Chapter 19 - Thomas Tells the TruthThomas surrendered.
Not gracefully.
Not heroically.
He demanded an attorney before giving police a complete statement.
But before Bennett took him away, Daniel got one sentence.
“Where is my mother?”
Thomas looked exhausted.
“I don't know.”
“Were you with her?”
“Until this morning.”
“What happened?”
“She realized I had copies.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Daniel stared.
Thomas lowered his voice.
“She was never planning to share Riverfront with me.”
That sounded almost absurd.
“You conspired to kill my daughter and you're upset my mother cheated you?”
Thomas's face twisted.
“I didn't agree to kill Nora.”
“The messages say otherwise.”
“I knew she was going to stage something.”
“What?”
“An accident.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“An accident that would kill her.”
Thomas looked away.
“I told myself Evelyn wouldn't go that far.”
“Because that made it easier to take the money?”
Thomas did not answer.
Daniel wanted to hit him.
Instead he walked away.
During formal questioning Thomas admitted the broader scheme.
Evelyn wanted control.
Thomas wanted Riverfront.
They planned to manipulate Emma into removing Daniel as trustee.
If successful, Evelyn would preserve her contingent interest while Thomas delayed restructuring through the board.
When Emma did not move quickly enough, Evelyn said she had “another solution.”
Thomas claimed he believed she intended to create a custody scandal.
Then came Friday.
Evelyn instructed Thomas to arrive at the mansion at three.
She told him to remove Henry's blue document box.
Thomas saw Nora outside.
He saw Evelyn unplug the camera.
He claimed he did not see the ladder removed.
But his message afterward—And if she gets out?—destroyed much of that denial.
“What did you mean?” Bennett asked.
Thomas finally cracked.
“I knew she was going to leave Nora in the pool.”
“For how long?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you believe Nora could get out?”
Thomas began crying.
“No.”
Bennett waited.
“Then what did you think would happen?”
Thomas covered his face.
“I didn't let myself think.”
It was the coward's version of intent.
But legally, it mattered.
Thomas also revealed Evelyn's hiding place.
An old horse farm once owned by Henry's sister.
Police arrived before dawn.
The house was empty.
But they found signs Evelyn had been there.
Food.
Clothing.
Cash.
A burner phone.
And a printed copy of Daniel's board schedule.
One page was marked.
November 12 — Annual restructuring authorization.
Only eleven days away.
Even after the pool failed, Evelyn was still thinking about the trust deadline.
But why?
She could no longer plausibly inherit Nora's shares if arrested for trying to kill her.
Unless she believed she could still invalidate Daniel's trustee authority.
Thomas provided the answer.
“There is another document.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What document?”
“A competency petition.”
“Against me?”
Thomas nodded.
Evelyn had prepared psychiatric allegations claiming Daniel had become unstable after his father's death.
She had gathered old therapy records from his divorce.
Angry emails.
A video of Daniel shouting during a board dispute.
Financial decisions stripped of context.
She intended to argue that Daniel was unfit to control Nora's trust.
“Who helped her?” Daniel asked.
Thomas hesitated.
Then named someone Daniel never expected.
Margaret.
Daniel's aunt.
Henry's younger sister.
The woman who had called days earlier urging Daniel to trust his mother.
Margaret was not merely sympathetic to Evelyn.
She was part of the plan.
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And under Henry's trust, if Daniel were removed as trustee and Evelyn were disqualified, the next successor trustee was—
Margaret Mercer.
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