Chapter 13 - What Sophie RememberedDaniel did not tell Sophie immediately.
He waited until she was home.
New locks.
Police outside.
Margaret barred from contact.
Sophie slept in Daniel’s room the first night.
At breakfast, he sat across from her.
“Do you remember Mommy giving you something before she died?”
Sophie frowned.
“Lots of things.”
“Something she told you to keep secret.”
Her face changed.
Daniel saw it.
“What?”
Sophie looked toward the windows.
“Am I allowed to tell now?”
His chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“Mom said not until you asked the right question.”
Daniel almost laughed from shock.
Claire.
Even dead, she had planned layers.
“What was the right question?”
Sophie looked at him.
“Where did Mommy put the book?”
Daniel froze.
“The ledger?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“A book with numbers.”
Sophie nodded.
“She didn’t give me a book.”
“What did she give you?”
“A key.”
Daniel’s pulse increased.
“Where is it?”
Sophie looked confused.
“I lost it.”
His heart dropped.
“When?”
“After Mommy died.”
“Think.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
Daniel waited.
“Mom gave me a necklace.”
Daniel remembered.
A small silver star Sophie wore for several months after Claire’s death.
Then it disappeared.
“The star necklace.”
Sophie nodded.
“She put the key inside.”
Daniel stared.
“The star opened?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the necklace?”
“Grandma took it.”
Of course.
“When?”
“After Mom’s funeral.”
“Why?”
“She said it was too grown-up.”
Daniel stood.
Margaret had possessed the key for eighteen months.
Did she know?
He called Officer Shaw.
Police searched Margaret’s rooms.
No necklace.
Daniel confronted her by phone through her attorney.
She denied taking it.
Sophie heard and shouted:
“You did!”
Daniel ended the call.
He searched old photographs.
There.
Sophie wearing the star at Claire’s funeral.
Then another photo two weeks later.
No necklace.
Daniel called the housekeeper who worked for the family then.
Elena remembered Margaret removing it.
“She said it was valuable.”
“Where did she put it?”
“In Mr. Robert’s old study, I think.”
Police had searched the study.
Nothing.
Then Daniel remembered Robert’s safe under the boathouse.
Could Margaret have placed it there?
No necklace.
He thought of Margaret’s obsession with Claire’s belongings.
Boxes moved into storage after the death.
Daniel opened every one.
Clothes.
Books.
Photos.
Shoes.
Then inside an old jewelry case, he found the silver star.
His hands shook.
He opened it.
Tiny brass key.
Stamped 17.
Daniel immediately thought of deposit boxes.
First Northern Bank confirmed Robert had maintained box 17.
Closed six months after Claire died.
By whom?
Margaret.
Daniel stared.
“What did she remove?”
Bank records did not specify.
But surveillance archives from eighteen months earlier still existed.
Margaret entered the vault.
Left carrying a document envelope.
The next day, $500,000 moved from one family account into Bellmere.
Daniel’s anger surged.
Maybe Margaret found the ledger.
Maybe she sold access.
He confronted her in person at her attorney’s office.
“You had the key.”
Margaret stared at the star necklace.
“I didn’t know it was inside.”
“You opened box seventeen.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“Letters.”
“From who?”
“Robert.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“You moved half a million dollars the next day.”
Margaret looked confused.
“What?”
Daniel showed the record.
Her face changed.
“I didn’t authorize that.”
“Your signature.”
“Forged.”
“By who?”
“Nolan.”
Daniel frowned.
“Nolan was helping Claire.”
“Sometimes.”
“What does that mean?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Nolan was terrified of Rachel.”
That pattern again.
Fear.
Complicity.
Cowardice.
Margaret said Nolan handled her paperwork during grief after Claire’s death.
She signed dozens of documents.
Maybe the transfer was hidden among them.
“Where are Robert’s letters?”
“Gone.”
“Why?”
“Rachel took them.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
Daniel felt the circle tightening.
“What did they say?”
Margaret hesitated.
“One said Claire had found the original ledger.”
“We know.”
“One said Richard wanted immunity.”
“We know.”
Margaret’s voice dropped.
“And one said Bellmere wasn’t the biggest crime.”
Daniel stared.
“What was?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“Robert said there had been a death before Claire.”
“Elliot?”
“Who?”
Daniel caught himself.
Different story? Wait, Elliot from previous generated story not this one. Ignore. User doesn't know cross-story maybe. Need not mention. Oops we wrote Elliot in current? No, we haven't. Margaret says "Who?" is fine but irrelevant. Daniel wouldn't think Elliot. We should avoid cross-story. Let's fix mentally: Instead "A death?" Daniel stared. What death? Let's continue consistent.
“A death?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked toward Sophie’s necklace.
“A foundation accountant named Thomas Bell.”
Daniel had never heard the name.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“How did he die?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Drowned.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Where?”
She looked toward the mansion grounds.
“In our lake.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Another death.
Same lake.
Same crocodiles nearby.
“What happened?”
“He supposedly went swimming at night.”
“Could he swim?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad believe it was an accident?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas had discovered Bellmere.”
Daniel stared.
The lake had already swallowed one person who knew too much.
And Margaret had chosen that exact water for Sophie.
May you like
Not simply because it was dangerous.
Because she had seen before how easily the family could call a death there an accident.
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