Chapter 4 - Beatrice Had Hidden the RecordingBeatrice returned to the family townhouse just before midnight.
Police were waiting.
So were Genevieve and Callum.
Laurel arrived ten minutes later wearing gym clothes and fury.
“What the hell is happening?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Beatrice entered the living room.
Her silver hair was damp from rain.
She looked older than she had that morning.
Detective Morgan asked:
“Where were you?”
“Driving.”
“For four hours?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I needed to think.”
“About what?”
Beatrice looked at Genevieve.
“The recorder.”
Genevieve held up a photograph of it.
“You gave this away?”
“Yes.”
“To who?”
“Vivian Cole.”
The forensic accountant.
“Why?”
“Everett told me to.”
Callum laughed bitterly.
“Dad told everyone to do something different.”
Beatrice ignored him.
Three days before Everett died, he gave Beatrice the recorder and instructed her to deliver it to Vivian.
“Did you listen?”
“Yes.”
Genevieve’s anger rose.
“You heard Dad warning me.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought he was paranoid.”
Callum scoffed.
“Convenient.”
Beatrice turned.
“He thought you were stealing.”
The room went silent.
Callum stared.
“What?”
“Your father believed company money was disappearing.”
“I know that.”
“He believed you knew how.”
Callum’s face hardened.
“That is not the same as believing I stole.”
Beatrice continued.
“Everett told Vivian to verify everything quietly.”
Genevieve asked:
“Did she?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened after Dad died?”
“Vivian called me.”
“When?”
“Two days later.”
“What did she say?”
“That Everett had been right about something.”
Genevieve leaned forward.
“What?”
“She wouldn't tell me over the phone.”
“Did you meet?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“A diner outside Hartford.”
“What did she give you?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you give her?”
“Money.”
Callum stared.
“How much?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to leave.”
“Leave where?”
“I didn't ask.”
Genevieve couldn’t believe her.
“You gave ten thousand dollars to a woman Dad trusted with evidence and then let her disappear?”
Beatrice’s eyes filled.
“She said someone had followed her home.”
“Who?”
“She didn't know.”
“Did she mention Callum?”
Beatrice looked at him.
“No.”
“Adrian?”
Beatrice’s expression changed.
That tiny movement was enough.
Genevieve froze.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Mom.”
Beatrice looked away.
“Vivian asked whether Adrian had ever kept personal copies of company records.”
Genevieve’s heart pounded.
“Why?”
“She believed he had discovered the same irregularities before his plane crash.”
Callum stood.
“This is absurd.”
Laurel finally spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked pale.
“I remember Adrian saying something.”
Genevieve stared.
“When?”
“The Christmas before he died.”
“What?”
Laurel thought.
“He was drunk.”
Adrian rarely drank heavily.
But that Christmas, he had.
“He told me Dad’s company was built on a lie.”
The room became still.
“What lie?”
“I thought he was talking about taxes or debt.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Laurel swallowed.
“He said, ‘If Everett knew what Callum signed, he’d burn the whole thing down.’”
Callum slammed his palm against the table.
“I was thirty-one. I signed thousands of things.”
Genevieve stared.
“Then help us find which one.”
Callum looked at Beatrice.
“Mom, what did Vivian find?”
Beatrice hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Callum laughed.
“You always know more than you admit.”
Beatrice’s face hardened.
“So do you.”
Detective Morgan interrupted.
“Let’s go back to today.”
She placed photographs of the pills on the table.
“Did you give Maribel tea?”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Genevieve stood.
“Did you drug her?”
“No.”
“The sedative came from Callum’s prescription.”
“I put nothing in the tea.”
“Then why did Rowan say you gave her medicine?”
Beatrice frowned.
“I offered her aspirin.”
“From where?”
“My purse.”
“Did you have Callum’s medication?”
“No.”
The detective asked:
“Did you enter Maribel’s car?”
“No.”
“Did you put the recorder in her bag?”
Beatrice’s face changed.
“No.”
Genevieve saw fear.
“Mom.”
“I didn't.”
“But you know something.”
Beatrice whispered:
“I saw the bag.”
“When?”
“Before lunch.”
“Where?”
“On the mudroom bench.”
Maribel had said she left it in her car.
Someone had brought it inside before Beatrice arrived.
“Who?”
Beatrice swallowed.
“Sebastian.”
Callum’s assistant.
Callum froze.
“My Sebastian?”
“Yes.”
“What was he doing here?”
“He said you sent him.”
“I didn't.”
Detective Morgan immediately called officers.
Sebastian’s apartment was empty.
His work phone went straight to voicemail.
Then Callum received a text.
From Sebastian.
One sentence.
I did what your father asked me to do.
Callum stared.
“What does that mean?”
A second text arrived.
You should ask Genevieve what Adrian left in the plane.
Genevieve felt her stomach drop.
Adrian’s aircraft had burned after crashing.
Investigators recovered almost nothing.
At least that was what she had been told.
Then Sebastian sent one final message.
The black case survived.
Callum looked at Genevieve.
“What black case?”
She knew exactly what he meant.
Adrian never traveled without a small fire-resistant document case.
After the crash, Genevieve asked about it.
The investigator told her it had not been found.
May you like
Apparently—
someone had lied.
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