Chapter 3 - The Husband in the Black Suit)
The police arrived twenty-three minutes later.
By then, Julian Mercer and Dr. Simon Vale were gone.
Martin told officers he had heard no knocking.
He claimed Ava was emotionally distressed because the situation reminded her of her brother.
He said she had misunderstood a private conversation.
He also said she had threatened to damage the coffin.
The security system had mysteriously stopped recording twelve minutes before the argument.
Ava showed officers the threatening messages.
The number was untraceable through ordinary identification.
An officer photographed them and advised Ava not to return to work until the matter had been reviewed.
The coffin was not opened.
Dr. Vale had already transmitted documentation confirming Emily Whitmore’s death.
According to the report, Emily had suffered severe internal trauma in a vehicle accident on Ridgeway Road at 11:38 the previous night.
She had been pronounced dead at Westbridge Private Medical Center at 12:17 in the morning.
Her husband had identified her.
That detail confused Ava.
If Daniel Whitmore had identified Emily, how could he not know she was alive?
Unless he was part of it.
Ava drove home at 7:40.
She did not go inside.
Instead, she called her mother.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Lock the doors.”
There was silence.
“Ava?”
“Please.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain later. Do not open the door for anyone.”
Her mother understood fear.
She did not argue.
Ava drove directly to the address listed online for Whitmore Architectural Group.
The office was closed.
Then she searched Daniel Whitmore.
There were dozens of photographs.
Daniel and Emily at charity events.
Daniel and Emily opening a children’s arts center.
Daniel and Emily at a hospital fundraiser six months earlier.
The same hospital.
Westbridge.
Ava enlarged the photograph.
Dr. Simon Vale stood behind them.
She searched his name.
Chief medical consultant.
Private trauma specialist.
Board member of the Whitmore Family Foundation.
Then Ava found something else.
An announcement from three years earlier.
Emily Whitmore had inherited controlling interest in Whitmore Holdings after the death of her father, Richard Whitmore.
Daniel had no voting control.
Neither did Emily’s mother, Victoria Whitmore.
If Emily died without children, the controlling shares would pass according to a private family trust.
Ava searched for Julian Mercer.
Family attorney.
Trust administrator.
The pieces were still incomplete.
But there were enough to terrify her.
At 9:12, Ava found Daniel’s residential address.
She drove there.
The Whitmore house stood behind iron gates in a wealthy neighborhood outside the city.
Police vehicles were parked near the entrance.
Mourners arrived carrying flowers.
Ava almost turned around.
Then a black sedan entered through the gate.
Daniel sat in the back.
She followed.
Security stopped her near the house.
“I need to speak with Daniel Whitmore.”
The guard shook his head.
“Family only.”
“Tell him it’s about Emily.”
“Everyone here is about Emily.”
“Tell him she may be alive.”
The guard stared at her.
Then reached for his radio.
Ava waited ten minutes.
Daniel came outside.
He looked exactly like a man who had not slept.
His black shirt was open at the collar. His hair was disordered. His face was pale.
He saw Ava.
“You’re the funeral employee.”
“Yes.”
“The police called.”
Ava nodded.
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“They said you had some kind of episode.”
“I didn’t.”
“You threatened to open my wife’s coffin.”
“She knocked from inside.”
Pain flashed across his face.
“Stop.”
“I heard her.”
“Stop.”
“You need to listen to me.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I watched her die.”
Ava studied him.
“Did you?”
His eyes narrowed.
“I was in the room.”
“With Dr. Vale?”
Daniel froze.
Ava knew she had touched something.
“Yes,” he said slowly.
“What exactly did you see?”
“My wife after a car crash.”
“Was she bleeding?”
Daniel looked confused.
“What?”
“Was there blood?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was her face injured?”
“Ava.”
“Did you touch her?”
Daniel’s anger weakened.
He searched his memory.
“I held her hand.”
“Was it cold?”
He said nothing.
“Was it?”
“No.”
“Did you see her body after Dr. Vale pronounced her dead?”
Daniel looked toward the house.
“My mother-in-law was there. Julian was there.”
“Victoria Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“They gave me something.”
Ava frowned.
“What?”
“Medication.”
“For shock?”
Daniel nodded.
“I woke up in the family room three hours later. Emily had been transferred.”
“Transferred where?”
“To Saint Augustine.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Her coffin arrived sealed from Westbridge.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Ava continued.
“Dr. Vale was at the chapel tonight.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Why?”
“He said the dose should have lasted another twelve hours.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Ava pulled out her phone.
“I recorded it, but someone destroyed the file remotely.”
Daniel looked at the threatening message.
When he read the reference to Marcus, his jaw tightened.
“Who knows about your brother?”
“My family.”
“Anyone else?”
“Old hospital records.”
Daniel looked toward the mansion.
“Which hospital?”
Ava already knew what he was going to say.
“Westbridge.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he whispered something Ava could barely hear.
“My wife found something.”
“What?”
“Three weeks ago.”
He opened his eyes.
“She started asking questions about my father-in-law’s death.”
“Richard Whitmore?”
Daniel nodded.
“He died at Westbridge.”
Ava felt the air turn colder.
“What did Emily find?”
“She never told me.”
“Why not?”
“She said she wanted proof first.”
Daniel looked toward an upstairs window.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I should not trust anyone who tried to rush the funeral.”
Ava’s stomach tightened.
“When is the burial?”
Daniel looked at her.
“There isn’t one.”
“What?”
“Victoria insisted Emily be cremated.”
May you like
“When?”
“Immediately after tomorrow’s service.”
