Chapter 9 - What Claire Saw
Daniel ordered everyone except Claire, Eleanor and Rebecca out of the library.
Lily refused to leave until Daniel promised she could remain in the next room with Amelia and Sophie.
The connecting doors stayed open.
Claire sat across from Daniel.
For a long moment, she only stared at the sapphire necklace in Eleanor’s hand.
“That pendant contains a magnetic seal,” Claire said. “It opens a compartment inside the old foundation vault.”
Eleanor placed the necklace on the table.
“The vault was emptied years ago.”
“No,” Claire replied. “You emptied the visible records.”
Daniel held up the brass token.
“And number seventeen?”
“The second lock.”
Claire looked toward Lily through the open doorway.
“I worked as an accountant at the Monroe Children’s Center. The name was not mine originally. The foundation renamed it after my family made a large donation.”
“You came from money?” Daniel asked.
“My father owned several medical companies. When I became pregnant, he sent me away. He believed the child would damage his political relationships.”
“Who was Lily’s father?”
Claire’s eyes moved toward Eleanor.
“I didn’t know at first.”
Rebecca began pacing.
“This is unnecessary.”
Daniel ignored her.
“Continue.”
Claire folded her hands.
“The center received money from families who believed they were paying adoption expenses. It also charged vulnerable mothers for housing, medical care and legal services. When the women could not pay, they were pressured into signing documents.”
“Who ran it?”
“A director named Martin Vale.”
Daniel recognized the surname.
“Thomas Vale’s brother?”
Thomas Vale had served as the Mercer family attorney for more than twenty years.
Claire nodded.
“Martin handled the children. Thomas handled the papers.”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“You kept Thomas as our attorney.”
“I never knew his brother’s role until later.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You knew.”
Eleanor’s voice sharpened.
“Be careful.”
“No,” Claire said. “You have been telling people to be careful for twenty years.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“How was the Mercer Foundation involved?”
“The center received nearly sixty percent of its funding from the foundation. Someone inside Mercer Holdings moved additional money through false medical programs.”
“Anna found the transfers.”
“Yes. She was volunteering at the center when she met me. She discovered that several children had been assigned identification numbers instead of names.”
“Lily was seventeen.”
Claire nodded.
“I believed I had signed temporary care papers after her birth. The documents were actually permanent surrender forms.”
“How did Anna take her?”
“She changed the discharge records and drove us away.”
“Then why didn’t you remain with Lily?”
Claire’s hands began to shake.
“Martin found us.”
Lily shifted in the next room.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What happened?”
“He threatened to send Lily to a family overseas and charge Anna with kidnapping. I agreed to disappear so he would believe Anna had acted alone.”
“You abandoned your child?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I believed it was the only way to keep her alive.”
Daniel wanted to be angry, but the pain in Claire’s voice stopped him.
“Where did you go?”
“I spent five years gathering evidence.”
Rebecca laughed nervously.
“Convenient.”
Claire turned toward her.
“You know exactly where I was.”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“What does she mean?”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
Claire reached into her coat and removed a packet of photographs.
The first image showed Rebecca entering a hotel.
The date was six months after Anna’s death.
The second showed her sitting across from Claire in a restaurant.
The third showed Rebecca handing her an envelope.
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“You met her.”
Rebecca looked at Eleanor.
Eleanor did not defend her.
Rebecca sank into a chair.
“I was trying to help.”
Claire pushed one photograph forward.
“You paid me fifty thousand dollars to leave the country.”
“I paid you because Mother said dangerous people were following you.”
“You also asked me where Anna kept the original files.”
Daniel stared at his sister.
“You knew Anna was investigating the foundation.”
“I knew she was making accusations.”
“You told me she donated the money.”
“I believed Mother.”
Claire shook her head.
“You believed the money entering your account.”
Daniel looked sharply at Rebecca.
“What money?”
Claire removed a bank statement.
Two days after Anna died, a transfer of two hundred thousand dollars had entered an account owned by Rebecca Mercer.
The sender was Vale Consulting.
Rebecca stood.
“That was a business payment.”
“For what business?”
“I was consulting for the foundation.”
“You had no role at the foundation.”
“I helped organize events.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
His security director had sent a message.
The old phone has powered on. Several audio files are intact. One was recorded the night before Anna’s crash.
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
She saw the message reflected in his expression.
“What did your security team find?”
Daniel stood.
“The answer.”
Claire reached for his arm.
“Do not play it through the house speakers.”
“Why?”
“Because the person who killed Anna may still be inside this house.”
At that moment, a soft chime sounded above them.
The birthday cake ceremony was beginning.
Rebecca’s expression became strangely calm.
“She promised Sophie she would have her candles.”
Then she walked out of the library.
Daniel followed.
May you like
He did not yet know that the recording Amelia would make during those candles would expose a second conspiracy.
And before the night ended, Lily would disappear.
