Chapter 6 - The Photograph Claire Never Mentioned)
Daniel brought the photograph to Vanessa.
She looked at it once.
Then she stopped pretending.
Sarah, Ethan, and two security officers remained in the room.
Mia was upstairs with Daniel’s mother, who had arrived after midnight.
Vanessa sat at the dining table.
The photograph lay in front of her.
“You knew Claire.”
Vanessa stared at Claire’s face.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Three months.”
“Why?”
Vanessa rubbed her hands together.
“She hired me.”
Daniel’s anger temporarily gave way to confusion.
“To do what?”
“Research.”
“What kind?”
“I was a junior investigator at a private intelligence firm.”
Daniel had known Vanessa worked in corporate consulting before they met.
She had never described herself as an investigator.
“Claire contacted the firm privately,” Vanessa continued. “She wanted someone to look into unauthorized access to family trust records.”
“Martin.”
“She did not know it was Martin.”
“But you discovered it.”
Vanessa nodded.
“And then?”
“I found evidence that Martin had communicated with Victor.”
Daniel glanced at Sarah.
“Victor says they were not working together.”
“I never proved they were.”
“What did you prove?”
“That Martin was searching for something called the Mercer Primary Register.”
“The ledger.”
“I did not know what it was.”
Daniel pointed to the photograph.
“Why are the three of you together?”
“Claire wanted to confront him.”
“Martin?”
“Yes.”
“She brought you?”
“I was supposed to observe.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Claire would have told me.”
“No.”
The answer came softly.
Certain.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Why not?”
“Because you trusted Martin more than she did.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Vanessa continued.
“Claire tried to tell you once. You argued.”
Daniel remembered.
A hotel in New York.
Claire had accused Martin of interfering in family decisions.
Daniel had told her Martin had protected the company for twenty years.
Claire had walked out of the restaurant.
They apologized the next morning.
He had never asked what started the argument.
Vanessa looked at the photograph again.
“After that, Claire stopped telling you everything.”
Daniel sat down.
“What happened?”
“We followed Martin for several weeks.”
“And?”
“He met with bankers. Estate lawyers. A retired judge. People connected to old Mercer entities.”
“Victor?”
“Never directly.”
“Then Claire died.”
Vanessa nodded.
“What did you do?”
“I panicked.”
“You went to Martin.”
Vanessa’s eyes lifted.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he came to me first.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He knew everything I had done for Claire.”
Sarah asked, “Did he threaten you?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“He showed me photographs of my younger brother buying drugs.”
Daniel frowned.
“You have a brother?”
“He died two years ago.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Martin said he could ruin him. Send him to prison. Destroy my career. Then he offered me money to stop asking questions.”
“And you took it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s voice was flat.
“Then years later you agreed to marry me.”
Vanessa started crying again.
This time Daniel could not tell whether it was real.
“He came back after my brother died.”
“Martin?”
“Yes.”
“He said the Mercer situation was active again.”
“Because of Mia?”
“Because someone had found Claire’s copies.”
Daniel thought about the pink box.
The memory card.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Martin believed Claire hid records somewhere in the house.”
“So you entered my life to search for them.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Vanessa met his eyes.
“I did not expect to care about you.”
Daniel laughed once.
There was no amusement in it.
“You cut my daughter’s hair tonight.”
“I know.”
“You locked her in her room.”
“I know.”
“You convinced me she was emotionally unstable.”
Vanessa whispered, “I know.”
“Do not tell me you cared about us.”
“I cared about you.”
“Not enough to protect her.”
Vanessa had no answer.
Daniel stood.
“Why Mia?”
“Martin thought Claire had hidden information in things meant for her.”
The pink clips.
Daniel felt sick.
Vanessa continued.
“Mia started finding objects from Claire’s boxes. Notes. Jewelry. Old memory cards.”
“And you searched her room.”
“Yes.”
“You scared her so she would stop touching Claire’s things.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever find anything?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“A key.”
“What key?”
“Small. Brass. No markings.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to Martin.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Ethan was already writing.
“What did Martin do with it?”
“He became excited.”
“Did he say what it opened?”
“No.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“But the next day he told me the wedding had to happen before September.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
September was a week away.
“Why?”
“He said there was a maturity trigger.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Mia turns seven in October.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not Mia.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then who?”
“I do not know.”
Daniel thought about the photograph again.
Claire.
Vanessa.
Martin.
Five years ago.
A private investigation.
A hidden ledger.
Then something bothered him.
“You said Claire hired you through a firm.”
“Yes.”
“What firm?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Northbridge Strategic.”
Sarah’s expression changed immediately.
Daniel saw it.
“You know them.”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“They closed four years ago.”
“So?”
“They did not close voluntarily.”
“Why?”
“The founder disappeared.”
Daniel looked back at Vanessa.
“Who was the founder?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Jonathan Vale.”
Daniel knew the name.
Everyone in the Mercer family did.
Jonathan Vale had been Claire’s older half brother.
Mia’s uncle.
He vanished eight months after Claire died.
Police believed he had fled the country following financial problems.
Daniel had never believed it completely.
Vanessa looked at him.
“Claire was not the first person investigating Martin.”
“Jonathan was.”
“Yes.”
“And now he is missing.”
Vanessa nodded.
Sarah’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Nobody spoke for two seconds.
Then a distorted male voice said, “If Daniel wants the truth about Claire, tell him not to go to Cambridge.”
Sarah activated speakerphone.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Who is this?”
The caller ignored him.
“If he goes to the address Victor gave him, another person will die.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Who?”
The call ended.
Ethan immediately began tracing it.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
Then at Vanessa.
“Who knew Victor gave me an address?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No one.”
Daniel turned toward the camera in the corner.
A small green light blinked.
The cameras.
May you like
Someone was still watching.
And whoever it was knew exactly what Daniel planned to do next.
