Chapter 8 - midnight at east harbor)
Peter Sloan had been waiting inside Warehouse 6.
Daniel remembered his car.
A black Mercedes parked near the water.
He remembered the smell of diesel.
He remembered being surprised.
He also remembered how drunk he had been.
Why was Sloan there, Eleanor asked.
He said Claire had called him too.
Why.
Daniel shook his head.
I do not know.
Did you believe him.
At the time.
What happened.
Sloan told me Claire was unstable. Said she had been investigating old company history and convinced herself everyone was stealing from her.
Eleanor's jaw tightened.
The same story Vanessa told you.
Yes.
Did Vanessa know you went.
She called while I was there.
And.
She told me to come back.
Did you.
Eventually.
What time.
Around one.
Claire crashed before midnight, Detective Reed said the next day.
Meaning Daniel could not have caused her accident if his timeline was accurate.
But Sloan could have known where she was going.
Reed obtained warehouse surveillance.
The system had been replaced since then.
Old footage was supposedly unavailable.
A nearby fuel station camera still had archived records.
At 11:42 p.m., Claire's car passed east toward Harbor Road.
At 11:48, a black Mercedes followed.
At 12:03, Daniel's car passed.
Claire's crash was estimated between 11:52 and 11:58.
The timing changed everything.
Sloan's Mercedes could have been behind Claire.
Police sought his vehicle records.
The car had been sold three days after the accident.
Sloan's attorney called it coincidence.
Reed called it interesting.
Eleanor called it exactly what Claire had feared.
Then another discovery emerged.
A traffic camera showed a second car behind Sloan.
A dark SUV.
Vanessa owned one matching the model.
Her attorney provided records showing her vehicle was in a repair shop that night.
But the shop had no surveillance.
The mechanic who signed the records had quit.
No one knew where he lived.
Vanessa continued denying involvement.
Through her lawyer she accused Eleanor of conducting a harassment campaign.
Then Daniel received an email.
No sender name.
One sentence.
Stop looking at Claire's accident if you want Sophie to remain safe.
Daniel immediately called Reed.
The email route was masked.
Eleanor did not sleep.
Two days later, she took Sophie to the garden.
The child liked the fountain.
Claire used to sit there reading while Sophie crawled across the grass.
Eleanor pointed toward a rose bush.
Your mommy planted those.
Sophie touched a petal.
Mommy.
Yes.
Sophie looked at her grandmother.
Mommy bracelet.
Eleanor froze.
What bracelet.
Sophie touched her wrist.
Silver.
The bracelet from Box 317.
Eleanor had placed it in her safe.
Did Mommy show you the bracelet.
Sophie nodded.
Where.
Sophie pointed toward the house.
Mommy says listen.
Eleanor crouched.
Listen to what.
The little girl made a tapping motion on her wrist.
Eleanor suddenly understood.
The bracelet might contain something.
She retrieved it and took it to an electronics specialist.
Inside the decorative clasp was a micro storage chip.
Richard had not placed it there.
Claire had.
The chip contained one audio file.
Only eighty nine seconds.
The recording began with Claire's voice.
You told Daniel the financing was legitimate.
Vanessa answered.
It is legitimate.
Then why is Northgate registered through three shell companies.
A man's voice interrupted.
Claire, you should stop asking questions.
Eleanor listened closely.
The voice was distorted by distance.
Claire replied.
Peter, this is my family.
Eleanor stopped the recording.
Peter.
She played it again.
The man was Peter Sloan.
The conversation continued.
Sloan said, Richard built protections nobody needs anymore.
Claire answered, protections against you.
Vanessa laughed.
Your husband already signed half of what we need.
Claire said, Daniel is grieving and drinking. You are exploiting him.
Sloan replied.
Daniel has always wanted approval more than judgment. That is not our fault.
Then Claire said something that changed the investigation.
You still cannot activate the Meridian clause without Sophie's guardian authorization.
Sloan answered.
Not today.
Claire's voice hardened.
You will never get it.
Vanessa said, Daniel loves me.
Claire replied.
Daniel does not know you.
The recording ended with Sloan speaking.
Then we will teach him.
Eleanor sent copies to Detective Reed and Martin.
It proved conspiracy around Daniel's finances.
But it did not prove murder.
It also confirmed Sophie was central.
Martin found the reference.
The Meridian clause.
Hidden in a 1999 amendment.
It stated that voting control could be transferred through the lineal descendant guardian mechanism if Whitmore Development became financially compromised.
But one sentence had been redacted in every copy Martin possessed.
Eleanor stared at the blacked out line.
Why.
Richard ordered it sealed.
Where is the original.
Unknown.
Claire must have found it.
Or almost found it.
Daniel looked at the silver bracelet.
If Claire hid the recording there, maybe she hid the document somewhere connected to Sophie.
Eleanor thought about Claire's habits.
Her nursery.
Her books.
The hospital.
Then she remembered something.
At Claire's funeral, Sophie had repeatedly pointed toward the photograph beside the casket.
Everyone assumed she wanted her mother.
But the photograph itself showed Claire holding Sophie in the hospital.
On the back wall of that photograph was a plaque.
St. Anne's Pediatric Wing.
Claire's hospital.
Eleanor enlarged the picture.
Behind Claire's shoulder was a row of staff lockers.
One locker number was visible.
May you like
317.
Again.
