Chapter 13 - Wallace’s Voice Finally Told the TruthThaddeus listened at the police station.
He almost didn’t.
Mara gave him the choice.
He chose to hear it.
The recording began with Silas.
“You cannot touch the vehicle.”
Wallace answered:
“I’m not letting her drive to Margaret with those files.”
Silas:
“Then call her.”
“She won’t listen.”
“Take the papers.”
“She made copies.”
A pause.
Then Wallace:
“I need time.”
“To do what?”
“Fix this.”
“You had twenty-five years.”
Wallace sounded angry.
“I paid Margaret.”
“Not what she was owed.”
“I kept the company alive.”
“By taking Jonathan’s half.”
“I was supposed to repay him.”
“He died.”
“I know.”
Silas:
“And then you forged Margaret’s transfer.”
Silence.
Thaddeus closed his eyes.
His father had done it.
No ambiguity.
Wallace:
“I thought I could settle later.”
Silas laughed bitterly.
“Your favorite sentence.”
Then:
“What are you doing with the car?”
“I’m making sure she doesn’t get far.”
Thaddeus stopped breathing.
Silas:
“Wallace.”
“The brake line won’t fail. I know what I’m doing.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m loosening the reservoir cap and draining enough fluid to scare her. She’ll lose pressure, pull over, call someone.”
“You cannot guarantee that.”
“She’s driving city roads.”
“No. She’s taking Route 27.”
Silence.
Wallace:
“What?”
“To Margaret’s hotel.”
Another pause.
“Then I’ll do less.”
Silas:
“Do nothing.”
Wallace:
“If Evelyn reaches Margaret, this becomes litigation by morning.”
“So let it.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand prison.”
Wallace:
“Not for you.”
Silas’s voice changed.
“What?”
“You notarized the transfer.”
Silence.
Thaddeus looked at Mara.
Silas had been involved decades earlier too.
Not merely protecting Wallace later.
He had helped forge Margaret Avery’s signature.
Wallace continued:
“If this comes out, you go down with me.”
Silas:
“You bastard.”
“Help me.”
The recording stopped.
Then resumed perhaps twenty minutes later.
Silas sounded panicked.
“You drained too much.”
Wallace:
“No.”
“You did.”
“I measured it.”
“The cap—”
“I tightened it.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Wallace:
“She’ll notice the warning light.”
Silas:
“And if she doesn’t?”
Silence.
Then Wallace:
“She will.”
The file ended.
Thaddeus removed the headphones.
He could not speak.
Mara sat across from him.
“Your father intended to disable the brakes enough to force Evelyn to stop.”
“He killed her.”
“Legally, if his actions caused the crash, yes.”
“He knew.”
“He may not have intended death.”
Thaddeus looked at her.
“Does that matter to Evelyn?”
“No.”
He appreciated the answer.
“What about Silas?”
“The recording shows he knew and helped conceal prior fraud. His role in the car interference remains under investigation.”
“He handed Dad a tool.”
“Yes.”
“He knew what was happening.”
“Yes.”
“And then helped cover it up.”
“Yes.”
“Tabitha burned evidence.”
“Yes.”
Thaddeus stared at the table.
His entire family structure had changed.
Father.
Sister.
Attorney.
Money.
Even Grayson’s trust.
All tied together by people deciding consequences were worse than wrongdoing.
“What happens now?”
“Silas is facing fraud, conspiracy, obstruction, and potentially charges connected to Evelyn’s death.”
“Tabitha?”
“Fraud, conspiracy, child-abuse-related charges. Her cooperation may affect sentencing.”
“And my father?”
Mara said nothing.
Dead men were not prosecuted.
That almost made Thaddeus angry.
Wallace had escaped court.
But not truth.
Mara pushed another document toward him.
“There is one thing you need to decide.”
“What?”
“Margaret Avery’s ownership claim.”
Thaddeus looked up.
“Decide?”
“She has a strong civil case against Mercer Holdings.”
“How strong?”
“Very.”
“How much?”
“Potentially hundreds of millions, depending on valuation.”
Thaddeus almost laughed.
Wallace had done everything to protect the fortune.
Now the truth might dismantle it anyway.
“Does Grayson’s trust belong to her?”
“Partially complicated. But Margaret has already told us she does not intend to seek Grayson’s trust assets.”
“Why?”
“She says Wallace created it to repay part of what Evelyn should have inherited.”
Thaddeus’s eyes filled.
Margaret knew.
“What does she want?”
“To meet you.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
Two days later, Margaret arrived.
Eighty-one.
Thin.
Sharp-eyed.
She walked with no cane despite everyone offering assistance.
When she saw Grayson’s photograph in the foyer, she stopped.
“He has Jonathan’s mouth.”
Thaddeus stared.
This woman was Grayson’s great-grandmother.
A biological connection Evelyn herself learned only weeks before death.
“I’m sorry,” Thaddeus said.
Margaret looked at him.
“For what?”
“My family.”
“You didn’t forge my name.”
“My father did.”
“Yes.”
“You married my granddaughter without knowing.”
“Yes.”
“And she died because she tried to fix what he did.”
Margaret’s expression softened.
“She died because men thought truth was more dangerous than fraud.”
Thaddeus absorbed that.
She continued:
“Don’t make the same mistake.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Tell everything.”
“Even if it destroys Mercer Holdings?”
“Will it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then tell everything and find out.”
Thaddeus thought of shareholders.
Employees.
Reputation.
The same excuses Wallace used.
Then Grayson walked into the room.
Margaret looked at him.
He stopped.
“Dad?”
Thaddeus stood.
“Grayson, this is Margaret.”
“Who?”
Thaddeus smiled sadly.
“Your mom’s grandmother.”
Grayson’s eyes widened.
“My great-grandma?”
Margaret began crying.
“Yes.”
The boy looked at Thaddeus for permission.
Thaddeus nodded.
Grayson walked toward her.
Margaret opened her arms.
And for the first time in three years, Evelyn’s family did not feel entirely gone.
Then Margaret whispered something into Thaddeus’s ear.
“There’s another letter.”
He looked at her.
“From Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“She mailed it to me the morning she died.”
Thaddeus stopped breathing.
May you like
Margaret continued:
“And it was not about the money.”
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