Chapter 2 - Anna’s Safe
Detective Collins sent two officers to my house.
Michael was already gone.
His car remained in the driveway.
His suitcase remained in the guest room.
But his laptop, passport, and several folders were missing.
The back gate camera showed him leaving on foot less than five minutes after our call.
He carried a black backpack.
I had seen that backpack a hundred times.
It usually contained gym clothes.
Now I wondered what else had been inside it.
Lily remained under observation until morning.
I refused to leave her.
Detective Collins returned just after sunrise.
She placed photographs on the small hospital table.
The first showed Anna’s safe.
Open.
The second showed empty shelves.
The third showed the broken lock on Lily’s bedroom desk.
“What was in the safe?” she asked.
I stared at the pictures.
“Anna’s original trust documents.”
“Anything else?”
“Jewelry.”
“Cash?”
“Maybe a few thousand.”
“Bank records?”
I nodded.
“Some.”
“What about passwords?”
I hesitated.
Before Anna died, she had kept a handwritten notebook containing emergency account information.
She hated storing everything digitally.
I had left it inside the safe because it felt safer there.
Now I felt like an idiot.
“The notebook may have had account access information.”
Detective Collins’ expression hardened.
“Then we assume Michael copied or took it.”
My chest tightened.
“Could he access Lily’s trust?”
“Not directly.”
“At least, he shouldn’t be able to.”
That answer did not comfort me.
Anna’s trust held nearly three million dollars.
Most of it came from a life insurance policy, investments inherited from her father, and the sale of a property she had owned before our marriage.
I was trustee until Lily turned twenty-five.
The money could only be used for Lily’s education, healthcare, housing, and reasonable support.
Every major withdrawal required documentation.
At least, that was how Anna had designed it.
Detective Collins opened another file.
“We requested emergency records from the trust administrator.”
“How long?”
“They responded overnight.”
She turned the page toward me.
“There have been six withdrawals in the past fourteen months.”
I frowned.
“I authorized tuition payments and medical expenses.”
“These aren’t those.”
My stomach dropped.
The first unauthorized transfer was $40,000.
The second was $75,000.
Then $110,000.
Then $185,000.
Then two more.
The total was $612,000.
I stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
“The withdrawals were approved using your credentials.”
“I never made them.”
“The supporting documents included your electronic signature.”
I stared at the page.
Michael had lived ten feet from my home office.
He knew when I traveled.
He knew when I slept.
He knew every password habit I had.
Detective Collins continued.
“The money went through three shell companies.”
“Who owns them?”
“On paper?”
She looked at me.
“Different people.”
“In reality?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I looked at Lily sleeping peacefully.
Someone had stolen more than half a million dollars from her.
Someone who had also helped create a plan to take her away from me.
Then Detective Collins slid one final page across the table.
A transfer request had been submitted that morning.
For $1.8 million.
May you like
And it was scheduled to process at noon.
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