Chapter 15 - The Missing DriveDaphne denied taking the hard drive.
Marlowe did not believe her.
“You were in Gavin’s study for forty-three minutes.”
“I was looking for documents.”
“What documents?”
“The loan application.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to destroy it.”
Marlowe stared at her mother.
“You understand that makes you sound worse.”
“I know.”
“Did you take a drive?”
“No.”
“Did Gavin have recordings of you?”
Daphne’s eyes shifted.
Marlowe saw it.
“What was on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom.”
“Gavin recorded everything.”
The sentence landed heavily.
“What does everything mean?”
“Meetings. Calls. Sometimes without telling me.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Like box 317.”
Daphne nodded.
Two conspirators collecting evidence against each other.
Trust had never existed.
Only leverage.
Marlowe hired a digital-forensics company.
They reviewed the mansion’s router logs.
A portable backup drive had connected to Gavin’s computer five weeks earlier.
The device identifier matched a model Gavin commonly used.
Then the same device appeared once more.
On the night Marlowe returned early.
At 7:42 p.m.
After she fled the mansion.
Someone had connected the drive.
For seventeen minutes.
“Gavin,” Marlowe said.
The security footage confirmed it.
After Marlowe left, Daphne remained upstairs.
Gavin entered his study alone.
He connected something to the computer.
Then placed it in his jacket.
The drive was never missing.
He had taken it.
Why was he now trying to access Marlowe’s cloud?
Evelyn suggested the answer.
“Maybe he wants to know what evidence you already have before deciding what he can safely destroy.”
Marlowe felt cold.
The bank investigation intensified.
So did the divorce.
Gavin stopped calling.
Stopped begging.
Stopped pretending.
That frightened Marlowe more than his panic.
Three days later, Daphne called.
“He contacted me.”
“What did he want?”
“The key.”
“To box 317?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t know you already opened it.”
Marlowe looked at Evelyn.
An opportunity.
They arranged for Daphne to answer Gavin while recording, legally permitted under their state’s one-party consent rule after Evelyn confirmed jurisdiction.
Gavin called at 9:03 p.m.
Daphne answered.
“You shouldn’t be calling.”
“Do you still have the key?”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“No.”
“The notebook cannot stay in that box.”
Daphne glanced toward Marlowe.
“What notebook?”
“Stop.”
Gavin’s voice hardened.
“The one with my notes.”
Daphne said, “You mean the notes about Marlowe?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“The loan?”
Another pause.
“All of it.”
Daphne asked, “Why do you care? You said the signatures couldn’t be traced.”
Marlowe held her breath.
Gavin responded:
“I said the first one probably wouldn’t be noticed.”
The room froze.
The first one.
The $120,000.
Daphne continued carefully.
“You knew I copied her signature.”
“Yes.”
The confession was quiet.
Clear.
Devastating.
“You submitted it anyway.”
“Yes.”
Marlowe closed her eyes.
There it was.
No ambiguity.
No consulting explanation.
Gavin knew.
Daphne asked, “And the new loan?”
“I told you not to use the same method.”
“But you submitted that too.”
“I was fixing it.”
“You were borrowing nearly five million dollars.”
“It was temporary.”
Marlowe almost laughed.
Every thief seemed to believe theft became less serious when described as temporary.
Then Gavin said something unexpected.
“If Marlowe has the notebook, we’re both finished.”
Daphne looked at her daughter.
Marlowe looked back.
For the first time, mother and daughter understood the same thing at the same moment.
Gavin was no longer trying to save the marriage.
May you like
He was trying to save himself.
And Daphne had just helped Marlowe record the confession that could destroy him.
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