Chapter 5 - Connor’s First Lie
Jessica held the hospital file against her chest.
Connor remained between her and the door.
For several seconds, neither moved.
His face did not show rage. That would have been easier to understand. Instead, Connor looked almost frightened.
“Why do you want it?” Jessica asked.
“It contains private information.”
“My father’s information.”
“Information that could be misunderstood.”
Jessica glanced toward the window.
Mara could not see the doorway from outside. They had agreed Jessica would call if anything went wrong, but her phone was in her coat pocket on the chair behind Connor.
“What could I misunderstand?”
Connor stepped closer.
“Your father was taking strong medication. He became confused.”
“About Brenda?”
The question landed.
Connor’s eyes changed.
Jessica knew immediately that he had seen the handwritten note before.
“How long have you known about Margaret Ellison?” she asked.
Connor looked toward the file.
“I don’t know anyone by that name.”
It was his first direct lie.
Not a half-truth.
Not an excuse.
A lie.
Jessica opened the file.
“Then why did my father write that she was protected by the house?”
“He didn’t write it.”
“I know. The handwriting is different.”
Connor did not respond.
Jessica turned the page and found a photocopy of an old photograph tucked between two medical reports.
Four people stood on the lawn of Ashcroft House.
Jessica recognized her father as a young man.
Beside him stood Brenda.
The third person was a woman Jessica had never seen.
On the back, someone had written Margaret.
The fourth person had been cut from the photograph.
Connor reached for it.
Jessica stepped backward.
“Who was removed?”
“Give me the picture.”
“Who was removed, Connor?”
His voice lowered.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
The sentence frightened her more than a threat would have.
Because he did not say what I am doing.
He said what you’re interfering with.
This was not Connor’s plan alone.
Perhaps it had never been his plan at all.
A vibration came from Jessica’s coat.
Connor turned toward the sound.
Jessica moved instantly, grabbing the brass letter opener from her father’s desk—not as a weapon, but to strike the silent alarm Mara had placed beneath the shelf.
The alarm sent a signal without making noise.
Connor heard the movement and spun back.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
He grabbed the hospital file.
The pages tore between them.
The photograph fell to the floor.
Connor caught half the file and stared at the exposed note.
Then a car door slammed outside.
He released the papers.
“Who came with you?”
Jessica did not answer.
Connor crossed to the window and saw Mara approaching the house.
His expression hardened.
“You hired someone.”
“She’s a friend.”
“Don’t insult me.”
Mara rang the bell.
Connor stepped close enough that Jessica could smell the champagne from his lunch meeting.
“You need to stop,” he whispered. “My mother will not forgive this.”
Jessica looked at the man she had married.
Not once did he say he would not forgive her.
Not once did he ask what Brenda had done.
“Are you afraid of her?” Jessica asked.
Connor’s jaw tightened.
“You should be.”
The bell rang again.
Jessica walked toward the door.
Connor caught her wrist, then immediately released it as though he remembered that any mark could become evidence.
“Tell your friend to leave.”
“No.”
“If you continue digging, you’ll lose more than the house.”
“What will I lose?”
Connor looked toward her father’s photograph on the wall.
“Your version of him.”
Jessica opened the study door.
Mara stood at the top of the stairs.
Connor smiled before she could speak.
“Jessica was just leaving.”
Mara looked at the torn pages scattered across the floor.
“Were you?”
Jessica picked up the photograph.
“Yes,” she said. “But Connor is coming with us.”
Connor laughed.
“No, I’m not.”
Jessica held up the photograph.
“Then I’ll show this to Brenda without you.”
His smile disappeared.
They drove separately to Samuel’s office.
Connor followed because he believed he could control what happened there.
For the first fifteen minutes, he denied everything.
Then Samuel placed the Greyhaven documents on the table.
Connor’s confidence weakened.
David showed him the secret account.
Connor called it fabricated.
Mara played the recording of his conversation with Brenda.
Connor said it had been edited.
Finally, Jessica placed the photograph of her father, Brenda, and Margaret in front of him.
“Tell me who was cut out.”
Connor stared at the empty section.
“I don’t know.”
Mara slid another photograph beside it.
This one had been recovered from archived newspaper files.
It showed the same four people at a charity event.
The fourth person was Thomas Ellison.
Samuel’s former employer.
Connor looked at Samuel.
“You knew him?”
Samuel ignored the question.
Mara pointed to the date beneath the photograph.
“Three days after this picture was taken, Thomas Ellison disappeared.”
Connor sat back.
Jessica felt the room narrow.
“Disappeared?”
“His car was found near a bridge,” Mara said. “No body was recovered.”
“Why does that matter now?”
“Because six months later, Margaret Ellison sold Ashcroft House to Jessica’s grandparents for one dollar.”
Connor looked toward the door.
Mara continued.
“And last week, eleven million dollars were transferred into an account controlled by someone using Margaret Ellison’s identity.”
Connor’s breathing changed.
Jessica watched the truth arrive in pieces.
He knew about the account.
He knew about the house.
But he had not known Margaret was connected to either.
“My mother told me the account belonged to the family,” Connor said.
It was the first admission.
Jessica leaned forward.
“What did she tell you to do?”
Connor closed his eyes briefly.
“Get you to sign.”
“And after that?”
“She said the money would stabilize the company.”
“Did you know the signature on the deed was forged?”
Silence.
Jessica did not look away.
“Connor.”
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
The marriage ended inside Jessica before Connor finished saying it.
Mara asked, “Who created the forged document?”
Connor stared at the photograph.
“Lydia.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Jessica thought of Lydia’s warning.
“She ran because she was afraid of Brenda.”
Connor shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Lydia doesn’t work for my mother.”
Jessica waited.
May you like
Connor’s next words changed the entire investigation.
“My mother works for Lydia.”
