Chapter 9 - “Dad Said He Would Handle It”Thaddeus left the lawyer’s office shaking.
Not from rage.
From uncertainty.
Wallace Mercer had been a difficult man.
Controlling.
Proud.
Capable of ruthless business decisions.
But murder?
Thaddeus could not make the word fit his father.
That did not mean it wasn’t true.
Mara listened to the recording.
“‘I’ll handle it’ proves nothing by itself.”
“I know.”
“Could mean he planned to call Evelyn.”
“I know.”
“Could mean lawyers.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“You’re trying to convict your father in your head before evidence does.”
Thaddeus rubbed his face.
“I need to know.”
“We’ll investigate.”
His phone rang.
Bernice.
“Grayson had a nightmare.”
Thaddeus immediately stood.
“I’m coming.”
He returned home.
Grayson sat in the kitchen wrapped in a blanket.
Bernice had made hot chocolate.
“Dad.”
Thaddeus sat beside him.
“Bad dream?”
The boy nodded.
“About Aunt Tabitha?”
“No.”
“Mom.”
Thaddeus’s chest tightened.
“What about her?”
“She was in the car.”
Children’s dreams often borrowed what adults whispered.
Thaddeus wondered what Grayson had overheard.
“Do you remember Mom?”
“A little.”
Grayson had been five when Evelyn died.
Enough to remember fragments.
Her perfume.
Her laugh.
The song she played in the car.
“Do you remember the night she died?”
Thaddeus asked carefully.
Bernice looked at him.
Grayson frowned.
“No.”
“That’s okay.”
Then:
“I remember the morning.”
“What morning?”
“Before.”
Thaddeus felt his heartbeat change.
“What do you remember?”
“Mom was mad.”
“At who?”
“Aunt Tabitha.”
Bernice went still.
Thaddeus kept his voice calm.
“Where?”
“Kitchen.”
“What were they saying?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s fine.”
Grayson played with the edge of the blanket.
“Aunt Tabitha said Mom would ruin everything.”
Thaddeus stopped breathing.
“What did Mom say?”
“‘Then it should be ruined.’”
Bernice covered her mouth.
It sounded exactly like Evelyn.
“What else?”
Grayson thought hard.
“Mom said she was telling you.”
Thaddeus’s eyes filled.
“She said that?”
“Yes.”
“What did Tabitha say?”
Grayson frowned.
“She said you’d pick family.”
Thaddeus whispered:
“What did Mom say?”
Grayson looked at him.
“She said, ‘I am his family.’”
Thaddeus turned away.
For three years he had wondered why Evelyn had been distant that final morning.
She had planned to tell him.
Maybe that night.
Maybe after meeting Margaret.
He had gone to work before she could.
“Did you see Grandpa that day?”
Grayson nodded unexpectedly.
Thaddeus looked back.
“What?”
“Grandpa came.”
Wallace had told police he was at his office all day.
Thaddeus remembered because investigators asked everyone.
“When?”
“After lunch.”
“Are you sure?”
“He brought the black car.”
Wallace always used a black sedan.
“What did he do?”
“Talked to Mom.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
“Were they angry?”
Grayson nodded.
“What happened?”
“Mom went inside.”
“And Grandpa?”
“Stayed.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone else come?”
Grayson became quiet.
“Buddy?”
“The paper man.”
Silas.
Thaddeus felt cold.
“Silas came too?”
“Yes.”
“Did Grandpa leave with him?”
Grayson shook his head.
“They went to the garage.”
Thaddeus looked at Bernice.
“Do we still have security archives from three years ago?”
She shook her head.
“System overwrites every ninety days.”
Unless—
Thaddeus remembered Evelyn’s obsession with backups after a burglary.
She had installed an independent network recorder in the utility room.
“Maybe.”
He ran downstairs.
The old recorder was still mounted.
Inactive.
Dusty.
The hard drives might be dead.
He called the security company.
A technician arrived the next morning.
“Data recovery is possible,” the man said.
“How long?”
“Depends.”
“Do it.”
Hours later, recovered clips began appearing.
Most corrupted.
Some intact.
The date of Evelyn’s death appeared.
12:18 p.m.
Wallace’s black sedan entered.
12:24.
Wallace approached the front door.
1:03.
Silas arrived.
1:11.
All three—Wallace, Silas, Evelyn—walked toward the detached garage.
No audio.
2:07.
Silas left alone.
2:19.
Wallace left.
2:41.
Evelyn drove away.
She died at 3:16.
Thaddeus stared.
Then the technician said:
“There’s another camera.”
“What?”
“Garage interior.”
The footage loaded.
Thaddeus watched.
Evelyn stood beside her SUV.
Wallace faced her.
Silas beside him.
The confrontation looked heated.
Then Wallace reached toward the front of Evelyn’s vehicle.
Not touching her.
The hood.
He opened it.
Thaddeus stopped breathing.
For eleven minutes, Wallace and Silas stood over Evelyn’s engine while Evelyn argued with them.
Then Evelyn walked away toward the house.
Wallace remained at the vehicle.
Silas handed him something.
A small tool.
Thaddeus felt sick.
“What is he doing?”
No one answered.
The footage resolution was poor.
Wallace bent near the engine.
Then closed the hood.
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Thirty-four minutes later, Evelyn drove away.
And never came home.
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