Chapter 5 - What Happened in 1998
Robert Morgan didn't answer immediately.
Claire found him that evening at the family house in Lake Forest.
He was sitting alone in his study.
She placed her phone on his desk.
"What's this?"
"Someone sent it."
Robert read the message.
ASK YOUR FATHER ABOUT 1998.
His face changed.
Claire noticed.
"What happened?"
"Nothing relevant."
"That's not an answer."
Robert stood.
"Who sent this?"
"Unknown number."
"Delete it."
Claire stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because someone is trying to frighten you."
"They succeeded."
Robert walked toward the liquor cabinet.
He poured bourbon.
His hand trembled.
Claire had seen her father negotiate factory closures, lawsuits, hostile acquisitions, and strikes.
She had never seen his hand tremble.
"Dad."
"Leave it alone."
"No."
"Claire."
"Julian and Chloe may have stolen eleven million dollars. Someone forged my signature. Julian investigated what happens to my shares when I die. Now somebody is telling me to ask you about 1998."
Robert drank.
"What happened?"
He sat.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he opened a locked drawer.
Inside was an old newspaper clipping.
Morgan Industrial Executive Dies in Highway Accident.
The photograph showed a man Claire vaguely remembered.
Thomas Vale.
Robert's former business partner.
"He owned thirty percent of Morgan Industrial," Robert said.
Claire sat opposite him.
"I thought Grandpa founded the company."
"He did. Thomas came later."
"What happened?"
"His car went off a bridge."
"In 1998."
"Yes."
"Why does that matter?"
"Because before the accident, Thomas accused someone inside the company of stealing."
Claire became still.
"How much?"
"About three million."
"Was he right?"
"We never proved it."
"Who did he suspect?"
Robert looked toward the window.
"Your uncle."
Claire frowned.
"Uncle Martin?"
Robert's younger brother had died nine years earlier.
"He handled procurement."
Just like Chloe.
"He denied everything," Robert continued. "Thomas planned to go to the authorities. Two nights later, he died."
Claire felt cold.
"You think Martin killed him?"
"No."
"Do you think someone did?"
"I don't know."
"Why didn't you investigate?"
"We did."
"Police?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"Accident."
Claire studied him.
"You're leaving something out."
Robert closed his eyes.
"Thomas had a son."
"Okay."
"Daniel."
Claire vaguely remembered the name.
"He believed Thomas had been murdered."
"What happened to Daniel?"
"He disappeared."
"When?"
"2001."
"Disappeared how?"
"Just vanished."
Claire stood.
"This is insane."
"I know."
"No, Dad. What's insane is that someone stealing money from our company twenty-eight years later knows about it."
Robert stared at the old clipping.
Claire looked closer.
Thomas Vale was standing beside several Morgan executives.
Robert.
Martin.
Her grandfather.
And another man.
Claire pointed.
"Who's that?"
Robert's face tightened.
"Gerald Cross."
"Who?"
"Our former CFO."
"Where is he?"
"Dead."
"Everyone connected to this is dead?"
"Not everyone."
Robert reached for another photograph.
A young Thomas Vale stood beside a teenage boy.
Daniel.
Claire stared.
Something about him seemed familiar.
Then she understood why.
She had seen the adult version of that face yesterday.
May you like
At Bellamy House.
The restaurant manager.
