Chapter 5 - THE DEAD MAN’S HANDWRITING
Ethan thought he had misheard his father.
“Uncle Thomas?”
Richard nodded.
“That is his handwriting.”
Natalie immediately shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
Richard did not look away from the evidence bag.
“I know his handwriting.”
Martin approached.
“So do I.”
The officer looked confused.
“You’re saying the person who wrote this is deceased?”
Richard slowly nodded.
“According to every record I have seen.”
Ethan stared.
“According to every record?”
Richard closed his eyes briefly.
Ethan caught the wording.
“What does that mean?”
Richard looked at him.
“It means I never saw Thomas’s body.”
Natalie took a sharp breath.
Ethan stared at his father.
“You told us he died overseas.”
“I told you what I was told.”
“By who?”
Richard hesitated.
“Mason Vale.”
Everything went silent again.
Sophia’s expression shifted.
Richard saw it.
“You knew.”
She folded her arms.
“I know nothing.”
Richard stepped toward her.
“You knew Thomas might be alive.”
“No.”
“Mason told me Thomas died.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
Richard continued.
“The death certificate came from Argentina.”
Sophia’s face tightened.
“Mason was living in Argentina.”
Ethan whispered.
“So Mason could have forged it.”
Richard nodded.
Natalie looked sick.
“Why would Uncle Thomas fake his death?”
Richard stared at the mansion windows.
“Because he believed someone was going to kill him.”
Sophia laughed suddenly.
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Ethan asked.
She shook her head.
“This is incredible.”
“What is?”
“You people.”
Sophia pointed at Richard.
“He lies about a witness.”
She pointed at Ethan.
“You assault your own father.”
Then Natalie.
“You all hide secrets for decades.”
She opened her arms.
“And somehow I’m the monster?”
Natalie stepped forward.
“You staged an assault.”
Sophia shrugged.
“I staged a scene.”
“You tried to destroy Dad.”
“He destroyed my father first.”
There it was again.
The raw motive beneath everything.
Richard looked at her.
“Victor destroyed himself.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
“He forged investments.”
“So you claim.”
“The evidence was overwhelming.”
Sophia smiled.
“Evidence provided by Thomas Reed.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
Sophia continued.
“And now apparently Thomas Reed is alive.”
“Maybe.”
“Convenient.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What are you suggesting?”
Sophia looked at him.
“That your father built his empire by deciding which version of the truth everyone was allowed to hear.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“You are not turning this around.”
“I don’t need to.”
She pointed toward the mansion.
“Ask him why the original Kline authorization disappeared.”
Richard spoke immediately.
“Because you took it.”
Sophia smiled.
“Prove it.”
“The hidden camera shows you discussing the safe.”
“Discussing.”
“Your key was beneath it.”
“A key you gave me.”
“You lied about losing it.”
“I misplaced it.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You filed a competency petition in Ethan’s name.”
“I did not file anything.”
“You handled the documents.”
“So does half your legal staff.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Stop.”
Sophia looked at him.
He appeared physically ill.
“I know what I signed.”
“You admitted you didn’t read it.”
“I know who gave it to me.”
Sophia stared at him.
The marriage between them seemed to fracture visibly.
Then Sophia said something quieter.
“You want to believe I did all of this because the alternative is worse.”
Ethan frowned.
“What alternative?”
“That your father deserves what is happening to him.”
Richard looked at her.
Sophia continued.
“What if Victor was framed?”
Richard’s face hardened.
“He was not.”
“What if Margaret knew?”
“Stop.”
“What if Thomas forged Victor’s signature?”
Richard moved toward her.
“Stop.”
“What if your mother helped him?”
Ethan grabbed Richard’s arm.
His father was trembling with rage.
Sophia smiled.
“There.”
She pointed at him.
“That temper.”
Richard stared at her.
“The exact temper described in the competency petition.”
Everyone understood.
Sophia was still constructing evidence.
Even now.
In front of witnesses.
Ethan released his father.
Richard stepped backward.
Sophia’s smile disappeared.
The police officer intervened.
“Mrs. Whitmore, I strongly suggest you stop discussing this until your attorney arrives.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not currently.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Where?”
“That is none of your business.”
“I’m your husband.”
Sophia’s expression turned cold.
“Not tonight.”
She walked inside.
Ethan watched her go.
He did not follow.
Richard did.
Not because he wanted to stop her.
Because he noticed something.
Sophia was heading toward the second-floor guest rooms.
Not the bedroom she shared with Ethan.
Richard followed at a distance.
Ethan saw him.
“What?”
Richard raised one finger.
They followed quietly.
Sophia entered the blue guest room.
She closed the door.
Richard waited.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
A faint scraping sound came from inside.
Ethan moved forward.
Richard stopped him.
Then came another sound.
Metal clicking.
Richard quietly tried the door.
Locked.
He knocked.
“Sophia.”
Everything inside went silent.
“Sophia.”
No answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
“What are you doing?”
Sophia finally replied.
“Packing.”
Richard looked at Ethan.
There was no closet with luggage in that room.
Richard knocked again.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
Ethan grabbed the handle.
“Sophia.”
“I said no.”
Richard stepped back.
He looked toward Martin.
“Get the master key.”
Sophia shouted from inside.
“Do not come in here.”
Martin ran downstairs.
Ethan pressed his ear against the door.
He heard frantic movement.
Then water running.
Richard’s expression changed.
“She’s destroying something.”
Ethan slammed his shoulder against the door.
It held.
Again.
The frame cracked.
Sophia screamed.
“Stop!”
Ethan hit the door a third time.
It burst inward.
Sophia stood beside the bathroom sink.
A small stack of papers burned inside the porcelain basin.
Richard rushed forward.
He turned on the faucet.
Sophia tried to block him.
Natalie pulled her away.
Water covered the burning pages.
Most had already blackened.
But one corner survived.
Richard carefully lifted it.
A partial bank logo remained visible.
Beneath it was an account number.
And a handwritten name.
T. REED.
Ethan stared.
“Thomas had a bank account?”
Richard examined the page.
“Not just any account.”
He looked toward Sophia.
“This is in Switzerland.”
Sophia said nothing.
Richard turned the damaged sheet over.
The back contained a short handwritten note.
Only part survived.
IF RICHARD FINDS OUT ABOUT THE SECOND TRANSFER—
The rest was burned away.
Ethan looked at Sophia.
“What second transfer?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were burning it.”
“I found those papers in the room.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“In the sink?”
Sophia ignored him.
Richard searched the bathroom.
The trash basket contained shredded paper.
A small pair of scissors.
And an empty plastic sleeve.
Richard picked up the sleeve.
A label remained.
KLINE ORIGINAL AUTHORIZATION.
Everyone stared.
Ethan whispered.
“You had it.”
Sophia shook her head.
Richard held up the sleeve.
“You had the document from my safe.”
“I found the sleeve.”
“Where?”
No answer.
“Where?”
Sophia looked at him.
“In Ethan’s office.”
Ethan stared.
“My office?”
“Yes.”
She said it quickly.
“Last week.”
Ethan looked confused.
“I’ve never seen that.”
“I found it behind your desk.”
Richard studied Sophia.
“You are trying to move the evidence onto Ethan.”
“No.”
“You forged his signature on the competency petition.”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
Richard pointed toward the sleeve.
“And now you claim he had the stolen document.”
Sophia turned toward Ethan.
“You see what he’s doing?”
Ethan stared at her.
“Yes.”
Hope flashed across her face.
Then Ethan continued.
“He’s asking questions.”
Her expression died.
Ethan stepped closer.
“And every time he asks one, you blame someone else.”
Sophia’s breathing became uneven.
Ethan looked into the sink.
“What did the original authorization show?”
She remained silent.
“What was on the back?”
Nothing.
Richard’s voice became quieter.
“Sophia.”
She looked at him.
Richard seemed almost afraid of the answer.
“Was Margaret’s signature genuine?”
Sophia stared at him.
Then she smiled.
“I don’t know.”
Richard’s face fell.
Sophia continued.
“But Mason does.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Richard looked toward the burned papers.
“You knew enough to meet him.”
“No.”
“You knew enough to install a hidden camera.”
“I didn’t install it.”
“You knew enough to tell him the report was inside my safe.”
Sophia suddenly looked exhausted.
“For eight years I watched you sit at the head of every table.”
Richard frowned.
“I watched people wait for you to speak before they spoke.”
“Sophia—”
“I watched Ethan ask your opinion about our house.”
Her voice became bitter.
“Our investments.”
“Our vacations.”
“Our future.”
Ethan stared.
“That’s what this is about?”
She laughed.
“You think I wanted your money?”
“You stole from the foundation.”
“You haven’t proven that.”
Richard spoke.
“The transfers came from your account.”
“Credentials can be copied.”
Ethan asked again.
“Then what do you want?”
Sophia looked at Richard.
“For him to know what it feels like.”
Richard’s expression tightened.
“To feel what?”
“To have your family look at you like you’re a monster.”
Silence.
Richard understood.
“The hallway.”
Sophia smiled faintly.
“For thirty seconds, Ethan believed you were capable of something unforgivable.”
Richard’s eyes filled with pain.
Sophia continued.
“My father lived with that for six years.”
“Your father was convicted after a trial.”
“Because you helped build the case.”
“Because he was guilty.”
“You still don’t know that.”
Richard’s voice rose.
“I saw the accounts!”
Sophia stepped toward him.
“And did you see him sign the transfer?”
Richard stopped.
Sophia smiled.
“No.”
“You relied on Thomas.”
Richard said nothing.
Sophia continued.
“And now your precious Thomas may be alive.”
Ethan looked between them.
“So this was revenge.”
Sophia turned toward him.
“Partly.”
That word chilled everyone.
“Partly?”
Ethan asked.
Sophia stared at him.
Then she looked toward the burned papers.
“There is more money than you know.”
Richard frowned.
“What money?”
Sophia smiled.
“The second transfer.”
Ethan felt the room tighten around him.
Sophia leaned against the sink.
“The transfer that happened three days before Victor Kline was arrested.”
Richard’s face changed.
“There was no second transfer.”
“That’s what Thomas wanted you to believe.”
“How much?”
Sophia waited.
Then she spoke.
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
Nobody breathed.
Richard shook his head.
“That is impossible.”
“No.”
Sophia’s eyes were cold.
“It has been sitting somewhere for fifteen years.”
Ethan stared.
“Where?”
Sophia looked at him.
“If I knew, do you think I would still be standing here?”
Richard’s mind was racing.
Forty-eight million dollars.
A hidden transfer.
A possibly living witness.
Mason Vale.
The missing original document.
Then Richard remembered something Thomas had told him at Lake Vernon.
A sentence that had never made sense.
If anything happens to me, Margaret already knows where to look.
Richard whispered.
“Oh God.”
Ethan heard him.
“What?”
Richard looked toward the portrait of his late wife visible through the bedroom doorway.
Margaret had been dead for eleven years.
But one object of hers remained untouched in the mansion.
An old cedar writing desk.
Richard suddenly ran.
“Dad?”
Ethan followed.
Richard reached Margaret’s former sitting room.
He pulled open the desk.
Letters.
Stationery.
Photographs.
Nothing.
Then he remembered.
Margaret had once told him the bottom drawer always stuck.
Richard pulled it completely out.
Behind it was a narrow wooden panel.
He pressed.
It clicked open.
A sealed envelope fell onto the carpet.
Richard stared at the handwriting.
Margaret’s handwriting.
His hands trembled as he picked it up.
Across the front were six words.
FOR ETHAN, IF THOMAS EVER RETURNS.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Richard handed him the envelope.
It had been hidden for more than a decade.
Ethan broke the seal.
Inside was a single page.
He read the first sentence.
Then his face went white.
Natalie stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Ethan looked toward Richard.
His voice barely worked.
“Mom wrote…”
May you like
He swallowed.
“Richard must never know what Thomas and I did.”
