
"This payment is more recent. Two hundred thousand dollars to a consulting firm called Holloway Medical Review."
Naomi nodded.
"They specialize in capacity evaluations."
Arthur understood immediately.
"Capacity."
"Your capacity," Mitchell said.
Arthur looked at her.
She continued.
"Remember the recording. Victoria said they could use the medical authorization if you asked questions."
Arthur felt his pulse slow.
That was how he became in danger.
Not through panic.
Through focus.
"What medical authorization?"
Daniel Cole entered carrying another stack of documents.
"We found it."
He placed a file before Arthur.
Two months earlier, Arthur had undergone minor surgery on his shoulder.
Victoria had insisted that he update emergency paperwork before the procedure.
Arthur remembered signing hospital documents at midnight.
Buried among them was a durable medical power.
A second page, attached after the fact, gave Victoria authority to request an independent capacity review.
Arthur looked at his signature.
This one was real.
"I signed this."
Daniel nodded.
"Probably without seeing the added language."
Arthur sat back.
He had built a company worth billions by reading every contract.
At home, he had trusted his wife.
That trust had been weaponized.
Mitchell spoke.
"If they could establish that you were mentally impaired, Victoria could control certain financial decisions."
Naomi added, "And with Lily's voting shares transferred, Northstar could gain enough leverage to force a board challenge."
Arthur looked at the skyline.
"So this isn't just theft."
"No," Daniel said. "It's a takeover."
Arthur's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice.
"Mr. Bennett."
Arthur stood.
"Who is this?"
"You don't know me."
"Then fix that."
"My name is Edward Bell."
Arthur frowned.
Bell.
The name meant something.
"I'm calling about my wife."
"Who is your wife?"
"Margaret Bell. She worked in your home."
Arthur remembered.
Mrs. Bell had been one of Claire's favorite housekeepers.
She disappeared from the household staff shortly after Arthur married Victoria.
Victoria said Margaret retired.
Edward continued.
"She didn't retire."
Arthur gripped the phone.
"What happened?"
"Mrs. Bennett fired her."
"Why?"
"Because Margaret saw something."
Arthur looked at Mitchell.
"What did she see?"
The voice trembled.
"Victoria going through Claire's medicine cabinet."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"When?"
"Before Claire died."
The room became silent.
Edward spoke again.
"My wife kept something. She was scared. She told me never to call unless Victoria became part of Lily's life."
Arthur's voice dropped.
May you like
"What did she keep?"
"A video."
