Chapter 19 - Caroline West
Caroline West was found the next morning.
She worked three days a week at the bookstore pictured on the postcard.
Bell arranged an interview.
Daniel was not permitted in the room.
He hated that.
Caroline asked to speak to him afterward.
She looked older than he remembered.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to make Daniel aware that two years had passed for everyone, not only him.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“Leaving.”
“You were allowed to leave.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
They sat in a quiet conference room at the Charleston police department while Bell remained nearby.
Caroline folded her hands.
“Emily asked me to keep copies.”
“Of what?”
“Her calendar. Some emails. Notes.”
“Why didn’t you give them to me?”
“She told me not to.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Apparently that was her favorite instruction.”
Caroline smiled sadly.
“She loved you.”
“Everybody keeps saying that right before explaining what she hid from me.”
“She hid things because she knew you would confront Grant too early.”
Daniel looked away.
“She was right.”
“Yes.”
The honesty stung.
Caroline opened her bag.
Bell immediately stepped forward.
“Before you remove anything, tell me what it is.”
Caroline nodded.
“A flash drive.”
Bell documented it.
Caroline continued.
“Emily asked me to keep it somewhere outside Connecticut.”
“Why?”
“She thought Grant was checking her office.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Was he?”
“I caught him once.”
“When?”
“About three weeks before she met him at the restaurant.”
“Doing what?”
“Standing at her desk.”
“What did he say?”
“That he was looking for Daniel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Caroline continued.
“I told Emily.”
“And?”
“She changed her computer password that night.”
“Were you Grant’s source?”
Caroline looked shocked.
“No.”
“Peter says someone inside the house was feeding him information.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Who had access?”
“Rachel. Thomas. Me. Sometimes household accounting.”
Daniel stared.
“Thomas?”
Caroline shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Bell interrupted.
“We’ll examine the drive.”
Daniel asked Caroline one more question.
“Why did you really leave after Emily died?”
Caroline looked toward the door.
Then back.
“Because Grant threatened me.”
Daniel went still.
“How?”
“He told me Emily had left confidential company data with me and that keeping it could be considered theft.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I was twenty-seven.”
Her voice cracked.
“My boss had just died. You barely came downstairs. I was scared.”
Daniel remembered that period.
He had not noticed Caroline was scared.
He had barely noticed anyone.
“Grant offered you money?”
“No.”
“He told me to disappear.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Caroline continued.
“So I did.”
The flash drive contained email archives.
Most duplicated evidence already discovered.
One thread did not.
Emily had emailed Thomas Reed.
Not about Grant.
About security.
Thomas, please stop giving G. access through the service entrance. Daniel can invite his friends through the front like everyone else.
Thomas replied:
Understood, Mrs. Mercer.
The email was dated twenty-six months earlier.
Daniel stared at it.
Grant had used the service entrance before.
Thomas knew.
Daniel returned home without calling ahead.
Thomas was in the pantry reviewing household deliveries.
Daniel entered.
“Why did Grant use the service gate when Emily was alive?”
Thomas froze.
Daniel placed the printed email on the counter.
Thomas read it.
His face changed.
“Sir.”
“Answer.”
“He occasionally arrived after hours.”
“Why?”
“Business matters.”
“Why not the front door?”
“Mr. Holloway said he did not want to disturb Mrs. Mercer.”
“Emily told you to stop.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Thomas looked down.
“For a while.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“For a while?”
“Mr. Holloway gave me cash.”
Rachel had entered behind them.
Thomas saw her.
Shame moved across his face.
Daniel whispered, “You took money from Grant.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
“How much?”
“Not much at first.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Thomas swallowed.
“Maybe thirty thousand total.”
Rachel stared.
Daniel felt anger rise so fast he had to grip the counter.
“For what?”
“Access. Notifications when you traveled. Whether Mrs. Mercer was home.”
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
Rachel said, “Thomas.”
He looked at her.
“I never knew he was stealing.”
“You sold her schedule.”
Thomas’s voice broke.
“My wife was sick.”
Daniel almost laughed at the familiar shape of the excuse.
Everyone had a reason.
Vanessa had Evan.
Peter had debt.
Thomas had medical bills.
Grant had failing projects.
Reasons accumulated until a three-year-old ended up in a pool.
“What happened after Emily told you to stop?” Daniel asked.
“I stopped.”
“You said ‘for a while.’”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“After she died, Grant started paying again.”
Daniel stepped back.
“Did you let him into my office?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you give him my safe code?”
“No.”
“Security passwords?”
“No.”
“Did you know Vanessa was involved?”
“No.”
“Did you know Grant returned through the service gate the day Lily was pushed?”
Thomas looked sick.
“I knew the old chain could be cut.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No. I didn’t know.”
Daniel stared at the man who had worked in his home for eleven years.
The man who had stood still until Daniel finished ordering Milo’s death.
The man whose obedience Daniel had always valued.
“What else did Grant pay you to tell him?”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“Who visited.”
“When Julia came.”
“When Samuel called.”
“Anything about Lily?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“No, sir.”
Daniel slammed his hand against the counter.
“Stop calling me sir.”
Thomas flinched.
Silence spread through the pantry.
Daniel breathed slowly.
Then he said, “You’re done here.”
Thomas nodded.
Rachel looked away.
Thomas removed the house keys from his pocket.
He placed them on the counter.
Then he added something else.
A small brass keycard.
Daniel frowned.
“What is that?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Grant gave it to me.”
“For what?”
“A storage locker.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
“He told me if anything happened, I should destroy what was inside.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
May you like
Thomas looked at him.
“Because after I saw Lily on the pool deck, I finally understood that every time I told myself I wasn’t hurting anyone, I was just waiting for the day I would.”
