Chương 6 - The Missing Officer
Officer Daniels was found seven minutes later in a locked service closet.
He was conscious, furious, and missing his radio.
Someone had hit him from behind when the lights went out.
That meant the person who took Evelyn's evidence had either been waiting in the service corridor or had known exactly how to reach it.
The police sealed the ballroom.
Guests complained. Phones came out. Rumors spread faster than facts.
Evelyn stood near the bar while Martin photographed the threatening card.
Ethan stayed close enough to protect her and far enough away to avoid being slapped too.
Claire sat on a chair while a hotel medic cleaned the scrape on her arm.
Evelyn watched her for a moment.
Then she walked over.
Claire looked up. “Here to finish what you started?”
“No.”
“That's disappointing.”
Evelyn almost smiled despite herself.
“Do you have copies?”
Claire's expression became serious.
“Some.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
“Who knows?”
“Ethan.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Of course he does.”
Claire sighed. “You want me to hate him with you. I can't.”
“I don't need company.”
“No. You need the truth.”
Evelyn sat beside her.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Ethan isn't stealing from your family.”
“You sound very sure.”
“I am.”
“Because you used to be married?”
Claire gave her a tired look. “Because he was the one who got me out when Halston's CEO tried to bury my complaint.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I received threats. Ethan helped me relocate for three months. That is why the clinic still had him listed as my spouse. He used the old marriage paperwork because it let him make medical decisions if something happened to me.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“That's insane.”
“It was also useful.”
“And you never thought maybe his fiancée should know?”
Claire looked away. “I told him to tell you.”
Evelyn's anger redirected.
Across the ballroom, Ethan was speaking with Martin.
Evelyn stood.
Claire caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There is something else.”
Evelyn looked down at her.
Claire's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
“Your father called me the night before he died.”
The words hollowed out Evelyn's chest.
“What did he say?”
“He said he had found the person above Grant.”
“Who?”
“He didn't say the name.”
“Then what good is that?”
Claire looked toward Martin.
“He said, ‘If anything happens to me, Evelyn must not trust the person who reads my will.’”
May you like
Evelyn followed her gaze.
Martin Shaw had read Richard Cross's will.
