Chapter 4 - Blood Near the River
The police took the blue ledger.
Benjamin Rhodes objected, demanded a written inventory and photographed every page before surrendering it. Detective Bell allowed the process, although Richard repeatedly insisted that the book was private family property.
Claire was taken to the central police station for questioning.
She was not arrested.
Richard made certain it felt as though she had been.
He sat outside the interview room with Malcolm Reeves, speaking to officers in low, urgent tones. Whenever Claire looked through the glass, her father appeared composed and grief-stricken.
The perfect concerned son.
Detective Bell entered carrying a paper cup and a thin file.
He was in his early forties, with tired eyes and a patient manner that made Claire uncertain whether to trust him.
“Would you like coffee?”
“No.”
“Water?”
“No.”
He sat across from her.
“Tell me about last night.”
Claire described the dinner, the checks, Evelyn’s warning and the medication.
Bell made notes.
“What time did you leave?”
“Approximately ten fifteen.”
“Did you speak to Mrs. Bennett after that?”
“No.”
“Phone call? Message?”
“No.”
“Did you visit the house again?”
“No.”
“Your father says you returned around midnight.”
“He’s lying.”
“He says a neighbor saw your vehicle.”
“My car was outside my apartment all night.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“I live alone.”
Bell closed the file.
“Why would your father lie?”
“Because Grandma left evidence that he has been stealing from the family company.”
The detective’s expression did not change.
“Evidence currently contained in the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Which you removed from a safe-deposit box.”
“Grandma directed me there.”
“In a letter no one else saw before today.”
“The bank manager saw it.”
“Where is the original?”
“Benjamin has it.”
Bell nodded.
“That helps.”
Claire leaned forward.
“My father brought a doctor to the bank to claim Grandma was incompetent. He did that before anyone reported her missing. Doesn’t that concern you?”
“It concerns me.”
“And the blood?”
“We don’t yet know whose it is.”
“Was the car damaged?”
“No.”
“Were there signs of a struggle?”
“A broken bracelet was found near the driver’s door.”
Claire recognized the description.
Evelyn had worn the same gold bracelet for decades.
Bell opened the file and showed her a photograph.
The bracelet lay in the snow, its clasp bent.
Claire closed her eyes.
“She never took it off.”
“Why?”
“My grandfather gave it to her.”
“Did she have any enemies?”
“My father.”
Bell remained silent.
Claire took a breath.
“I don’t mean he would hurt her. I don’t know what he’s capable of anymore.”
“Who else?”
“Anyone who knew about the money.”
“You believe the checks created a motive?”
“I think they revealed one.”
The interview ended two hours later.
When Claire stepped into the corridor, Richard was waiting.
He dismissed Malcolm with a glance and approached her.
“You should come home with me.”
“No.”
“The police are investigating you.”
“Because you accused me.”
“I told them what the neighbor reported.”
“Which neighbor?”
Richard did not answer.
Claire moved past him.
He caught her arm.
“You are walking into something dangerous.”
She pulled free.
“Then tell me the truth about Northpoint.”
The color drained from his face.
Claire had expected denial.
His fear was worse.
“Who told you that name?”
“Grandma.”
“What exactly did she say?”
“That you buried the truth.”
Richard looked toward the officers nearby.
When he spoke again, his voice was low.
“Northpoint was an accident.”
“What happened to the twenty million dollars?”
“You don’t understand corporate finance.”
“Explain it.”
“I protected this family.”
“From what?”
“From losing everything because your grandmother refused to make a necessary decision.”
“So you forged her signature?”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“Do not repeat accusations you cannot prove.”
“The ledger proves it.”
“The ledger is the confused record of an old woman obsessed with events from half a century ago.”
“She knew you would say that.”
Richard released a slow breath.
“Claire, I have spent my entire life cleaning up the consequences of Mother’s bitterness. She hated your grandfather for receiving the recognition she believed she deserved. She punished all of us for it.”
“By giving you a company?”
“By making every gift conditional.”
“She gave you five million dollars last night.”
“She gave me a worthless piece of paper.”
“The bank verified the funds.”
Richard stared at her.
For one brief moment, Claire saw naked greed beneath his controlled expression.
Then it vanished.
“You deposited it?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“You need to give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because accepting money from an individual who lacks mental capacity could expose you to criminal charges.”
“You mean it could give Grandma’s legal team proof that she was competent enough to choose her successor.”
Richard stepped back.
The corridor seemed to narrow around them.
“Successor?”
Claire realized she had said too much.
Richard studied her face.
“What did the bank tell you?”
“Nothing you need to know.”
His phone rang.
He answered.
As he listened, his eyes shifted toward Claire.
“When?” he asked.
A pause.
“Was anything taken?”
Another pause.
“I’m coming.”
He ended the call and walked away without another word.
Claire followed.
“What happened?”
Richard ignored her.
Outside the station, he climbed into Malcolm’s car.
Claire called Jonathan Hale.
“The bank has been breached,” he said before she could speak.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone entered the restricted records room.”
“What did they take?”
“Your grandmother’s account instructions.”
“Were there copies?”
“Yes, but that isn’t all.”
Claire heard alarms in the background.
Jonathan lowered his voice.
“The sealed succession file is gone.”
“What was in it?”
“I was not authorized to open it.”
“Who was?”
“Evelyn Bennett.”
“And if she was unavailable?”
“You.”
Claire stopped beside the courthouse steps.
“Why me?”
“Because according to the file registration, you were named provisional custodian of the Rosebridge Trust three weeks ago.”
“I never signed anything.”
“You were not required to. The appointment activates only under certain conditions.”
“What conditions?”
Jonathan hesitated.
“The unexplained absence or incapacitation of your grandmother.”
Claire looked across the street.
Richard’s car had not yet left.
He was sitting in the passenger seat, watching her through the window.
“Mr. Hale,” Claire whispered, “I think my father knew the conditions.”
A police officer emerged from the station.
“Ms. Bennett?”
Claire lowered the phone.
“What is it?”
“We received a preliminary result from the blood found in the vehicle.”
Her heart stopped.
“Is it Grandma’s?”
The officer shook his head.
“No.”
Relief struck Claire so sharply that she had to grip the railing.
“Then whose is it?”
“We don’t have a match.”
Across the street, Richard’s car pulled away.
The officer continued.
“But there is another problem.”
“What?”
“We searched Mrs. Bennett’s house.”
Claire waited.
“In the fireplace, we found burned fabric and a partially destroyed passport.”
“Grandma’s passport?”
“No.”
The officer showed Claire a photograph.
The surviving page contained the face of a young woman Claire recognized immediately.
It was her mother, Anna Bennett.
May you like
Anna had supposedly died in a car accident twenty-three years earlier.
According to the passport, she had entered the country six days ago.
