Chapter 10 - Maria’s HusbandMaria collapsed into a chair.
For six years, Claire had trusted her in every room of the house.
Maria had held Rosie as a baby.
She had decorated birthday cakes.
She had sat beside Claire during flu season and brought soup upstairs.
Now Claire wondered how much of Maria’s life had been true.
“Start at the beginning,” Detective Morales said.
Maria wiped her face.
“Daniel worked corporate security.”
“For Bennett Development?” Claire asked.
“At first.”
“Then for Ethan?”
Maria nodded.
“Ethan hired him privately for several months.”
George swore under his breath.
Maria continued.
“Daniel never told me everything. He said Ethan was worried documents were being stolen.”
“When?”
“Before Mrs. Evelyn died.”
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
“Did Daniel threaten Martin?”
Maria looked at the video screen.
“I don’t know.”
Martin shouted, “He came to my house!”
“I believe you,” Maria said. “But I didn’t know.”
“Why do you have his ring?” Morales asked.
Maria touched the evidence bag through the air, as if she could reach it.
“He died in a car crash four months after Mrs. Evelyn.”
Claire frowned.
“That’s when you started working here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maria looked at George.
George closed his eyes.
Claire turned toward him.
“You hired her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
George’s voice was low.
“Because Daniel contacted me before he died.”
Maria began crying harder.
Claire stared at both of them.
“What did he say?”
George leaned against the desk.
“He said Ethan was dangerous.”
The room went silent.
Claire felt rage rise so quickly she became dizzy.
“You knew.”
“I knew Daniel was afraid of him.”
“And you let Ethan marry me.”
“I didn’t know whether Daniel was telling the truth.”
“You always have a reason.”
George flinched.
Claire stepped closer.
“You always have a reason for every lie.”
“I was ashamed.”
“That doesn’t help Rosie.”
“No.”
“What did Daniel tell you?”
George took a breath.
“He said Ethan hired him to retrieve documents from this house.”
“The night Mom died?”
“Yes.”
“Did he?”
“Daniel said he refused.”
Maria looked up sharply.
“You never told me that.”
George shook his head.
“He asked me for money. He wanted to disappear with you.”
Maria stared.
“He told me he had gambling debts.”
“He lied to protect you.”
Maria covered her mouth.
George continued.
“Daniel said Ethan believed Evelyn had evidence connecting him to the shell companies.”
Claire looked at Morales.
“So Ethan came himself.”
“Possibly,” Morales said.
Maria shook her head.
“No.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
“Daniel was with Ethan the night Mrs. Evelyn died.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?”
“At the hospital.”
“No,” George said. “Ethan left.”
“Daniel drove him.”
Claire felt her heartbeat in her throat.
“How do you know?”
“Daniel came home at four in the morning.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘I should have stopped him.’”
Claire sat down.
The words landed with terrifying weight.
“Stopped him from what?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
Morales asked, “Did Daniel ever mention the safe-deposit box?”
Maria nodded slowly.
“Once.”
Claire leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“He said Mrs. Evelyn had hidden something Ethan desperately wanted.”
“Did Daniel know where?”
“I don’t think so.”
Rosie appeared near the doorway again, holding George’s hand.
Claire’s first instinct was anger.
She did not want Rosie hearing this.
Then Rosie looked directly at Maria.
“Your ring man.”
Maria’s face crumpled.
“No, sweetheart.”
Rosie pointed toward the evidence bag.
“The man had that.”
Claire’s blood ran cold.
Detective Morales crouched.
“Rosie, are you saying the man who put you in the cabinet wore that ring?”
Rosie nodded.
Maria began shaking.
“But Daniel is dead,” she whispered.
Morales looked at her.
“Are you certain?”
Maria stared.
“I saw his body.”
“Was there an identification?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Maria hesitated.
“His wallet. Dental records.”
Morales’s expression changed.
“What?”
Maria suddenly stood.
“The ring.”
Everyone stared.
“Daniel was wearing that ring when he died.”
The room went silent.
Claire looked at the evidence bag.
“Then how did it get into your room?”
Maria whispered:
“I don’t know.”
A phone rang.
Morales answered.
Listened.
Her face hardened.
She ended the call.
“The crash report has a problem.”
“What problem?” Claire asked.
“The dental identification was added three days after burial.”
Maria went pale.
Morales continued.
“And the dentist who signed it?”
May you like
She looked at George.
“He was paid seventy-five thousand dollars by Red Harbor Systems one week later.”
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