Chapter 11 - The Woman Who Disappeared
Ellen Price had not actually disappeared.
She had simply become difficult to find.
After Thomas’s funeral, she resigned without explanation.
She sold her condominium.
Changed phone numbers.
Moved north.
Margaret located her in Oregon.
When Margaret introduced herself, Ellen immediately hung up.
That told us enough to keep trying.
The second time, I called.
“Ellen, this is Evelyn Mercer.”
Silence.
Then a shaky breath.
“I wondered when you would find the locker.”
My entire body went cold.
“You knew?”
“Thomas told me.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Because he told me not to unless Robert moved against you.”
I looked at Margaret.
“Robert has moved against me.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Your son called me six months ago.”
Daniel.
Again.
“What did he want?”
“To know whether Thomas had ever left records accusing Robert of theft.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Daniel called?”
“Because I was afraid he was testing whether I had anything.”
Her fear sounded real.
Ellen agreed to meet us in Los Angeles the next day.
She arrived carrying nothing.
That disappointed Margaret.
Then Ellen removed a silver key from the lining of her purse.
“The records are in a safe-deposit box.”
She looked at me.
“Thomas made me promise not to give them to anyone until Robert attempted to interfere with your control.”
“What records?”
“Proof.”
The bank box contained contracts, payment trails, recorded conversations, and one notarized statement Thomas had prepared with an independent attorney.
It was not evidence of murder.
It was something Robert might hate almost as much.
Proof of fourteen years of kickbacks.
$3.6 million.
More than Thomas originally estimated.
Robert had concealed payments through vendors, consultants, and real estate partnerships.
The documentation was meticulous.
Thomas had built a criminal case and then hidden it.
“Why didn’t he report Robert?” I asked.
Ellen’s eyes filled.
“Because of you.”
Anger hit me unexpectedly.
“That was not his choice to make.”
“I told him that.”
“He protected my relationship with my brother by leaving me vulnerable to him.”
“He thought the trust would protect you.”
“The trust protected money.”
I touched the armrest of my temporary wheelchair.
“It didn’t protect me from being trapped upstairs.”
No one answered.
That evening, I made the decision Thomas had avoided.
We turned the records over to federal investigators and the district attorney.
Robert’s old financial conduct was now part of a larger fraud investigation.
The guardianship hearing was still four days away.
Margaret believed we could have Daniel’s petition dismissed.
I wanted more.
I wanted the record to state clearly that I was competent.
Not merely that Daniel had failed to prove otherwise.
I wanted every lie placed beside the truth.
Then Ellen asked to speak privately.
Margaret stepped outside.
Ellen sat across from me.
“There’s something Thomas never wrote down.”
My pulse quickened.
“What?”
“He believed Robert would eventually use Daniel against you.”
That did not surprise me anymore.
Then Ellen continued.
“But he was more afraid of something else.”
“What?”
“That Daniel would willingly let him.”
I looked away.
Ellen’s next words hurt worse.
“Thomas started changing the trust because Daniel asked him for early inheritance three weeks before Thomas died.”
I stared at her.
May you like
Daniel had always claimed he knew nothing about the protection provisions.
Apparently, that was another lie.
