Chapter 8 - Forty Minutes Missing
Vanessa’s attorney released a statement two days later.
Mrs. Carter categorically denies intentionally harming Nora. She is devastated by the accident and believes public speculation is interfering with a fair investigation.
Daniel read it once.
Then threw the newspaper away.
Monroe warned him not to respond publicly.
Adrian Lane was saying even less.
He had hired a criminal attorney.
Northline Partners denied knowledge of any wrongdoing and suspended all dealings with him.
The financial investigation widened.
Daniel’s company attorney discovered that someone had used Daniel’s scanned signature on a preliminary Northline term sheet.
Daniel had never signed it.
The forensic document examiner could not yet say who created the file.
But metadata showed it originated on a laptop registered to Vanessa.
Daniel felt each discovery removing another brick from the life he thought he had.
Marriage.
Home.
Trust.
Business.
Nothing remained untouched.
Rebecca Hale arranged for an independent trustee to assume temporary control of Nora’s property interests.
Daniel agreed immediately.
“You don’t have to give up your trustee authority permanently,” Rebecca said.
“I want another adult between Nora’s money and anyone who wants something from me.”
Rebecca studied him.
“That includes you?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
That was the first decision Daniel had made since Halloween that made him feel less powerless.
Later that afternoon Monroe arrived with news.
Vanessa had changed her story.
Initially she claimed the ladder had already been removed.
Now she admitted moving it.
“She says Nora had already fallen into the pool accidentally,” Monroe explained. “Vanessa claims she panicked and removed the ladder because she thought it was unstable.”
Daniel stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“No.”
“Then why wouldn’t she help Nora?”
“She claims she ran inside to get a flotation device.”
“For four hours?”
Monroe’s expression remained neutral.
“Her attorney says trauma distorted her memory.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“What about coming back at six?”
“She says she returned to check the house after realizing she had left her purse.”
“She went to the pool.”
“We can place her at the property, not at the water itself.”
“Her earbud was beside the hedge.”
“I know.”
Daniel paced.
“What about what Nora heard?”
“‘Rest in peace’?”
“Yes.”
“That may become important.”
“May?”
“Daniel, prosecutors do not get to build cases from anger. They build them from admissible evidence.”
He stopped.
“I know.”
“You don’t have to like it.”
“I don’t.”
Monroe almost smiled.
Then her phone rang.
She listened for nearly a minute.
Her expression sharpened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send it.”
She hung up.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
Monroe looked at him.
“Northline’s internal compliance team found a side agreement.”
“With Adrian?”
“With Adrian and an entity called V Lane Advisory.”
Daniel sat.
Monroe continued.
“The agreement says Vanessa receives an additional bonus if the property closes without trust restrictions.”
“How much?”
“Another six hundred thousand.”
The room seemed suddenly small.
“So nearly one and a half million total.”
“Approximately.”
Daniel stared toward the window.
Nora was outside drawing chalk circles on Claire’s driveway.
Money.
He had spent days trying to understand how anyone could do what Vanessa had done.
Now there was a number attached to it.
But even the number did not explain everything.
Jealousy did not explain everything.
Money did not explain everything.
Vanessa had returned.
That remained the detail Daniel could not escape.
She had been given a second chance to save Nora.
She chose not to.
Monroe placed one more document on the table.
“Northline also found this.”
It was an internal email from Adrian.
Subject: Contingency.
The message was short.
If Halloween fails, we wait. Do not improvise another solution.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“If Halloween fails?”
Monroe nodded.
“Sent six days before Nora went into the pool.”
Daniel looked up.
“Another solution?”
“That’s what we need to understand.”
For the first time, Daniel wondered whether the pool had been Vanessa’s first plan.
May you like
Or simply the one she finally used.
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