Chapter 3 - What Emily Remembered
Rachel took Emily upstairs to a private hotel suite before asking another question.
Owen Price assigned two security officers to the hallway.
The gala continued downstairs only because three hundred wealthy donors had nowhere else to go and no one yet understood whether they had witnessed an attempted theft, a family breakdown or something far more dangerous.
Rachel understood now.
The brooch had been bait.
Victor had expected Emily to panic.
He had expected Rachel to react emotionally.
And judging from the trust committee members who had witnessed everything, he had planned the humiliation carefully.
But Victor had made one mistake.
He had placed himself close enough for Emily to remember him.
Rachel sat beside her daughter on the edge of the bed.
Thomas stood by the window.
Owen remained near the door.
“Emily,” Rachel said, “I need you to tell me only what you actually remember. Don’t guess. If you’re not sure about something, say you’re not sure.”
Emily nodded.
“The night Daddy died,” Rachel continued, “where were you?”
“At Grandma’s house first.”
Rachel remembered.
Daniel’s mother had been alive then.
The Bennett family had gathered at the Hamptons property for the foundation’s summer fundraiser.
Emily had fallen asleep upstairs.
Rachel had left early because of a migraine.
Daniel stayed behind to speak with Victor.
At 1:14 in the morning, Victor called Rachel and told her Daniel was missing.
His body was recovered the next afternoon from the water near the private dock.
The death had been ruled accidental.
Daniel had been drinking.
There had been rain.
The dock was slippery.
Rachel had believed it because grief had destroyed her ability to believe anything else.
Emily twisted the silver charm around her neck.
“I woke up because Daddy was talking loud.”
Rachel’s chest tightened.
“Who was he talking to?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could you hear words?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘You moved it again.’”
Thomas’s head lifted.
Rachel glanced at him.
Emily continued.
“And somebody said Daddy needed to calm down.”
“Was it Uncle Victor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good. Don’t guess.”
Emily nodded.
“I got out of bed because I wanted Daddy.”
“What happened?”
“I went downstairs.”
Rachel could picture the house perfectly.
The long white hallway.
The curved staircase.
Daniel’s office near the rear terrace.
“I saw Uncle Victor outside the office.”
“Are you certain?”
Emily’s eyes opened.
“He had the shiny tree ring.”
Rachel felt something twist inside her.
“Did you see Daddy?”
“No.”
“What did Uncle Victor do?”
“He told me Daddy was busy and carried me upstairs.”
Rachel frowned.
“Carried you?”
Emily nodded.
“He smelled like tonight.”
“The cologne.”
“Yes.”
Rachel had no memory of Victor ever mentioning seeing Emily awake that night.
Not once.
Not during the investigation.
Not at the funeral.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Emily, was anyone else in the hallway?”
Emily thought.
“A lady.”
Rachel’s heart accelerated.
“What lady?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you describe her?”
“She had yellow hair.”
Claire Morgan was blonde.
But Claire had worked for Victor only eighteen months.
At least officially.
Thomas asked, “Did you see her face?”
“No. She went into Daddy’s office.”
Rachel stood.
“When?”
“After Uncle Victor picked me up.”
Thomas and Rachel looked at each other.
“Emily,” Rachel said carefully, “why didn’t you tell me this before?”
The girl’s face crumpled.
“I tried.”
Rachel’s heart broke.
“When?”
“After Daddy’s funeral.”
“What did I say?”
“You were sleeping.”
Rachel remembered almost nothing from that month clearly.
Medication.
Condolence cards.
Lawyers.
Food she never ate.
Days when getting out of bed required more strength than she possessed.
Emily looked down.
“Uncle Victor said I had bad dreams because Daddy was gone.”
Rachel’s blood turned cold.
“He spoke to you about it?”
Emily nodded.
“He said sometimes children remember things that never happened.”
Thomas cursed quietly.
Rachel closed her eyes.
Victor had not simply manipulated her grief.
He had manipulated a six-year-old child’s memory.
Owen’s radio crackled.
He listened for several seconds.
Then looked at Rachel.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The footage.”
Rachel stood.
“Did it show Victor putting the brooch in her pocket?”
“The ballroom cameras covering that section went offline seven minutes before the security announcement.”
Thomas gave a humorless laugh.
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
“Can you recover it?”
“My technical team is trying.”
“What about other cameras?”
“Service hall. Elevators. Lobby.”
“Find Victor.”
“We’re trying.”
Owen paused.
“His car is still here.”
Rachel looked toward the window.
“Then where is he?”
A knock sounded.
One officer opened the door.
Mr. Wallace from the trust committee entered.
His expression had lost the careful neutrality he wore downstairs.
“Rachel, may I speak with you?”
She stood.
“If this is about tomorrow’s hearing—”
“It is.”
“Then say it here.”
He glanced toward Emily.
Rachel shook her head.
“My daughter has spent two years being discussed behind closed doors. She can stay.”
Wallace nodded.
“Very well.”
He removed a folder.
“Victor filed a petition this afternoon requesting your immediate removal as co-trustee.”
Thomas looked furious.
“On what grounds?”
Wallace opened the document.
“Emotional incapacity, failure to perform duties, improper isolation of the beneficiary and concern regarding Emily’s behavior.”
Rachel stared at him.
“He filed that before the brooch disappeared.”
“Yes.”
That confirmed everything.
Tonight had not inspired the petition.
Tonight was meant to support it.
Rachel said, “He planned this.”
Wallace’s expression remained guarded.
“I cannot make that conclusion.”
“But you can recognize timing.”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
“Tomorrow’s review proceeds unless Victor withdraws the petition.”
“He won’t.”
“No.”
Rachel looked at Emily.
“What happens if the committee removes me?”
“Victor becomes sole temporary trustee.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“And gains control over Daniel’s trust assets.”
Wallace said nothing.
Rachel knew enough to understand the number.
Daniel had left Emily an estate valued at nearly eighty million dollars.
Investment accounts.
Property.
Shares in Bennett & Cole Holdings.
But the most important asset was twelve percent of voting stock held in trust until Emily turned twenty-five.
Victor already controlled forty-one percent.
With Emily’s shares under his sole authority, he could dominate nearly every major corporate vote.
Rachel whispered, “This was never about whether I attend charity meetings.”
“No,” Thomas said.
“It was about control.”
Wallace closed the folder.
“I suggest you retain independent counsel tonight.”
“I already have counsel.”
“Then call them.”
He turned to leave.
Rachel stopped him.
“Mr. Wallace.”
He looked back.
“If I prove Victor planted that brooch, what happens?”
The older man’s expression changed.
“Then tomorrow’s meeting becomes very different.”
After he left, Rachel called her attorney, Sarah Lawson.
Sarah listened without interrupting.
When Rachel finished, she said one sentence.
“Do not speak privately with Victor.”
“He’s missing.”
“Then assume he is doing something you will regret if you ignore it.”
Rachel almost smiled.
Sarah had never liked the Bennetts.
“I’ll be there in forty minutes,” she said.
Thomas walked toward the window again.
Rachel looked at the photograph of Daniel and Victor.
“Where did this package come from?”
“There was no return address.”
“What else was inside?”
Thomas hesitated.
“That.”
He pointed at Emily’s necklace.
Rachel frowned.
“The charm?”
“No.”
“The music box key.”
Emily touched the necklace.
Thomas swallowed.
“Daniel wrote three words on the back of the photograph.”
“What words?”
“Emily has it.”
Rachel stared at him.
Emily looked confused.
Thomas crouched.
“Your music box. Did your father ever tell you it was special?”
Emily nodded.
“He said not to throw it away even if it broke.”
Rachel’s heart started pounding.
Thomas looked up.
“The message said, ‘Listen beneath music.’”
Rachel stood so quickly the chair behind her tipped over.
The music box was at their apartment.
“Daniel hid the ledger inside Emily’s music box.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
“What else could it mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel pulled out her phone.
Before she could call the building concierge, her screen lit up.
HOME SECURITY ALERT.
FRONT DOOR OPENED.
Rachel froze.
Emily saw her expression.
“What?”
Rachel opened the security app.
The living-room camera displayed static.
The hallway camera was black.
Then a figure appeared briefly near the entrance.
Black coat.
Tall.
Male.
Rachel enlarged the image.
The face remained turned away.
But the right hand was visible.
A silver signet ring reflected the light.
Victor.
Rachel’s stomach dropped.
“He knows about the music box.”
Thomas grabbed his coat.
“Call the police.”
Rachel already was.
The security feed returned for one final second.
May you like
Victor walked toward Emily’s bedroom.
Then the camera went dark.
