Chapter 8 - The Relative in the Doorway
Officer Cole replayed the last sentence three times.
Grace thought of Mara’s nervous expression in the kitchen.
“You told Andrew when Daniel would be at my house,” Grace said.
Mara’s face went pale.
“I didn’t know what he planned.”
“But you knew about the accounts?”
Mara began to cry.
Months earlier, Andrew had asked for her help transferring money from one company to another. Mara worked as a freelance bookkeeper, and Andrew claimed the transfers were part of a legal tax arrangement.
When she questioned the signatures, Andrew told her Grace had approved everything.
“I believed him at first,” Mara said. “Then I realized the dates didn’t make sense.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He threatened to blame me for all of it. My name was on the transfer forms.”
Grace felt betrayed, but she also saw the fear in her sister’s eyes.
“Were you the person on the phone?”
Mara shook her head.
“No. Andrew called his business manager, Victor Hale. Victor controlled the accounts.”
Mara had not helped Andrew enter the house, but her careless information had created the opportunity.
Officer Cole told her she would need to cooperate fully.
Mara agreed.
That afternoon, she called Andrew while investigators listened.
She told him she had recovered the envelope from Chloe’s backpack and was frightened.
Andrew ordered her to bring it to a vacant model home owned by his company.
“Come alone,” he warned. “If Grace sees those records, we all lose everything.”
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Andrew did not know the real envelope was already secured as evidence.
The one Mara carried contained blank paper.
