Chapter 7 - The Lie About Dad’s Last Night
I had spent four years believing I knew what happened the night my father died.
He had dinner.
He complained of chest pain.
My mother called the ambulance.
Dad collapsed.
The doctors tried.
He didn't make it.
Simple.
Terrible.
Final.
Now every part of that story felt unstable.
Mom still couldn't be found.
Daniel called the hospital where Dad had been treated.
I called Mr. Bennett.
He arrived at our house less than an hour later.
When I showed him the photograph, he sat down.
“I've never seen this.”
“That's impossible.”
“I handled the estate.”
“You handled the estate after Dad died.”
He looked at the photograph again.
“This man.”
“Yes.”
“I remember him.”
My heart jumped.
“Who?”
“Your father introduced him once.”
“When?”
“About two weeks before he died.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You're an attorney.”
“I wasn't his investigator.”
I slammed my palm onto the table.
“Then start telling me what you do know.”
Mr. Bennett flinched.
Daniel touched my shoulder.
But I didn't stop.
“You knew Dad was afraid.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about missing money.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was investigating.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“Your father explicitly instructed me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he thought you were being watched.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“He believed someone had access to the company's financial records.”
“Who?”
“Someone close.”
I sat down.
“Was it Gerald Pike?”
Mr. Bennett took a breath.
“Gerald was one of the possibilities.”
“What were the others?”
He looked at Natalie.
Then me.
“Your mother.”
My stomach dropped.
“She was under investigation?”
“Not formally.”
“Then why?”
“Because money moved between accounts she controlled.”
“Did Dad know?”
“Yes.”
“Did he confront her?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
I stared.
“What happened?”
Mr. Bennett shook his head.
“I wasn't there.”
“But Dad told you.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘If Margaret asks you to protect the family, protect my daughters instead.’”
My throat tightened.
“What did he mean?”
Mr. Bennett looked at me.
“I thought he meant the estate.”
“Now?”
“Now I'm not sure.”
Daniel stood.
“What happened the night Arthur died?”
Mr. Bennett took off his glasses.
“Your mother called me at 2:17 a.m.”
“After Dad was already at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Arthur was dead.”
“Then why call you?”
“Because she said there was a man at the house.”
My blood ran cold.
“What man?”
“She said he had been looking through Arthur's study.”
“Did the police come?”
“Yes.”
“Did they find anyone?”
“No.”
“Did they find signs of forced entry?”
“No.”
I stared.
“Because she let him in?”
“Possibly.”
Daniel asked, “Did she identify him?”
Mr. Bennett nodded.
“Gerald Pike.”
That name hung in the room.
“Then why didn't police charge him?”
“Because Gerald had an alibi.”
“Where?”
“A hotel in Indiana.”
“Proof?”
“Hotel records.”
I looked at the photograph.
Gerald beside Dad.
Mom beside Gerald.
Then I noticed something I had missed.
The image wasn't taken outside Dad's office.
It was taken inside.
The building visible behind them wasn't ours.
It was another property.
A house.
A blue-gray house.
I knew that house.
I had seen it once.
Years ago.
At Dad's retirement party.
He told everyone it was an investment property.
But I remembered Mom calling it the “lake house.”
Except it wasn't by a lake.
It was on a quiet road outside Newark.
My father had always told us it had been sold before he died.
I looked at Mr. Bennett.
“Was the Newark property ever sold?”
He went silent.
Daniel noticed.
“You're hiding something.”
Mr. Bennett slowly shook his head.
“The property was sold.”
“To whom?”
“I can't tell you.”
“You can now.”
He looked at me.
“It was transferred to a trust.”
“Whose?”
Mr. Bennett didn't answer.
I stood.
“Whose trust?”
He closed his eyes.
“Your mother’s.”
My entire body went numb.
Mom had owned another property.
A property we'd never known about.
A property my father apparently stood in front of shortly before his death.
And my mother had never mentioned it.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From my mother.
Come alone.
I typed:
Where?
Her reply came instantly.
The blue house.
I looked at Daniel.
He shook his head.
“No.”
I knew he was right.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
If Claire doesn't come, Natalie pays for what I did.
