Chapter 6 - The Company That Owned Nothing
Hawthorne Holdings did not appear in any public business database.
Simon searched state registrations, tax records, property records, and corporate filings. The name existed only in two references buried inside Mercer Urban Development’s financial disclosures.
Both references described it as a consulting entity.
Neither identified its owner.
Claire enlarged the photograph.
The man handing Daniel the red folder was tall, silver-haired, and dressed in a charcoal overcoat. A black sport utility vehicle waited behind him.
“Do you recognize him?” Simon asked.
“No.”
“The bank?”
Claire examined the stone building.
“Davenport Private.”
Simon’s eyebrows lifted.
Davenport served wealthy clients who valued secrecy. Eleanor had refused to do business with them.
“They specialize in private lending and asset transfers,” he said.
“Could Daniel have an account there?”
“Possibly.”
Claire studied the photograph again.
“Who sent this?”
“Someone who knows Daniel is under investigation.”
“Or someone who wants me to think he is.”
Simon placed the photograph in a protective sleeve.
“Go home as though nothing has changed. Do not mention Hawthorne Holdings.”
Claire nodded.
When she returned, Gloria was seated in the living room with Marianne Cole and two other friends.
A silver tea service had been arranged on Eleanor’s table.
Claire’s family photographs were gone.
In their place stood framed pictures of Daniel and Gloria.
“Where are my photographs?” Claire asked.
Gloria stirred her tea.
“I moved them somewhere safer.”
“Where?”
“The storage room.”
Claire turned to Daniel, who stood near the window.
“Put them back.”
“Claire, we have guests.”
“I didn’t ask whether we had guests.”
Daniel approached her.
“Let’s speak upstairs.”
“No. Put them back.”
The room went silent.
Gloria smiled at her friends.
“You see what I mean?”
Claire looked at each woman.
“What exactly has Gloria told you?”
Marianne shifted uncomfortably.
“Claire, perhaps this isn’t the time.”
“It is the perfect time. My belongings have been removed from my living room, and the person who removed them is using you as an audience.”
Gloria placed down her spoon.
“I was trying to protect valuable items from your recent carelessness.”
“What carelessness?”
“You left the garden door unlocked.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You forgot your appointment on Monday.”
“It was canceled.”
“You accused Daniel of breaking into your office.”
“I have video of him entering it.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Claire watched him.
Gloria laughed.
“Video?”
“The smoke detector records in high definition.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Claire, stop.”
“You looked directly at it.”
The guests stared at him.
Gloria’s smile faded.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“You are making a mistake.”
“Then explain the scanner.”
Marianne stood.
“We should leave.”
Gloria grabbed her wrist.
“No. Stay.”
The command surprised everyone.
Gloria released her and forced a laugh.
“Claire is confused. Leaving now will only upset her.”
Claire reached into her bag and placed the sealed lock mechanism on the table.
“This was installed behind my office door.”
Gloria stared at it.
Daniel did not.
He already knew what it was.
Claire looked at Marianne.
“Would you feel safe if someone secretly replaced the lock to your office and copied your passport?”
Marianne’s face went pale.
Daniel stepped between Claire and the guests.
“That is not what happened.”
“Then tell them what happened.”
“I changed the lock because you asked me to.”
“I did not.”
“You did. You just don’t remember.”
The sentence landed exactly as Gloria intended.
The witnesses exchanged worried glances.
Claire understood the trap.
Daniel and Gloria did not need to convince a court that she was unstable yet.
They only needed enough people to remember seeing her appear angry, suspicious, and forgetful.
Claire picked up the mechanism.
“You’re right,” she said softly.
Daniel blinked.
Gloria leaned forward.
Claire smiled.
“I must have forgotten.”
The tension left Daniel’s shoulders.
He believed he had won.
Claire turned and walked upstairs.
Inside her bedroom, she opened a secure recording application.
Every word spoken downstairs had been transmitted from the microphone hidden inside the sealed mechanism.
Gloria’s voice came clearly through her headphones.
“You pushed too hard,” she told Daniel.
“She was about to expose everything.”
“She doesn’t know what everything is.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What about Hawthorne Holdings?”
Claire froze.
May you like
Gloria answered.
“She will never find it.”
