Chapter 10 - the woman who did not die on the bridge)
Evelyn survived.
Barely.
Police took her to the hospital under armed guard.
Miles Hargrove was arrested in the glasshouse.
Dr. Mercer was taken into custody before midnight.
Briggs was found still handcuffed to the service staircase.
Every guest in the ballroom survived.
The substance pumped through the ventilation system caused dizziness and nausea but was not lethal.
For the first time in hours, Ashcroft Manor became quiet.
Maya sat in the kitchen at two in the morning.
Her maid uniform was dirty.
Her cheek remained swollen from Vivienne's slap.
A cup of untouched coffee sat in front of her.
Jonathan entered.
He looked older than he had at the beginning of the party.
"Hospital called."
Maya looked up.
"Ethan?"
"Stable."
She exhaled.
"They found a cardiac toxin in his blood."
"From the party?"
"No."
Jonathan sat opposite her.
"Doctors believe he was exposed repeatedly over several months."
Maya remembered Ethan's weight loss.
His dizziness.
The meals he barely touched.
"How?"
"His supplements."
"Mercer prescribed them."
Jonathan nodded.
"He changed the capsules during Ethan's physical."
Maya stared into the coffee.
"So Vivienne was telling the truth."
"About the glass, yes."
"What did she put in it?"
"An emergency medication designed to counter some of the effects."
Maya touched her swollen cheek.
"She could have explained that before hitting me."
Jonathan almost smiled.
"She could have done many things differently."
Maya looked at him.
"Evelyn said my mother didn't die on the bridge."
Jonathan's expression changed.
"And she told me to ask you where Catherine went."
"I heard."
"So I'm asking."
Jonathan looked away.
Maya's pulse quickened.
"You know something."
"No."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
"Then look at me."
He did.
His eyes were tired.
"Catherine died thirteen years ago."
"How?"
"Her car exploded outside Boston."
"Was there a body?"
Jonathan said nothing.
Maya's stomach tightened.
"Was there?"
"Remains were recovered."
"Identified how?"
"Dental records."
"Who provided the records?"
He closed his eyes.
"Mercer's clinic."
Maya stood.
"Jonathan."
"I didn't know."
"Your family doctor signed the identification of your wife after spending years helping Miles poison people."
"I know."
"And my mother's death was staged."
"I know."
"How many dead people in this family aren't actually dead?"
Jonathan said nothing.
Maya walked toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To the hidden room."
"Why?"
"My mother's last recording said Catherine gave her a ledger."
"We found it."
"No."
Maya turned.
"That ledger belonged to the company. My mother said she hid Catherine's copy somewhere Miles would never look."
Jonathan stood.
"You think there's another one."
"I think my mother was too careful to leave only one copy."
They returned upstairs.
The hidden room remained sealed by police tape, but Curtis had obtained permission for them to enter with an investigator present.
Maya studied every surface.
Don't trust the names on the doors.
Trust the glass.
She examined the broken rose stem.
The secret cylinder had contained cabinet numbers.
That led to the safe.
But Anna had spoken of another hiding place.
Maya looked at the photographs.
One showed Catherine holding young Ethan.
Another showed Anna beside a cleaning cart.
In the corner stood a crystal decanter.
Rose pattern.
Maya approached a cabinet containing antique glassware.
Dozens of carved pieces.
She examined each.
Nothing.
Jonathan picked up one decanter.
"This was my grandmother's."
Maya looked at the bottom.
A rose.
She pressed one petal.
Click.
Jonathan stared.
The base released.
Inside was a waterproof package.
Maya opened it.
A second ledger.
A passport.
And a handwritten letter.
Jonathan recognized the handwriting immediately.
"Catherine."
His knees almost buckled.
Maya handed him the letter.
He opened it.
Jonathan,
If Anna gives you this, everything has already gone wrong.
Do not trust Miles.
Do not trust the clinic.
Do not trust any death certificate signed by an Ashcroft physician.
Jonathan stopped reading.
His face had turned white.
Maya whispered, "Keep going."
He did.
I found proof that Halcyon continued after Evelyn disappeared. Your father knew. Vivienne knew part of it, but not everything.
Julian discovered the truth and planned to expose it.
His death was not an accident.
Anna has evidence.
I am taking Ethan away tomorrow.
If I fail, protect him from anyone who tries to control his inheritance through illness.
Jonathan covered his mouth.
Maya read the final lines.
There was one sentence written beneath Catherine's signature.
Anna knows where I will go.
Jonathan looked at Maya.
"You were ten when your mother disappeared."
"Yes."
"Did she ever take you somewhere unusual?"
"No."
"Think."
Maya closed her eyes.
Childhood memories returned in fragments.
A bus station.
Rain.
Her mother's hand.
A red suitcase.
A woman wearing dark glasses.
A little boy sleeping against Maya's shoulder.
Maya's eyes opened.
"Oh my God."
Jonathan stepped closer.
"What?"
"I met Catherine."
"What?"
"I didn't know her name."
"When?"
"Three days before my mother supposedly died."
Jonathan's breathing changed.
Maya remembered the woman's face.
She remembered Anna whispering to her.
Do not call her Mrs. Ashcroft.
Call her Claire.
May you like
Maya looked at Jonathan.
"My mother was helping your wife disappear."
