Chương 4 - The Woman Who Sent the Proof
The ballroom seemed to exhale all at once.
Evelyn stared at Claire.
“You sent it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I called you, you wouldn't have believed me.”
Evelyn almost laughed. “You were right about that.”
Claire nodded toward the envelope. “I gave you enough to make you ask questions.”
“You gave me enough to make me think you were sleeping with my fiancé.”
Claire's mouth tightened. “I didn't choose the order you read the pages.”
Ethan stepped between them. “Enough.”
Claire looked at him. “You keep saying that like you've earned the right to control this conversation.”
One of the officers asked Claire, “Why do you have those bank records?”
Claire hesitated.
Martin said, “Answer him.”
She looked around the ballroom and seemed to decide that privacy no longer mattered.
“I worked for Halston.”
Evelyn frowned. “You're a hospital fundraiser.”
“I am now.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning three years ago I was a compliance analyst at Halston Asset Management.”
Ethan's eyes closed briefly.
Claire continued. “I found an internal account receiving money from shell charities. I reported it. Two weeks later I was fired for ‘performance issues.’”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“I did.”
The older officer beside Martin spoke. “We have her original complaint.”
Evelyn looked at him.
The officer added, “It was marked unsubstantiated.”
Claire's laugh was hard. “Funny how that happens when your boss plays golf with half the city.”
Evelyn held up the transfer sheets. “And my foundation?”
“Your father contacted me last year. He had found irregularities.”
Evelyn turned toward Ethan. “Did you know?”
“Yes.”
Another lie by omission.
“How much did everyone know except me?”
Ethan stepped closer. “Your father insisted you stay out of it.”
“My father is dead.”
His voice softened. “Exactly.”
That landed.
Claire said, “Richard believed somebody close to you was involved.”
Evelyn's eyes moved from Claire to Ethan to Martin.
“Who?”
Nobody answered.
Evelyn's anger rose again. “Who?”
Martin finally said, “Your cousin, Grant.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Grant Cross had been more like a brother than a cousin. Their fathers had built the foundation together. Grant had given the eulogy at Richard's funeral.
“No.”
Martin removed another sheet from his briefcase.
Grant's name appeared beside three vendor accounts.
The money trail led from the foundation to Halston, then to companies registered in Delaware.
Evelyn looked at Ethan. “And you knew?”
“I knew Grant was under suspicion.”
“Yet you let him sit beside me at Thanksgiving.”
“I was trying to prove it.”
Claire shook her head. “That's not the whole truth.”
Ethan's face hardened.
Claire turned to Evelyn.
“Grant wasn't working alone.”
Before she could say more, every light in the ballroom went out.
May you like
Someone screamed.
Then a hand closed around Evelyn's wrist in the dark.
