Chapter 12 - The coroner's report had said heart failure.But Michael handed me a second medical report.
Toxicology.
A chemical compound.
Undetected in the original examination.
My grandfather hadn't died naturally.
He had been poisoned.
I looked at Jessica.
She was shaking.
“Who could do that?”
Michael said:
“Someone close enough to sit beside him.”
My mother.
My father.
Jessica.
Me.
I rejected the thought immediately.
Then Michael added:
“And someone who had access to his medications.”
My father.
I couldn't breathe.
“Was it Dad?”
“No.”
Michael shook his head.
“Your father wanted control.”
“He didn't kill Grandpa?”
“He benefited from the death.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Michael looked at me.
“Your grandfather knew your father was corrupt.”
Then he handed me a photograph.
It showed Grandpa talking to someone.
The person beside him was my mother.
The date was two days before his death.
On the back was a handwritten note.
She begged me to protect Elizabeth.
I stared.
Mom?
“Maybe she wasn't helping Dad,” I whispered.
Michael nodded.
“She wasn't.”
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Mom, did you poison Grandpa?”
Silence.
Then she said:
“No.”
“Were you there when he died?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he was poisoned?”
She began crying.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“Because I was told you would die too.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who told you?”
She whispered:
“Your father.”
Michael looked at me.
He had heard everything.
I asked:
“Did Dad kill Grandpa?”
Mom cried harder.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She said:
“Jessica's husband.”
I froze.
My sister's husband.
Tom.
The quiet one.
The man who never spoke during family arguments.
The man who always seemed harmless.
Michael nodded slowly.
“That was the missing piece.”
Jessica stared at me.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Jessica…”
“No.”
She backed away.
“He loved Grandpa.”
Michael interrupted.
“That's why he was trusted.”
We found Tom's old employment records.
Chemical supply company.
Access to substances capable of poisoning someone.
Bank transfers.
Payments from a shell company.
And one recurring signature.
M. Parker.
Michael.
But Michael shook his head.
“Forgery.”
I looked at the records.
“Then who used your name?”
He answered:
“Tom.”
My head spun.
The family web was getting thicker.
Tom had helped my father.
Tom had access to the poison.
Tom had signed documents.
And Tom had disappeared after the funeral.
I called Jessica.
She looked at me.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Then her phone rang.
Tom.
Jessica answered.
His voice came through.
“Tell Elizabeth she has twenty-four hours.”
Jessica looked terrified.
“Twenty-four hours for what?”
“For the truth.”
The line went dead.
A message followed.
A photograph of our family Christmas gathering.
Everyone smiling.
Everyone holding Disney tickets.
But Emma had been digitally removed from the picture.
Underneath:
Some children are erased before they disappear.
I felt sick.
Then another message.
A bank account number.
And a name.
Northstar Children's Foundation.
Jessica stared.
“That's Dad's charity.”
I looked at Michael.
“What's inside?”
May you like
He smiled grimly.
“Everything.”
