Chapter 14 - WHAT EDGAR ORDERED
Nora did not remember ending the call.
Daniel did.
Federal agents did.
The recording captured every word.
You already married him.
Edgar.
Nora’s mind rebelled.
Six years earlier, Edgar had been thirty-six.
They had been married four years.
William Preston was declining.
Edgar seemed worried.
Supportive.
He drove Nora to the hospital.
He sat through hospice meetings.
He carried William’s casket with other family members.
Could he have ordered the chain of events that killed him?
Nora whispered.
“Voss could be lying.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Elaine agreed.
“He needs money and leverage.”
Nora looked at them.
Nobody dismissed the possibility.
Because Edgar’s pattern had become impossible to ignore.
Enough knowledge.
Enough benefit.
Enough cowardice.
Maybe enough intent.
Federal agents confronted Edgar through counsel.
He denied everything.
Then prosecutors showed him the recording.
Edgar stopped talking.
That response was worse than outrage.
Nora knew him.
If falsely accused of ordering William’s death, Edgar would explode.
He would shout.
Insist.
Demand.
Instead he invoked counsel.
Nora felt sick.
Investigators returned to the financial records.
Six years earlier, before William’s first severe decline, Edgar withdrew $90,000 from a personal investment account.
The money moved into a shell company.
Then toward Kristina.
Then Voss.
Then Mercer.
A small portion.
But direct.
Nora stared.
Edgar could not claim he knew nothing.
His money entered the chain before William’s death.
Daniel said.
“We still need intent.”
Nora nodded.
Money did not prove an order.
Then forensic technicians decrypted another Voss recording.
Audio only.
Three voices.
Voss.
Kristina.
Edgar.
Date.
Six years and three months earlier.
Nora sat before listening.
Edgar’s younger voice spoke first.
“He cannot change the trust.”
Nora closed her eyes.
Kristina replied.
“He will if Nora lets him.”
Edgar:
“She won’t if he’s declared incompetent.”
Voss:
“That requires medical basis.”
Edgar:
“Then create one.”
Nora stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
Voss said:
“You understand what you’re asking?”
Edgar answered:
“I’m asking you to slow him down.”
Kristina interrupted.
“No.”
“Don’t soften it.”
“We need him unable to interfere.”
Edgar said nothing.
Then Voss asked.
“And if his health worsens?”
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Edgar said:
“Things happen.”
Nora removed the headphones.
She did not need more.
Daniel paused the recording.
No one spoke.
That phrase.
Things happen.
Six years later, Kristina had used nearly identical language about accidents.
Maybe because she learned it from Edgar.
Or Edgar learned it from her.
The distinction no longer mattered.
Nora stood.
“I want a divorce petition filed today.”
Daniel nodded.
“It’s ready.”
“No negotiation.”
“Understood.”
“No private settlement.”
“Understood.”
“If he wants anything from me, he can ask a judge.”
Daniel gave one small nod.
“Good.”
Nora removed the wedding ring from the table where she had kept it since the first night.
She handed it to Daniel.
“What do you want me to do with this?”
“Put it with the evidence of bad judgment.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“I’ll find an envelope.”
The divorce petition was filed under heightened security due criminal proceedings.
Grounds included financial misconduct and extreme marital betrayal under available state claims and equitable arguments.
Arizona no-fault divorce did not require dramatic allegations.
But asset division would be anything but simple.
Nora’s separate property was substantial.
Edgar would fight.
Then news leaked the filing.
Again.
Someone still wanted public chaos.
This time Nora did not care.
She had bigger problems.
At noon, prosecutors charged Edgar with conspiracy-related financial offenses and began pursuing additional counts connected to the attempted murder and reproductive scheme.
Kristina remained jailed pending hearing.
She finally asked to speak.
Not to police.
To Nora.
Daniel refused immediately.
Nora overruled him.
“Video.”
Daniel looked frustrated.
“Why?”
“Because she knows we found evidence.”
“She’ll manipulate you.”
“She already tried to kill me.”
Daniel stared.
Nora added.
“I think I can survive a conversation.”
The call was arranged with attorneys present.
Kristina appeared in jail clothing.
No lavender robe.
No yellow gloves.
No expensive jewelry.
Without her usual presentation, she looked smaller.
But her eyes remained sharp.
She smiled when Nora appeared.
“You look tired.”
Nora said nothing.
Kristina leaned closer.
“Now you know what running a family requires.”
Nora almost laughed.
“You mean fraud?”
“Murder?”
“Embryo theft?”
Kristina’s smile disappeared.
“You always loved dramatic words.”
Nora stared.
“You put a rattlesnake under my fitted sheet.”
Kristina shrugged.
“You survived.”
The casualness stunned even her attorney.
He touched her arm.
Kristina pulled away.
Nora watched.
“You don’t think you did anything wrong.”
Kristina laughed.
“Wrong?”
“What did you ever do for Edgar besides make him feel small?”
Nora felt rage.
“I financed his company.”
“That made him feel smaller.”
“I paid your rent.”
“That was charity.”
“I bought your car.”
“I never asked.”
“You sent me the invoice.”
Kristina’s attorney closed his eyes.
Nora continued.
“I paid for your surgeries.”
“You wanted control.”
Nora almost laughed.
Projection so complete became art.
Kristina leaned forward.
“You never gave him a child.”
Nora’s voice became cold.
“Neither did you.”
Kristina froze.
Nora saw it land.
“Ava is not Edgar’s.”
Kristina’s eyes changed.
“The twins aren’t Edgar’s either.”
For the first time, Kristina looked genuinely shaken.
Nora understood.
She knew Voss used his own genetic material.
But maybe she believed the paperwork would remain hidden.
Hearing Nora say it aloud meant control was gone.
Nora continued.
“So your precious Finch bloodline?”
She leaned closer.
“It was never there.”
Kristina’s face twisted.
Her attorney whispered.
“Do not respond.”
Kristina ignored him.
“You think biology matters?”
Nora almost smiled.
“You built the entire nightmare around it.”
“No.”
Kristina’s voice sharpened.
“I built it around inheritance.”
There it was.
Her attorney physically recoiled.
Nora remained still.
“Thank you.”
Kristina realized the admission.
Her face changed.
Nora continued.
“My father protected the trust.”
Kristina froze.
“What?”
Nora watched carefully.
“He changed it.”
Kristina’s eyes widened.
Daniel looked at Nora.
This was risky.
But useful.
Nora said.
“Thirty-eight million.”
Kristina stopped breathing.
“Protected from Edgar.”
“No.”
“Protected from you.”
Kristina’s face lost color.
“And protected from any child you tried to use.”
Kristina’s hands began shaking.
“No.”
Nora saw pure fury.
Not grief.
Not regret.
Fury over lost money.
She had just exposed the central motive more clearly than any prosecutor could.
Kristina shouted.
“That old bastard.”
Her attorney tried to end the call.
Kristina pushed his hand away.
“He promised me it was gone.”
Nora stopped.
“Who?”
Kristina realized the mistake.
Nora leaned forward.
“Who promised you?”
Silence.
“Edgar?”
Kristina looked away.
Nora’s heart pounded.
“Voss?”
No answer.
“Mercer?”
Kristina’s jaw tightened.
Then she whispered.
“Your father’s lawyer.”
Nora froze.
Daniel immediately looked up.
William’s original estate lawyer.
Not Daniel.
A man named Charles Harlan.
Charles had retired shortly before William’s death.
Nora had attended his funeral two years ago.
“What did Charles tell you?”
Kristina smiled.
“Enough.”
Nora’s stomach tightened.
Charles Harlan may have betrayed William too.
Daniel began writing.
Kristina leaned closer.
“You think your father was smarter than everyone.”
Nora said nothing.
“He wasn’t.”
“Neither are you.”
Nora looked at her.
Kristina smiled.
“You still haven’t asked the right question.”
“What question?”
“Why did Edgar marry you?”
Nora almost laughed.
“At this point, I assume money.”
Kristina shook her head.
“That came later.”
Nora frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Kristina’s attorney warned her to stop.
She ignored him.
“When Edgar first met you, Preston Materials was tiny.”
Nora remembered.
Nine employees.
One warehouse.
Heavy debt.
Yes.
She had not been wealthy.
“So?”
Kristina smiled.
“He didn’t marry your money.”
“Then why?”
Kristina stared directly into the camera.
“Because I told him to.”
The call ended.
Nora sat motionless.
Daniel spoke first.
“You met Edgar how?”
“At a charity construction luncheon.”
“Who introduced you?”
Nora thought.
Her father’s attorney.
Charles Harlan.
Her skin went cold.
Charles had introduced Edgar.
Charles later advised William.
Charles allegedly told Kristina the trust was gone.
Charles connected both families before Nora had money.
Daniel whispered.
“This started before the marriage.”
Nora nodded slowly.
Ten years suddenly looked different.
Maybe Edgar had not stumbled into a wealthy wife.
Maybe Nora had been selected before anyone knew how wealthy she would become.
Why?
Her father’s assets?
Business potential?
Trust access?
Something older?
Elaine searched archived records.
Charles Harlan had represented the Finch family too.
Nora had never known.
Specifically, he represented Edgar’s father.
Robert Finch.
Robert died eleven years ago.
One year before Nora met Edgar.
Cause.
Heart attack.
Age fifty-seven.
Nora looked at Daniel.
“Do you see it?”
He did.
Another dead father.
Another inheritance.
Another connection through Charles Harlan.
Nora whispered.
“What happened to Robert Finch’s estate?”
Elaine searched.
Mostly gone.
His life insurance paid $2.4 million.
Beneficiary.
Kristina Finch.
Within eighteen months, almost all funds disappeared.
Nora asked.
“Where?”
Elaine traced what she could.
One large payment.
$600,000.
To Charles Harlan’s trust account.
Another.
$450,000.
To Franklin Mercer Medical Consulting.
Nora’s entire body turned cold.
Same doctor.
Same lawyer.
Same woman.
A different dead man.
Robert Finch may have been the first rehearsal.
Then Daniel found one more detail.
Robert Finch’s attending physician at the time of death.
May you like
Dr. Franklin Mercer.
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