Chapter 6 - The Woman in the HospitalThe hospital’s security footage showed a woman in her early forties.
Brown hair.
Navy dress.
Baseball cap when she entered.
No cap when she walked into Sophie’s room.
She carried flowers.
She looked ordinary.
That was what made her dangerous.
Daniel stood beside Officer Shaw watching the footage.
“Do you recognize her?”
“No.”
“Your mother?”
“I’ll ask.”
Daniel didn’t want Margaret anywhere near Sophie.
So Shaw showed Margaret a still photograph at the mansion.
Margaret claimed she had never seen the woman.
Daniel did not believe her.
Nolan claimed the same.
Daniel believed him slightly more.
Sophie described the encounter from her hospital bed.
“She said Mommy sent her.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“What exactly?”
“She said Mommy wanted her to get something.”
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Sophie looked almost offended.
“Mommy’s dead.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Right.”
“The lady said she knew Mommy before.”
“What did she ask?”
“Where I hid the copy.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“Did you tell her?”
Sophie shook her head.
“She said Grandma told her I made one.”
That changed everything.
The stranger had direct knowledge from Margaret.
Unless Margaret had told someone who told someone else.
“What else?”
“She said Daddy Bear.”
Daniel stared.
“She knew about the bear?”
Sophie nodded.
That information was extremely limited.
Sophie.
Daniel.
Margaret.
Police.
Possibly Nolan after Daniel mentioned finding it.
Someone had leaked information almost immediately.
“What did you say?”
“That Grandma already cut him.”
Sophie’s voice trembled.
Daniel took her hand.
“You did perfectly.”
“She got mad.”
“What did she do?”
“She squeezed my arm.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Hard?”
“A little.”
“Then?”
“A nurse came.”
The woman left.
Hospital cameras tracked her into the parking garage.
She got into a silver Lexus.
License plate stolen.
Professional.
Not random.
Daniel began thinking about Claire’s work.
“She investigated people,” he told Shaw.
“Financial misconduct?”
“Mostly nonprofits and donor fraud.”
“Could the woman be connected to a previous case?”
“Maybe.”
He opened Claire’s old contacts.
Hundreds of names.
Nothing obvious.
Then Sophie said:
“She had Mommy’s bracelet.”
Daniel turned.
“What bracelet?”
“The red one.”
Claire wore a thin red leather bracelet almost every day.
Sophie had made it at summer camp.
After Claire died, Daniel had searched for it.
Never found.
“You’re sure?”
Sophie nodded.
“It had my S bead.”
Daniel’s skin prickled.
This woman possessed something Claire was wearing close to the time she died.
“Did she say where she got it?”
“She said Mommy gave it to her.”
Daniel looked at Shaw.
“Claire may have met her before the accident.”
Police pulled Claire’s final phone records.
Most were familiar.
Daniel.
Nolan.
Margaret.
A colleague.
Then one number repeated five times during the week before her death.
Unregistered prepaid line.
The final call occurred twenty-six minutes before Claire’s crash.
Seven minutes long.
Police had never considered it relevant because Claire’s crash was ruled accidental.
Shaw ordered historical records.
Daniel returned home that evening without Sophie.
She remained overnight for observation.
He hated leaving.
But he needed clothes for her.
Margaret was still at the mansion under instruction not to contact Sophie.
She sat in the library.
“Who is the woman?”
“I told police I don’t know.”
“She knew Sophie had copied the recording.”
Margaret looked toward the fireplace.
Daniel stepped closer.
“She knew about Daddy Bear.”
Margaret’s face remained still.
“Who did you tell?”
“No one.”
“Nolan?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Prove it.”
Daniel stared.
“You nearly killed my daughter and you’re still playing games.”
Margaret stood.
“I did not push Sophie.”
“Then look at me and tell me she lied.”
“She is confused.”
“Look at me.”
Margaret did.
“Sophie slipped.”
Daniel almost admired the commitment.
Almost.
Then he saw something on Margaret’s desk.
A photograph.
Old.
Claire standing beside the mysterious hospital woman.
Daniel grabbed it.
Margaret moved too late.
“Who is she?”
Her face drained.
“You said you didn’t know her.”
Margaret reached for the photograph.
Daniel pulled it away.
On the back, Claire had written:
Rachel — Palm Beach, 2024.
“Rachel who?”
Margaret sat down.
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Who is she?”
“Rachel Vale.”
“What does she do?”
Margaret looked defeated.
“She worked for your father.”
“In what capacity?”
“Private financial consultant.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Bellmere?”
Margaret said nothing.
“Does she control Bellmere Environmental Holdings?”
Margaret’s silence was the answer.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You spoke to her.”
“No.”
“She knew about the recording.”
“I did not tell her.”
“Then who did?”
Margaret looked toward the doorway.
For the first time all day, she looked genuinely afraid.
“Nolan.”
Daniel frowned.
“You said Nolan didn’t know.”
“I lied.”
“At least we’re making progress.”
Margaret ignored the sarcasm.
“Nolan contacted Rachel after I called him.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire’s recording doesn’t only implicate me.”
Daniel stopped.
“Who else?”
Margaret looked directly at him.
“Rachel.”
Daniel’s pulse accelerated.
“And Nolan?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with something Daniel had not expected.
Pity.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
The family attorney who had been “helping” Claire investigate the missing money had apparently been part of the scheme she was investigating.
Then Margaret whispered:
“And your father.”
May you like
The theft wasn’t something Claire discovered after Robert became ill.
It had started with Robert himself.
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