Chapter 9 - Monica’s Choice
Monica was not abducted.
She met Grant voluntarily at a private restaurant near the James River.
Detective Ortiz learned that from security footage.
Preston felt an uncomfortable mixture of relief and anger.
Monica had gone because Grant threatened her.
But she had still gone without telling anyone.
At 5:40 p.m., Monica returned alone.
She walked into Bennett House carrying her shoes in one hand.
Her makeup was smudged.
Grant had not struck her.
The damage was elsewhere.
“He says everything is mine now,” she told Preston.
“What does that mean?”
“He says I approved the transfers.”
“You approved one.”
“He says there are seven more with my credentials.”
Malcolm looked up sharply.
“That’s impossible.”
Monica laughed.
“That word is becoming useless.”
Grant had shown her copies of transaction approvals bearing her electronic signature.
Transfers totaling $9.4 million.
Monica denied making them.
Grant offered a deal.
Support probate of the fake will.
Sign the Cedar Hollow sale.
Refuse to cooperate with investigators.
In return, Grant would ensure the records proving her original $1.8 million theft disappeared among the other transactions.
“And if you refused?” Preston asked.
“He said I’d go to prison while he walked away.”
Ortiz leaned forward.
“Did he admit creating the transactions?”
“Not directly.”
“Did he admit forging the will?”
“No.”
“Did he mention the real one?”
Monica nodded.
“He said Dad was clever, but not clever enough.”
Preston waited.
“He said he found the promise box three days before Dad died.”
“Using what key?”
“He didn’t say.”
“The brass key was with Isaiah the night before he died.”
“That’s what Ella remembers.”
“So Grant may have found another way in.”
Monica nodded.
“He said there was a document case inside.”
“The real will.”
“He said he opened it.”
“Did he describe it?”
“Yes.”
Her voice trembled.
“It left Ella much more than we thought.”
Malcolm looked toward Preston.
“How much?”
Monica swallowed.
“Dad intended to transfer forty percent of his personal voting shares to a trust for Ella.”
Preston frowned.
“My last version said thirty.”
“He changed it again.”
Danielle whispered, “Why?”
Monica looked at her.
“Because he discovered Grant’s theft.”
The logic became clearer.
Isaiah had not punished Monica by disinheriting her.
He had protected the company from her vulnerability.
“What happened to the document after Grant found it?” Preston asked.
“That’s the strange part.”
Monica stared at the floor.
“He says he put it back.”
Nobody spoke.
Preston remembered Isaiah’s letter.
Do not assume the thief and the liar are the same person.
“If Grant put it back,” Preston said, “someone else removed it.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“Why would Grant leave it there?”
“Because stealing it too early would tell Isaiah someone knew.”
Ortiz nodded.
“He could wait until after death.”
“But somebody beat him to it,” Preston said.
Monica’s eyes widened.
“Then the person hiding the real will really was in the room.”
“Yes.”
Preston mentally reconstructed the night before Isaiah died.
Grant knew the will existed.
Monica knew Isaiah suspected Grant.
Ella knew the fake will was false.
Isaiah knew somebody was coming.
And another family member apparently knew about the promise box.
“Who knew your mother designed that compartment?” Preston asked.
Monica thought.
“Dad. Me. Maybe Danielle.”
Danielle shook her head.
“I knew she hid sentimental things. I didn’t know where.”
“Malcolm?”
“No.”
“Vivian?”
Monica slowly looked toward the hallway.
“My mother trusted Vivian.”
Preston remembered Vivian’s comments during the reading.
Isaiah changed his mind often toward the end.
He called her.
No answer.
Malcolm checked the guest rooms.
Vivian’s luggage was gone.
Security footage showed her car leaving Bennett House twenty-eight minutes earlier.
Ortiz called patrol.
Preston walked into the living room where the fake will had been read.
Vivian Pierce had sat three seats from Grant.
Quiet.
Elegant.
Almost invisible beneath louder suspicions.
Ella entered holding the chess knight again.
“Where’s Miss Vivian?”
Preston turned.
“You call her Miss Vivian?”
Ella nodded.
“She doesn’t like Grandma.”
“Evelyn?”
Ella nodded.
“How do you know?”
“Grandpa said she never forgave Grandma.”
“For what?”
Ella looked surprised that Preston did not know.
“For keeping the house.”
Monica appeared behind her.
“What?”
Ella turned.
“Grandpa said Miss Vivian thought this house should have belonged to her husband.”
Monica stared.
Then she remembered.
Her uncle Caleb Bennett had once owned half the land beneath Bennett House.
When his business failed, Isaiah had purchased his share.
Caleb died bankrupt.
Vivian had spent thirty years believing Isaiah profited from his brother’s ruin.
Preston looked toward the empty chair where Vivian had been sitting.
May you like
The inheritance mystery had just grown older than Ella.
And possibly older than Monica herself.
