Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO GAVE THE EULOGY
Graham Voss lived in Santa Barbara.
He was seventy-four.
Gray-haired.
Elegant.
Frequently photographed at medical philanthropy events.
He had worked with Maren’s father for twenty-eight years.
Maren called him Uncle Graham as a child.
He sent flowers every birthday.
After her accident, he visited twice.
He told her.
“Your father would be proud of your strength.”
Now investigators found thirty-seven calls between Reed and Graham during the six months before the crash.
Reed had told Maren they barely knew each other.
Another lie.
Evelyn explained the past.
Fifteen years earlier, Graham had joined two outside investors in a plan to force Evelyn out of Whitaker Medical.
Evelyn controlled a special voting block through her family trust.
She discovered hidden kickbacks connected to hospital equipment contracts.
Before she could present the evidence, her aircraft was sabotaged.
But Evelyn never boarded.
Her security chief discovered the tampering hours before departure.
Maren’s father made an impossible decision.
Expose the threat and risk the conspirators reaching their daughter.
Or stage Evelyn’s death and move her into protective anonymity while they gathered evidence.
They chose the second.
The aircraft departed unmanned except for remote test equipment.
It crashed over water.
Publicly, Evelyn was listed aboard.
Privately, she disappeared.
“Why didn’t you come back after they were gone?”
Maren asked.
“They weren’t gone.”
“Graham stayed.”
“He made himself indispensable.”
“And your father believed someone else inside the family was feeding him information.”
“Who?”
“We never knew.”
Until now.
Celeste.
Maren felt cold.
“She was fourteen.”
“Then.”
Evelyn said.
“She may not have been involved then.”
“But years later?”
Evelyn opened another file.
Celeste had received payments from a Voss-controlled trust for nine years.
The first payment arrived three months after Maren’s accident.
$50,000.
Then $75,000.
Then $120,000.
Maren whispered.
“She said Dad’s estate paid her allowance.”
“No.”
“Your father’s will cut her off from direct control because he was concerned about her spending.”
“Graham replaced the money.”
“Why?”
May you like
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
“Because resentment is easier to purchase when someone already believes she deserves what you have.”
