Chapter 10 - THE MIDPOINT TRUTH
Thomas Reed had been inside the Saint Claire organization long before Raymond hired him.
The photograph proved it.
Raymond stared at the younger version of his assistant standing beside Charles.
“I met Thomas fourteen years ago.”
Emily looked at the date.
“This was taken seventeen years ago.”
Raymond’s face hardened.
“He lied about everything.”
The lockbox contained accounting ledgers.
Patient billing records.
Private correspondence.
And a letter Margaret had written but never mailed.
Emily unfolded it.
Raymond read over her shoulder.
Charles Whitmore has been diverting funds through affiliated companies.
Thomas Reed is supplying internal access.
I believe they know I am investigating.
If I cannot finish this, Raymond must.
Emily lowered the letter.
Her mother had known.
A knock sounded behind them.
Detective Ortiz entered with two officers.
She read the documents.
Then she looked at Raymond.
“This may reopen your sister’s death investigation.”
Raymond closed his eyes briefly.
Emily felt both grief and anger rising inside her.
Charles had sat at her wedding.
He had kissed her cheek.
He had toasted Margaret’s memory.
Preston had smiled beside him.
How much had Preston known?
That question became the most important one.
Ortiz obtained records of Preston’s communications.
One message stopped everyone.
It had been sent to Charles two weeks before Emily’s brake failure.
SHE WON’T SIGN.
Charles responded.
THEN WE MOVE TO PLAN B.
Emily’s heart pounded.
“What was Plan B?”
Nobody knew.
Not yet.
Then Ortiz received another call.
Police had found Thomas Reed.
His car was abandoned near the river.
Blood covered the driver’s seat.
But Thomas was missing.
On the passenger side, officers discovered a burner phone.
The final outgoing message had been sent to Preston.
One sentence.
SHE FOUND ROOM 417.
Preston’s reply came thirty seconds later.
THEN MAKE SURE SHE NEVER OPENS THE SECOND BOX.
Emily looked at the lockbox in front of them.
Raymond frowned.
“There was another box?”
Emily searched the room.
Nothing.
Then she noticed her mother’s letter contained a tiny handwritten number at the bottom.
B-19.
Raymond recognized it.
“Basement storage.”
They hurried downstairs.
Storage locker B-19 had not been opened in nearly two decades.
Raymond cut the corroded lock.
Inside sat a red metal case.
Emily lifted the lid.
The first thing she saw was a birth certificate.
Her own.
The second was a legal document transferring another asset to her.
A company worth far more than the hospitals.
May you like
And the third was a handwritten note.
Charles knows Emily is not the only heir.
