Chapter 9 - the performance
Vanessa looked at the open blue box.
Then at Vincent.
Then at Martha.
Her face registered surprise perfectly.
"What is that?"
Vincent said nothing.
Lily ran to him.
He lifted her.
Vanessa took one step inside.
"Vincent?"
He closed the laptop.
"How did you get in here?"
Vanessa frowned.
"I live here."
"You were supposed to be at the florist."
"They finished early."
She looked at Martha.
"What happened?"
Martha's expression revealed nothing.
Vincent realized in that moment how good Vanessa was.
She did not glance twice at the box.
She did not run.
She did not defend herself before being accused.
She simply stood there looking confused.
If Vincent had not heard her voice on Grace's recording, he might have doubted everything.
Vanessa approached.
"Is that Grace's?"
Vincent looked at Lily.
"Go with Martha."
Lily tightened her arms around his neck.
"No."
"It's okay."
Vanessa smiled at her.
"Sweetheart, your father and I need to talk."
Lily turned her face away.
Vincent handed her to Martha.
"Stay together."
Martha left with Lily.
Vincent closed the door.
Vanessa watched him.
"What is going on?"
He wanted to play the recording.
He wanted to watch her face collapse.
Instead he remembered Edward's warning.
Evidence.
Not anger.
He forced himself to remain cold.
"We found something Grace hid."
Vanessa looked at the box.
"What?"
"Foundation records."
A slight pause.
Tiny.
But Vincent saw it.
"From three years ago?"
"Yes."
"Why would she hide foundation records?"
"I don't know."
Vanessa walked closer.
"Can I see?"
"No."
Her eyebrows lifted.
"Why not?"
"Because my attorney asked me not to share anything until he reviews it."
"Your attorney?"
"Grace seems to have believed money was being stolen."
Vanessa stared at him.
"By whom?"
"I don't know yet."
Another lie.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"Does this have anything to do with the wall in Lily's room?"
"Maybe."
"Vincent, I'm starting to feel like you're accusing me without saying it."
He looked at her.
"Are you worried?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because we're supposed to get engaged publicly in three days and suddenly you're searching your dead wife's things like she's sending messages from the grave."
The cruelty in the sentence was subtle.
Vincent felt it anyway.
"Grace is Lily's mother."
"I know."
"Then don't speak about her that way."
Vanessa sighed.
"I'm sorry."
She reached for him.
He let her.
That was harder than anything else.
She placed both hands against his chest.
"I love you."
He looked down at her.
Three years earlier, Grace had recorded this woman helping Julian threaten her.
And now Vanessa stood beneath the same roof, wearing his ring.
He wondered if Grace would forgive him.
Then he decided that question did not matter.
Lily mattered.
"What do you want?" Vanessa asked softly.
Vincent forced himself to touch her face.
"I want the party to happen."
Relief flashed in her eyes.
"Really?"
"Really."
She smiled.
Then kissed him.
Vincent kissed her back because he needed her to believe him.
Afterward she rested her forehead against his.
"We'll get through this."
"Yes."
"What are you going to do with the box?"
"Edward is collecting it tonight."
Vanessa looked disappointed.
"Probably smart."
She left twenty minutes later to call the florist.
Vincent immediately carried the original box to a concealed safe in his office.
He replaced it with copies.
The police arrived through the service entrance at midnight.
Detective Owen Price listened to Grace's recording twice.
Then watched the video.
He was in his early fifties, quiet, methodical, unimpressed by Vincent's wealth.
When the video ended, he said, "This changes the old accident."
"Changes?"
Vincent stared at him.
"My wife said her brakes were tampered with."
"It gives us reason to reopen the investigation."
"Reason?"
Price looked at him.
"I know what you want me to say."
"Then say it."
"I can't."
Vincent stood.
"You heard her."
"I heard suspicion. Strong suspicion."
"She named Julian."
"Yes."
"And Vanessa."
"Yes."
"She died hours later."
"Yes."
Vincent leaned over the desk.
"What more do you need?"
"Proof."
Vincent laughed bitterly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because proof is what keeps people in prison."
The answer stopped him.
Price continued.
"We can trace the mechanic. Reopen the vehicle records. Review Julian's finances. Analyze the foundation transfers. But if Vanessa believes you know everything, she may run."
"She isn't leaving."
"You can't detain her."
"I can stop her from getting near Lily."
"That you should do."
Vincent nodded.
Price looked at the blue box.
"Why is she still searching Grace's room if Grace's evidence has been sitting in this library?"
"She didn't know where it was."
"Then she still believes something is missing."
Vincent looked at the sapphire locket.
"What?"
Price shook his head.
"I don't know."
Martha, standing near the door, spoke.
"The original codicil."
Vincent turned.
"What?"
Martha remembered Vanessa's scattered notes from the room.
She had seen the word while searching.
"Grace changed her will shortly before she died."
Vincent frowned.
"I know. Edward prepared it."
"Do you know what changed?"
"Most of her assets went to Lily."
"Anything else?"
He thought.
"She added protections around the foundation."
Price looked interested.
"What kind?"
"I don't remember."
Vincent called Edward.
The attorney answered sleepily.
When Vincent asked about the codicil, Edward became alert.
"The original was never filed."
"What?"
"Grace took it before execution."
"Why?"
"She said she wanted to add language."
"What language?"
"She didn't tell me."
"Did she ever return it?"
"No."
Vincent looked at Martha.
Vanessa wasn't only searching for the blue box.
She was searching for a legal document Grace had never filed.
Price asked, "What could that document contain?"
Edward answered through the speaker.
"If Grace suspected fraud, possibly provisions removing certain advisers from control of the foundation."
"Could Julian's name be there?"
"Yes."
"Vanessa?"
"Possibly."
Vincent felt the pieces move into place.
Vanessa needed the codicil because it might prove Grace knew enough to remove Julian before she died.
And if Grace had described why, it could connect them directly to motive.
Price stood.
"Do not confront her."
Vincent nodded.
"Let the party happen."
"I hate that idea."
"So do I."
Price looked toward the ceiling.
"Your daughter stays protected."
"Always."
"Then we watch Vanessa."
At one thirty in the morning, Vanessa stood inside the hotel bathroom with her phone pressed to her ear.
"They found the box."
Julian swore.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Did he see the recordings?"
"I don't think so."
"You think?"
"He acted normal."
"Vincent Moretti doesn't act normal when someone threatens his family."
Vanessa stared at herself in the mirror.
"Then maybe he didn't find everything."
Julian was silent.
Finally he said, "The codicil."
"Exactly."
"If Grace wrote my name in it, we're finished."
"I'll find it."
"At the party?"
"Yes."
"And the child?"
May you like
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"She'll help me."
