Chapter 5 - ELIAS’S VOICE
The recording began with static.
Abram sat in a small interview room beside Felix.
Dana stood behind them.
Deputy Morgan placed the audio device on the table.
A digital technician sat near the wall.
“Before we play this, you need to understand something.”
Morgan looked at both brothers.
“We cannot yet authenticate the date.”
Abram nodded.
“We understand.”
“We also cannot confirm the voice belongs to Elias Mercer.”
Felix answered.
“We’ll know.”
Morgan pressed play.
Static.
A scrape.
Then breathing.
Abram’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
His father’s voice came through the tiny speaker.
“If someone finds this…”
Felix closed his eyes.
Abram stopped breathing.
Seven years disappeared.
He was thirty-one again.
He was standing beside his father in the workshop.
He could smell sawdust.
Coffee.
Engine oil.
Elias continued.
“I don’t know how long she has been doing it.”
A cough interrupted him.
“I thought I was getting old.”
“I thought I was forgetting things.”
“But it happens after the tea.”
Abram looked at Felix.
Felix’s face had gone white.
The recording continued.
“I stopped drinking it yesterday.”
“My head is clearer.”
“Doreen noticed.”
Another scrape.
“She keeps asking me to sign papers.”
“I won’t.”
“She says it’s only estate planning.”
“It isn’t.”
Elias began coughing again.
“I saw the transfer.”
“Thirty-two acres.”
Abram felt the air leave his lungs.
The same land.
Seven years earlier.
“She wants control before the development road is approved.”
“She thinks the property will triple.”
Elias paused.
“She may be right.”
“But it belongs to my sons.”
“And whatever happens, Celia—”
Abram jolted.
The recording stopped.
“What happened?”
The technician leaned forward.
“That file is corrupted.”
“Play it again.”
“We already tried.”
“What did he say?”
Felix looked at Abram.
“He said Celia.”
Abram nodded.
“But Dad barely knew Celia seven years ago.”
Dana frowned.
“You were dating.”
“For three months.”
The technician tapped the screen.
“There may be another word after Celia.”
“What word?”
“I can’t tell.”
Morgan lifted one hand.
“Continue.”
The next recoverable section began.
Elias sounded weaker.
“I moved the originals.”
“She will look in the office.”
“They are not there.”
“They are where Ruth used to keep the winter blankets.”
Felix looked sharply at Abram.
“Ruth?”
Their grandmother.
Elias’s mother.
The recording continued.
“If I die suddenly, do not let Doreen arrange everything.”
Abram closed his eyes.
But Doreen had arranged everything.
The hospital.
The funeral.
The estate.
The death certificate.
Everything.
Elias’s voice dropped.
“I made another copy.”
“Martin knows.”
Everyone in the room went still.
Abram looked toward Morgan.
Martin Vale.
The recording ended.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Felix finally stood.
“I need air.”
Abram caught his wrist.
“No.”
Felix looked at him.
“We finish.”
Felix slowly sat again.
Morgan opened a folder.
“We pulled your father’s death certificate.”
Abram swallowed.
“And?”
“Cause of death is listed as acute myocardial infarction.”
“Heart attack.”
“Yes.”
“Location?”
Morgan looked at him.
“Mercy Valley Medical Center in Pennsylvania.”
Felix shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“You saw him dead at Lake Briar?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“September fourth.”
Morgan slid a photocopy across the table.
“The certificate says August twenty-ninth.”
Abram stared at the paper.
Felix leaned closer.
Morgan continued.
“The physician who signed it died three years ago.”
“What about hospital records?”
“We requested them.”
“And?”
“There is no admission under Elias Mercer on August twenty-ninth.”
Abram felt cold.
Dana spoke.
“So the death certificate is false.”
Morgan held up one finger.
“We’re saying the hospital currently has no matching admission.”
“Could records have been lost?”
“Yes.”
“Could a clerical error exist?”
“Yes.”
“But combined with the photograph, Felix’s statement, and the recording, we have enough to investigate.”
Felix stared at the wall.
Abram looked at Morgan.
“Can Dad’s body be exhumed?”
Morgan answered carefully.
“Potentially.”
Felix stood again.
This time Abram did not stop him.
Their father’s grave sat beneath a maple tree on the western edge of St. Matthew’s Cemetery.
Abram had visited it every Father’s Day.
Every Christmas Eve.
Every anniversary.
He had spoken to that grave.
He had apologized to it.
He had introduced Celia’s pregnancy to it.
Now even the date carved into the stone might be a lie.
Dana placed one hand on Abram’s shoulder.
“There’s another recording.”
Morgan looked toward her.
“How do you know?”
Dana swallowed.
“Celia told me she recorded Doreen and Martin.”
Morgan nodded.
“That one is clearer.”
The technician selected a second file.
Doreen’s voice filled the room.
“You were supposed to remove the box.”
Martin answered.
“You told me it was empty.”
“It should have been.”
“What changed?”
“That girl changed everything.”
Abram leaned forward.
Celia.
Martin said,
“Then send her home.”
Doreen laughed.
“She already copied the deed.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know women like her.”
Martin lowered his voice.
“You cannot keep her there.”
“I can keep her wherever I want until she tells me where the files are.”
Felix looked at Abram.
The recording continued.
“What happens when Abram comes home?”
“He believes she left him.”
“You sent those messages?”
“Yes.”
“This is insane.”
“No.”
Doreen’s voice became colder.
“This is housekeeping.”
Martin exhaled.
“And if she won’t tell you?”
A long pause followed.
Doreen answered.
“Then I move her.”
“To where?”
“Somewhere Abram won’t find her.”
Abram stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
Morgan paused the recording.
“Sit down.”
Abram paced toward the wall.
“She was going to make Celia disappear.”
Morgan said nothing.
Abram turned.
“And Martin knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why is he not arrested?”
“We’re preparing warrants.”
“Preparing?”
“Abram.”
“Every minute he is free, he destroys something.”
Morgan stared at him.
“We know.”
Abram leaned against the wall.
Morgan waited until his breathing slowed.
Then she continued.
“There is one final section.”
The recorder played again.
Martin said,
“This is exactly what happened with Elias.”
Doreen answered immediately.
“No.”
Martin laughed bitterly.
“Yes.”
“Don’t say his name.”
“You controlled the phone.”
“You controlled the medication.”
“You controlled the story.”
Doreen’s voice became almost inaudible.
“And you signed the certificate.”
Abram’s entire body went still.
Martin did not answer.
Then the recording ended.
Felix whispered.
“Oh, God.”
Morgan reached for the recorder.
“We’re executing a search warrant on Martin’s office.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“And my mother?”
“We’re applying for a warrant connected to unlawful imprisonment and evidence tampering.”
Abram sat again.
He suddenly felt exhausted beyond anything he had experienced before.
Dana looked at him.
“What about the cabinet?”
Morgan nodded toward another folder.
“We cataloged everything.”
“There are records going back twenty-one years.”
“Bank statements.”
“Insurance forms.”
“Old medical files.”
“Copies of signatures.”
“Property documents.”
“Passwords.”
“Photographs.”
Felix frowned.
“Why would she keep all that?”
Morgan looked toward him.
“Control.”
Abram thought of Celia’s words.
You don’t know her.
Morgan continued.
“One item concerns you specifically, Abram.”
She removed a document.
Abram took it.
It was a durable power of attorney.
His name appeared at the top.
Doreen Mercer was listed as his agent.
The document supposedly authorized her to manage his property and finances if he became incapacitated.
Abram looked at the signature.
It was good.
Very good.
But it was not his.
“I never signed this.”
Morgan nodded.
“We expected you to say that.”
Felix leaned closer.
“What is the date?”
Abram read it.
Three months earlier.
Dana frowned.
“That was right after Abram had the accident.”
Abram looked at her.
In May, he had fallen from scaffolding at a job site.
He fractured two ribs.
Nothing more.
Doreen had spent two nights in the hospital waiting room.
At the time, Abram had found it touching.
Now his skin crawled.
Morgan spoke.
“There is also a physician’s letter.”
Abram took the second page.
The letter stated that Abram had shown symptoms of confusion after his injury.
It recommended temporary oversight of business decisions.
Abram stared at it.
“This never happened.”
“I know the doctor.”
Morgan nodded.
“We contacted him.”
“And?”
“He says the signature is not his.”
Felix slowly sat down.
Abram looked at the two forged documents.
The land transfer.
The power of attorney.
The medical letter.
His father’s recording.
Celia’s imprisonment.
They were not separate events.
They were pieces of one plan.
“What was she trying to do?”
Morgan leaned forward.
“We think your mother was preparing to establish legal authority over your assets.”
“Why?”
“The east acreage.”
“That’s thirty-two acres.”
“Worth how much?”
Abram hesitated.
“Maybe nine million now.”
Felix stared at him.
Morgan nodded.
“We found a draft sale agreement.”
“To whom?”
Morgan looked at the folder.
“Blackstone Ridge Development.”
Abram knew the company.
They had approached him twice.
He had refused.
“Purchase price?”
Morgan answered.
“Twelve-point-four million.”
Abram stared.
“That’s above market.”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
Morgan’s expression hardened.
“Because three-point-one million was scheduled to be paid into a separate consulting entity.”
Dana understood first.
“A kickback.”
Morgan nodded.
“The company belongs to a trust.”
“Who controls the trust?”
Morgan slid the final sheet across the table.
Abram looked down.
The beneficiary name stopped him.
Doreen Mercer.
Felix swore.
Abram slowly lifted his eyes.
His mother had locked Celia in the shed for more than fear of exposure.
Celia had been standing between Doreen and more than three million dollars.
Morgan’s phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Abram asked.
Morgan stood.
“Our team just reached Martin Vale’s office.”
“And?”
“It’s empty.”
“Empty how?”
“Computer drives are gone.”
“Files are gone.”
“Security system was disabled thirty minutes ago.”
Abram felt the familiar cold sensation return.
“Where is Martin?”
“We don’t know.”
Morgan headed for the door.
Then she stopped.
“There’s something else.”
Abram waited.
Morgan looked directly at him.
May you like
“Your mother is gone too.”
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