Chapter 13 - Margaret's ConfessionDaniel didn't interrupt her.
Perhaps that was why Margaret finally spoke.
“I gave Charles the bottle.”
Daniel stared at Robert's toxicology report.
“You just told me you didn't know.”
“I didn't know what he would do with it.”
“What was inside?”
“Digoxin.”
Daniel's stomach twisted.
A heart medication.
Dangerous in excessive doses.
“Why did you have it?”
“Your father had a prescription.”
“Then why give it to Charles?”
Margaret began crying.
“Robert was leaving me.”
Michael looked away.
Daniel said nothing.
“He planned to publicly acknowledge Michael.”
“Yes.”
“He was changing everything.”
“To correct what he'd done.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I had spent twenty-five years building that life.”
Margaret's voice sharpened.
“I raised you. I protected your father. I smiled through every affair. Every humiliation.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“So you decided Michael deserved nothing?”
“I decided Robert didn't get to destroy us at the end.”
“Us?”
“You.”
“Don't use me.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“You forged the will.”
“Yes.”
“With Charles.”
“Yes.”
“And the medication?”
Margaret breathed shakily.
“I wanted Robert calm.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“You gave a lawyer heart medication to calm Dad?”
“Charles said he could make Robert too sick to attend a meeting the next morning.”
“The meeting with the accountant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“I knew Robert planned to expose the estate accounts.”
“Because you'd already moved money.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
His brother's face was stone.
“What happened?”
“Charles came to the house.”
“The night Dad died?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see him give Robert anything?”
“No.”
“Did you know he did?”
“Not until later.”
“When?”
“After the funeral.”
“What did he say?”
“That Robert wouldn't be causing problems anymore.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And you stayed silent for eighteen years.”
“If I told anyone, I would lose everything.”
“So Charles controlled you.”
“Yes.”
“Then you started stealing from Sophie.”
“I needed money.”
“For what?”
“Charles.”
Daniel stared.
“He blackmailed you?”
“For years.”
The nineteen million suddenly made more sense.
Not all stolen for Margaret.
Some paid to Charles.
Some through Eleanor.
Some used to conceal old crimes with new ones.
A machine that required endless money to keep running.
Daniel whispered,
“And when Emily found out?”
Margaret began sobbing.
“I begged her to stop.”
“What did she say?”
“That Sophie deserved a family built on truth.”
Daniel's eyes filled.
That sounded exactly like Emily.
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did Charles?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“She died naturally, Daniel.”
“Why should I believe anything?”
“Because I loved Emily.”
Daniel's laugh came out broken.
“You terrorized her daughter.”
Margaret went silent.
“Why did you give Sophie the box?”
“I thought Emily might have hidden the evidence inside.”
“So you used a nine-year-old to open it.”
“I thought she knew the key.”
“When she didn't?”
“I became desperate.”
“You grabbed her.”
“Yes.”
“Threatened her.”
“Yes.”
“Hit her.”
Margaret cried harder.
Daniel felt no urge to comfort her.
“I am going to the police,” she whispered.
“You should.”
“I'll tell them everything.”
“Good.”
“But I need protection from Charles.”
“Tell Reyes where you are.”
“I will.”
Then Margaret paused.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Do not take Sophie to the lodge.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Charles doesn't want her because of the phrase anymore.”
Daniel's pulse jumped.
“What does he want?”
“He thinks Emily told Sophie where another recording is.”
“What recording?”
“Robert.”
Daniel frowned.
“Dad recorded Charles?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Emily?”
“I think so.”
Daniel looked at the metal case.
No audio device.
No additional drive.
Margaret whispered,
“Robert confronted Charles two days before he died.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard part of it.”
“What did Dad say?”
Margaret's voice broke.
“He said, ‘If anything happens to me, both my sons will know what you did.’”
Michael's eyes filled.
Both my sons.
Robert had claimed him before death, even if privately.
Daniel swallowed.
“Where are you?”
“A motel near Danbury.”
“Stay there.”
“I will.”
“I'll send police.”
Daniel ended the call.
Reyes immediately dispatched units.
Seven minutes later, they called back.
The motel room was empty.
Door open.
Margaret's car in the lot.
Phone on the bed.
No sign of struggle.
Only one thing left behind.
A handwritten note.
Charles has Sophie.
That made no sense.
Sophie stood six feet from Daniel.
Safe.
Then Michael's phone rang.
Mrs. Benton.
He answered.
Her panicked voice came through.
“Daniel!”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“What?”
“Someone just tried to pick Sophie up from school.”
Daniel froze.
Sophie wasn't at school.
She had been excused for the week.
“What?”
Mrs. Benton continued.
“A man went to the front office with forged paperwork. He claimed you authorized a transfer.”
Daniel felt cold.
“What name did he use?”
“Michael Price.”
Everyone looked at Michael.
His face drained.
Charles was no longer simply hiding evidence.
He was constructing a trail.
Framing Michael.
May you like
And somewhere between confessing and surrendering—
Margaret had disappeared.
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