Chapter 13 - THE SECRET HIDDEN BENEATH RACHEL’S WILL
By noon, two squad cars were parked permanently outside Noah’s school, and another sat at the foot of the Hartwell driveway. Detective Miller sat in Daniel’s study, his notebook open, looking exhausted.
"The woman who showed up at the school wasn't Victoria," Miller said, rubbing his temple. "We pulled the security feed. It was a paid courier carrying forged authorization documents with Daniel's signature. High-end forgery. Victoria’s alibi is airtight; she was sitting in her attorney’s high-rise office in downtown Manhattan having breakfast when the incident occurred."
"She coordinated it!" Claire cried out, pacing behind the desk. "She sat in a glass office while orchestrating terror against a five-year-old boy!"
"We know that, Claire. But legally, she’s insulating herself behind cutouts and shell companies," Miller sighed. "And regarding this tape..." He tapped the plastic evidence bag containing the cassette. "My superiors won't authorize a warrant to seize her private property based on an unmarked package delivered without chain of custody. It could be planted. It could be a hoax."
The police left an hour later, offering increased patrols and empty promises.
Daniel locked himself in the master bedroom. Claire, unable to sit in the suffocating silence, went down to the basement archives where her mother’s belongings were stored in vacuum-sealed plastic bins. If Victoria had been circling their family before Rachel died, there had to be breadcrumbs. Rachel had been an investigative journalist; she never threw away a receipt, a planner, or an appointment card.
Claire dug through a box labeled *Rachel — Freelance / 2021*. Beneath stacks of tax forms, she found a locked leather portfolio she had never seen before. Using a pocket knife from her father’s toolbox, she pried open the brass clasp.
Inside were bank statements from an offshore account in the Cayman Islands registered under an alias: *V. Vance*.
Attached to the statements were surveillance photos of Daniel leaving his architectural firm three years ago. Walking beside him was Victoria, wearing a dark wig, holding a briefcase. The timestamp on the photos burned into Claire’s retinas: *November 18, four months before Rachel fell down the stairs.*
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Victoria hadn't randomly met Daniel after his wife’s death. She had been stalking them. She had targeted Daniel's multi-million dollar estate long before Rachel was in the ground.
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