Chapter 3 - recording number three)
Grace's voice filled the study.
It was calm.
Too calm.
Robert sat between Sophia and Emma while Martin Shaw stood by the window.
Recording number three had been made twenty-six days before Grace died.
Grace began by stating the date.
Then she said Ethan's name.
"If anyone is listening to this because Ethan has already asked about my notes, then I was right. He knows I discovered at least part of what he was doing."
Robert closed his eyes.
Hearing his daughter's voice felt like losing her again.
Grace continued.
"I don't believe Ethan intends to hurt the girls. I believe he intends to abandon them."
Maisie's footsteps sounded upstairs.
Robert lowered the volume until the child passed.
Grace's recording continued.
"That distinction matters. Ethan sees people according to usefulness. The girls are useful while they make him look like a devoted family man. If I die and he can build another life with Vanessa, they become complications."
Martin looked toward Robert.
Grace said she had followed the money.
The secret companies were not simply hiding marital assets.
They were connected to several wealthy clients who paid Ethan to move money beyond the reach of spouses, creditors and tax investigators.
Grace had accidentally found evidence of crimes involving people far more powerful than Ethan.
She named no clients in the recording.
Instead she referred to a notebook section marked Savannah Blue.
Robert searched.
Near the middle of the notebook he found a blue ribbon.
Under it were transaction numbers and coded initials.
Helen Price studied the list.
Her face changed.
"I recognize one of these corporations."
Everyone looked at her.
"From where?"
"A federal fraud investigation three years ago. Charges were never filed because investigators couldn't establish who controlled the accounts."
Martin leaned over the page.
"You're sure?"
"Almost."
Robert looked at Sophia.
"Did your mother know this?"
Sophia nodded.
"She said Dad wasn't the biggest problem."
The recording continued.
Grace described a dinner she had overheard.
Ethan had met two men in his study.
One warned him that Grace had been asking questions.
Another said something about "closing the situation before she talks."
Grace had not heard the entire conversation.
She recorded what she remembered immediately afterward.
Then came the sentence that changed the room.
"If I die unexpectedly, do not assume Ethan acted alone."
Nobody spoke.
Grace continued.
"The sealed envelope contains the name of the person I believe has the most to lose."
Robert looked at the envelope lying untouched inside his desk drawer.
Martin moved toward it.
Robert stopped him.
"She said open it last."
"Robert, this could involve a crime."
"And my daughter gave instructions because she had a reason."
Martin backed away.
Grace's voice softened.
"Sophia, if you're hearing this, I'm sorry."
Sophia's face crumpled for the first time.
Emma grabbed her hand.
"I wish I could have protected you from knowing any of this. But your father underestimates you because you're a child. That may be the only advantage we have."
Sophia began crying silently.
Robert put an arm around her.
Grace continued.
"Emma notices things people think she doesn't notice. Listen to her."
Emma looked startled.
"And Maisie remembers sounds better than faces. Don't dismiss anything she tells you."
Robert frowned.
Why had Grace recorded those details?
The answer arrived minutes later.
Grace explained that during her last week at home, someone had entered the house while she slept.
Nothing obvious was stolen.
But papers had been moved.
A desk drawer was open.
A window in the downstairs study had been unlocked.
Grace believed someone had searched the house.
"Ethan says I imagined it."
Her voice paused.
"I didn't."
The recording ended.
For several seconds the room remained silent.
Then Emma whispered.
"I saw somebody."
Robert turned.
"When?"
"The night Mom said the papers moved."
"Who?"
Emma's brow tightened.
"I don't know."
"Was it your father?"
She shook her head.
"A woman."
Sophia stared at her.
"You never told me that."
"I thought I dreamed it."
Robert crouched in front of Emma.
"What did you see?"
"I went downstairs because I wanted water."
She closed her eyes, trying to remember.
"There was a woman standing outside Dad's office."
"Vanessa?"
"I don't think so."
"Why?"
Emma looked at him.
"Her hair was dark."
Robert's pulse quickened.
"Anything else?"
Emma thought.
"She smelled like flowers."
"What kind?"
"I don't know."
Sophia suddenly looked toward the funeral wreath Grace's former business partner had sent.
White gardenias.
Emma turned too.
Her eyes widened.
"That smell."
Robert looked at the card attached to the flowers.
It had been sent by Lydia Carrington.
May you like
Grace's closest friend since college.
And the last person, other than Ethan, known to have visited Grace on the night before she died.
