Chapter 6: The Lie That Almost Won
Daniel read the receipt twice.
“Mom, did you pay him?”
Eleanor looked at Martin.
“I paid a private investigator named Martin Cole.”
Martin smiled.
“That would be me.”
“You told me you were licensed.”
“I told you I could find the truth.”
Claire slipped her arm through Daniel’s.
This time, he did not pull away.
“She hired him,” Claire said.
“She paid him to create a recording and frighten you.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“I paid him to check the county records.”
“And when that wasn’t enough?” Claire asked.
“Did you pay Peter too?”
“No.”
“Naomi?”
“No!”
Daniel held up the receipt.
“How am I supposed to know what is real?”
Richard’s voice came through the phone.
“Because Martin Cole is not the man on that recording.”
Martin’s smile vanished.
Richard continued.
“My attorney has the original audio file.
The second voice belongs to Martin Voss, a former clerk at my firm.”
Claire released Daniel’s arm.
Daniel looked at the man in the gray suit.
“What is your full name?”
“Martin Cole.”
Peter stepped closer.
“Show us identification.”
“I don’t answer to you.”
Martin reached for the blue folder.
Marissa pulled it away, and his hand closed on empty air.
Eleanor took out her phone.
“The investigator I hired is sixty-two years old and has a scar above his left eye.
You are not him.”
Claire backed toward the garden room.
“This has become ridiculous.”
Naomi blocked the doorway.
“Where is Martin Voss?”
“I don’t know.”
A voice answered from behind the guests.
“She knows.”
Richard walked onto the lawn beside a silver-haired woman carrying a legal case.
Daniel stared at his father as if he had forgotten how to breathe.
“You said you were in Boston,” Daniel whispered.
“I said that because Claire was watching your messages.”
Claire laughed.
“Now the whole family is performing.”
Richard stopped in front of her.
“Martin Voss was dismissed from my firm after he copied client files.
He prepared the false deed for Hawthorne House.”
The silver-haired woman opened her case.
“I’m Rebecca Shaw, trustee counsel.
This is the original deed, the trust instrument, and the county examiner’s report.”
Claire pointed at Eleanor.
“She could have arranged all of it.”
Rebecca placed two enlarged signatures side by side.
“This is Richard’s verified signature.
This is the signature on the transfer.
The pen pressure, spacing, and final stroke do not match.”
Daniel covered his eyes.
Richard moved toward him.
“Son—”
“You let me believe the house was mine.”
“I intended it to become yours at thirty-five.
I wanted you to build a life there without feeling you owed me.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes,” Richard said.
“I was wrong.”
Daniel dropped his hands.
“And Mom should have told me she was investigating Claire.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor’s chin trembled.
“I was afraid you would cut me out before I could prove it.”
“I did cut you out.” His voice broke.
“She knew I would.”
Eleanor reached for him, then stopped before touching his sleeve.
“I made it easy for her to use your anger.”
Daniel sank into the chair.
Claire’s voice had triggered the truth, but it was his father who made him nearly break.
“You all treated me like a child,” he said.
“She manipulated me, and both of you hid things from me.”
Richard knelt beside him.
“You are right.”
Eleanor crouched on his other side.
“You are right.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Is there anything you want to say?”
“Yes.
I’m pregnant.”
No one moved.
Claire placed a hand over her stomach.
“Eight weeks.
So before you throw me away, remember you may be throwing away your child.”
Daniel’s face changed instantly.
Naomi stared at her sister.
“Show him the ultrasound.”
Claire’s hand tightened around her handbag.
“I said show him,” Naomi repeated.
Claire pulled out a folded image and gave it to Daniel.
He read the printed date, then looked at Naomi.
Naomi’s eyes filled with horror.
May you like
“That isn’t hers,” she said.
“It’s mine.”
