Chapter 10 - The Night Gavin Came to BriarwoodGavin Pierce had avoided investigators for nine days.
Through counsel, he claimed he had merely processed documents supplied by Richard.
He denied knowing signatures were false.
That story began collapsing when Briarwood’s smart-home records were reviewed.
Amanda had installed exterior cameras after a burglary in the neighborhood.
Richard knew the system.
He had administrator access.
Someone had deleted footage from several nights.
But cloud metadata preserved login history.
On April 18 at 1:13 a.m., Richard’s account accessed the security system.
Two minutes later, the service entrance unlocked.
The camera file from that period had been deleted.
The door lock log remained.
At 1:17 a.m., a guest code entered the house.
That code belonged to Gavin.
Amanda stared at the report.
“I was in Chicago.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Richard was here.”
“Lucy?”
“With my sister.”
“So they had an empty house.”
“Yes.”
Investigators recovered fragments of the deleted video.
Not enough for a clean recording.
Enough to show Gavin entering with a document case.
He left at 3:42 a.m.
Three days later, the first Stonebridge invoice over $80,000 was paid.
Gavin could no longer plausibly claim he was an innocent processor.
His attorney requested a meeting with prosecutors.
Amanda was not invited.
That irritated her.
Eleanor reminded her:
“You’re a victim and witness, not the prosecutor.”
“I’m aware.”
“You say that like you’re not.”
“I’m practicing.”
Gavin began cooperating.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Selfishly.
But cooperating.
He admitted Richard approached him more than a year earlier.
Richard knew Gavin had personal financial problems.
A divorce.
Tax debt.
A failing investment.
Richard offered money.
At first, Gavin only provided information.
Trust structures.
Approval thresholds.
Where Amanda kept records.
Then he processed one inflated invoice.
After that, Richard had leverage.
Gavin’s confession did not make Amanda feel better.
“You worked for my father.”
Gavin had once bounced Lucy on his knee at a Christmas party.
He knew Samuel created the trust to protect his granddaughter.
And he helped Richard attack it anyway.
Ruiz summarized Gavin’s statement.
“According to him, Richard resented the trust because it made him feel like a guest in the mansion.”
Amanda laughed bitterly.
“He lived there for three years.”
“He told Gavin everything important in your life belonged to dead men.”
Amanda stopped.
“What?”
“Your father built the company. Daniel was Lucy’s father. Samuel created the trust. Richard apparently said he was tired of living inside other men’s legacies.”
Amanda looked away.
There it was.
Resentment.
Not an excuse.
But a shape.
Richard viewed her history as competition.
Her father.
Her first husband.
Lucy.
The trust.
Even the house.
He wanted something that proved he had won.
Control of the money would have done it.
Gavin also confirmed the custody file.
Richard asked whether Amanda’s frequent travel could ever be used to portray her as incapable of managing trust assets.
Gavin told him no.
At least not based on normal business travel.
Richard kept collecting material anyway.
“He said if the marriage broke,” Ruiz explained, “he needed options.”
“Options involving my daughter.”
“Yes.”
Amanda stared through the window.
“What did Gavin know about the laundry room?”
“Nothing before it happened, according to him.”
“Do you believe him?”
“That’s my job to investigate.”
Amanda sighed.
“Right.”
Then Ruiz turned another page.
“Gavin did tell us something important.”
“What?”
“Richard called him at 4:26 p.m. that day.”
The washing-machine incident happened not long afterward.
“What did he say?”
“Gavin says Richard sounded angry.”
“About?”
“Lucy.”
Amanda’s stomach tightened.
According to Gavin, Richard said:
The kid still has something. I’m dealing with it.
Gavin replied:
Do not make this worse.
Richard answered:
Then stop giving me reasons to fix your mistakes.
Amanda closed her eyes.
Richard had made the call before locking Lucy inside the machine.
The intimidation was no longer merely connected to the financial scheme by circumstance.
May you like
Richard himself had connected them.
And investigators had Gavin willing to testify to it.
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