Chapter 12 - THE MISSING PAGE
Victoria refused to reveal who had removed the final page.
Her attorney secured an emergency bail hearing.
By the following afternoon, she was free.
Adrian remained in custody because Hartley Development’s financial records revealed millions in unauthorized transfers.
Elena met Detective Mason inside his office.
He placed photographs of the ledger across the table.
“Most of these payments can be verified.”
“The mechanic who worked on your parents’ car died twelve years ago.”
“The former police officer is still alive.”
“Will he talk?”
“He already has.”
Mason opened a recorded interview.
Retired Captain Roger Vale appeared on the screen.
He admitted receiving money to classify the crash as accidental.
He claimed Charles Hartley had ordered the cover-up.
Then Mason paused the video.
“Vale received another payment one week after Charles died.”
“From whom?”
“The transfer came from an account controlled by Margaret Hartley.”
Elena stared at him.
“My grandmother paid him?”
“Yes.”
“That does not mean she ordered the crash.”
“No.”
“But it means she continued the cover-up.”
Elena remembered Margaret comforting her after the funeral.
She remembered bedtime stories, birthday cakes, and whispered promises that Elena would always be safe.
Every memory now felt contaminated.
Mason handed her a copy of Margaret’s medical report.
“Your grandmother did not die from natural heart failure.”
Elena looked up.
“The report says she did.”
“The original report says she had an unusually high concentration of digoxin in her blood.”
“Someone replaced the laboratory results before the official report was filed.”
Elena’s mind returned to Adrian’s story.
Margaret believed someone was changing her medication.
“Who had access to her prescriptions?”
“You, Adrian, Victoria, and the private nurse.”
The private nurse had disappeared the morning after Margaret died.
Her name was Linda Shaw.
Mason had found no employment records under that name before or after her time at the estate.
“She used a false identity.”
Elena asked whether they had a photograph.
Mason turned his computer toward her.
The image showed a woman with dark hair and narrow eyes.
Elena had seen her recently.
The woman had attended the gala as one of Victoria’s guests.
She had introduced herself as Catherine Reed.
Elena reached for her phone.
In the background of one guest’s photograph, Catherine stood near Elena’s bedroom.
She was speaking with Adrian.
Mason enlarged the image.
Catherine was passing Adrian a small envelope.
May you like
Then Elena noticed a third person reflected in the hallway mirror.
It was her attorney, Benjamin Cross.
