Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Kept Her Promise
The kitchen was empty except for the maid.
The telephone receiver rested on the counter.
Evelyn picked it up.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke immediately.
“Do not say my name again.”
Evelyn looked toward the swinging dining room door.
“Why?”
“Because Lenora has access to the house telephone records.”
“Are you Mara Quinn?”
A pause followed.
“Yes.”
“You sent the rabbit.”
“Yes.”
“You sent the invitation?”
“No.”
Evelyn tightened her grip on the receiver.
“Then who did?”
“Arthur.”
“He’s dead.”
“The invitation was scheduled through his private estate system. It would be sent only after three conditions were met.”
“What conditions?”
“Lily entered her seventh year, the Lighthouse Trust was reactivated, and Lenora attempted to remove Lily from the family line.”
Evelyn thought about the agreement waiting on the table.
“You knew about the document she wants me to sign?”
“I knew she would eventually create one.”
“Why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
“I was forbidden to do so.”
“By Arthur?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He believed contacting you before the trust activated would put you and Lily in greater danger.”
Evelyn looked at the maid.
The young woman pretended to arrange plates, but her hands were shaking.
“What danger?”
“Arthur discovered financial crimes inside Ashford Maritime. He also discovered someone had altered Nathan’s vehicle maintenance records before the accident.”
Evelyn could not breathe.
“Say that again.”
“Your husband’s accident may not have been accidental.”
The kitchen blurred around her.
Nathan’s car had gone through a barrier during heavy rain. Police concluded that he had been driving too fast. The brakes had failed after impact, according to the official report.
“Who altered the records?”
“That evidence is sealed.”
“Unseal it.”
“I can’t until the protection clause is triggered.”
“What triggers it?”
“An attempt to harm, threaten, detain, or disinherit Lily inside Ashford House.”
Evelyn stared at the dining room door.
Lenora had ordered the gates closed.
Cassandra had demanded Lily be removed from the family line.
“Hasn’t that already happened?”
“Not in a legally provable way.”
“The whole family heard it.”
“Family members can change their stories. Arthur wanted independent proof.”
Evelyn looked at Captain.
“The rabbit records everything.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell me that before I came?”
“Because your reactions had to be genuine. If Lenora’s attorneys argue that you provoked her, the recording must show otherwise.”
Anger mixed with fear.
“You used my daughter as bait.”
“No,” Mara said softly. “Arthur did.”
The honesty of the answer unsettled Evelyn.
“He built the system?”
“He designed it during the final months of his life.”
“Was he dying?”
Another pause.
“He knew someone was poisoning him.”
Evelyn leaned against the counter.
The maid dropped a spoon.
From the dining room came the sound of raised voices.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know who had access. I know who benefited. I know who falsified medical logs. But I do not know who administered the substance.”
“What substance?”
“Small doses of thallium.”
Evelyn had heard the word only in crime documentaries.
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“Arthur refused.”
“Why?”
“He believed the person responsible for Nathan’s death would disappear if they knew he was investigating. He wanted evidence linking both deaths.”
“And did he find it?”
“Part of it.”
“What part?”
“The records in the black case.”
“Where is the case?”
“With me.”
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
A crash sounded in the dining room.
Lily cried out.
Evelyn dropped the receiver and ran.
She pushed through the door.
Lenora had taken Captain from Lily and thrown it onto the floor.
The jeweled blue egg lay shattered beside it.
Lily was reaching for the rabbit.
Cassandra blocked her.
“What did you do?” Evelyn shouted.
Lenora held a tiny metal object between her fingers.
A key.
“The first key,” she said.
Mr. Hale stood beside the table.
“Give it to Evelyn.”
Lenora laughed.
“Why? So she can steal what belongs to me?”
Lily slipped past Cassandra and ran toward Captain.
Lenora caught her by the arm.
The child screamed.
Evelyn rushed forward.
“Let go of her!”
Lenora pushed Lily away.
Lily fell hard onto the wooden floor.
Captain landed beside her.
The dining room became silent.
Then a tiny electronic voice came from inside the rabbit.
“Protection clause pending.”
Lenora stared at it.
Cassandra’s face changed.
May you like
“What does that mean?”
The front gates began opening by themselves.
