Chapter 4 - What Tessa Remembered
The next morning, Tessa was stronger.
A state investigator named Lena Ortiz arrived after Daniel contacted a military liaison and the state bureau’s public integrity unit.
Unlike the local officer, Ortiz recorded the interview and asked everyone except a nurse to leave.
Daniel waited outside.
For almost an hour, he watched the heart monitor through the glass wall and tried not to imagine what Tessa was being asked to remember.
When Ortiz emerged, her expression was controlled.
“I need to speak with you.”
They moved to a quiet family room.
Ortiz placed her notebook on the table.
“Your wife says her father confronted her about the pregnancy and the trust. He demanded that she sign a document transferring temporary control of her inheritance.”
Daniel stared at her.
“She refused.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
Ortiz chose her words carefully.
“There was a confrontation. Your wife remembers being blocked from leaving the study. She remembers shouting, falling, and hearing her brother say they needed to move her before someone saw.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Will you arrest them?”
“Not yet.”
His gaze returned to her.
“Why?”
“Because the Hale attorneys are already claiming Mrs. Reeves became upset and fell while attempting to leave. They say the family tried to help her.”
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Tessa says otherwise.”
“And I believe her statement deserves a full investigation. But belief is not the same as proof.”
Ortiz explained that Evelyn Brooks had seen a Hale vehicle near the side entrance and had found Tessa afterward. She had not witnessed what happened inside.
The study had no visible cameras.
The document Victor wanted Tessa to sign had vanished.
Ortiz had requested security footage from the Hale estate, but the family’s security director claimed the system had been undergoing maintenance.
Daniel almost laughed.
“Of course it was.”
“There may be other evidence,” Ortiz said. “Phone records. Messages. Medical findings. Staff statements.”
Daniel thought of Elena’s warning.
“What about this hospital?”
Ortiz nodded.
“We are preserving the hospital recordings. But they only show what happened after your wife arrived.”
“Victor came here last night. He tried to move her.”
“That matters.”
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“It doesn’t prove what happened at the house.”
“No,” Ortiz admitted. “But people who believe they are protected often keep talking.”
