Chapter 5 - The Woman Everyone BelievedBy noon, Claire Landry had become very cooperative.
That was how Deputy Ortiz described it.
Richard knew better.
Claire was adjusting.
For years, her greatest weapon had been knowing more than everyone else in the room.
Now she needed to discover what they knew.
Her attorney, Grant Mercer, arrived before investigators returned to the interview room.
Claire sat perfectly composed.
“Am I being charged?”
Ortiz answered, “The county attorney will determine charges.”
“For disciplining my stepdaughter?”
“For locking a six-year-old in a crate.”
Claire folded her arms.
“She wasn't harmed.”
Ortiz placed a still photograph on the table.
Blair inside the crate.
Claire holding the rope.
“That's your defense?”
Claire looked away.
Grant Mercer intervened.
“My client will not discuss the cemetery incident further.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Then let's discuss Bellamy House.”
Claire's head moved before she could stop it.
Grant noticed.
So did Ortiz.
“Never heard of it,” Claire said.
“Northvale Development has.”
Silence.
Ortiz continued.
“They also appear to know you.”
Grant turned toward Claire.
She remained still.
Ortiz placed another photograph down.
Claire entering Northvale's downtown office.
Then another.
Claire with Marcus Vale.
Grant whispered, “Claire?”
She finally smiled.
“You're making routine meetings look criminal.”
“What were you discussing?”
“Investments.”
“In property belonging to your husband's former wife?”
Claire's eyes narrowed.
Ortiz watched carefully.
Then she said, “We opened Box 417.”
For the first time, Claire's breathing changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Ortiz leaned back.
“That's what you wanted the key for, isn't it?”
Claire said nothing.
Meanwhile, across town, Richard sat with Blair in a child advocacy center.
A counselor named Naomi Price used drawings and toys rather than direct questioning.
Richard watched through one-way glass.
Blair built a house with wooden blocks.
Then placed a small toy girl behind it.
Naomi asked, “Who is she?”
“Me.”
“Why is she behind the house?”
“Because Claire gets mad.”
Richard's throat tightened.
Naomi did not react strongly.
“What happens when Claire gets mad?”
Blair moved the toy farther away.
“She says Daddy doesn't like crying.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Naomi asked, “Did Daddy say that?”
Blair shook her head.
“Claire says Daddy gets tired of me.”
Richard felt physically ill.
Blair continued arranging blocks.
“She says Mommy made Daddy sad.”
“What do you think?”
Blair whispered, “Mommy loved Daddy.”
Richard turned away from the glass.
He could not listen anymore.
Adrian found him in the hallway.
“Richard.”
“What?”
“We traced one of the Northvale payments.”
Richard looked at him.
“Where?”
“A consulting company called CML Advisory.”
Richard immediately understood.
Claire Marie Landry.
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand over fourteen months.”
Richard leaned against the wall.
“And Marcus?”
“Separate company. Nearly one point two million.”
Richard laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“My wife and my CFO were selling land they didn't own.”
“Possibly planning to.”
“Using Blair.”
Adrian hesitated.
“There is another issue.”
Richard stared.
“What?”
“The trust provision.”
Adrian opened the document.
“If Evelyn died before Blair's seventh birthday, control of Bellamy House remains with Blair's surviving legal guardian until the birthday transfer.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
Richard frowned.
“Then why did Claire need anything?”
Adrian's expression tightened.
“Because of your estate plan.”
Richard went still.
“If you died, temporary guardianship passed to Claire.”
Richard felt cold from scalp to fingertips.
Adrian continued.
“I reviewed the original plan. Claire requested amendments six months ago.”
“I didn't approve amendments.”
“Someone did.”
Richard thought about the forged digital signatures.
Suddenly, Evelyn's fear took on another dimension.
This was never just about her.
Richard whispered, “Was I next?”
Adrian did not answer.
He did not need to.
Richard returned to the observation window.
Blair was drawing now.
A woman with brown hair.
A little girl.
A stone angel.
Naomi pointed.
“Who's that?”
“Mommy.”
“What's Mommy doing?”
“Watching.”
Richard felt tears come.
Then Blair added another figure.
A man.
“Who's he?”
“Daddy.”
“What is Daddy doing?”
Blair considered the question.
Then she drew a line connecting the man to the little girl.
“Coming back.”
Richard put both hands on the glass.
He had spent the last year believing he was keeping peace.
Between Claire and Evelyn.
Between work and family.
Between his past marriage and his new one.
In reality, he had been absent from a war happening around his daughter.
That evening, Mara called him.
“I found something.”
Richard straightened.
“What?”
“After you left Greenridge, I checked the security archive.”
“The cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Claire unplugged the one behind the shed.”
“I know.”
“But she didn't know there's an older camera on the north maintenance building.”
Richard's pulse quickened.
“What does it show?”
Mara's voice lowered.
“Claire wasn't alone when she came to the cemetery.”
“Who was with her?”
“Not with her exactly.”
Mara paused.
“A man arrived ten minutes earlier.”
Richard already knew.
“Marcus?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
Mara sent an image.
Richard opened it.
A tall older man in a gray suit stood near Bellamy House.
Richard zoomed in.
His stomach dropped.
He knew the face.
Everyone in Greenridge County did.
Judge Everett Shaw.
The same judge who had finalized Richard and Evelyn's divorce.
The same judge who had signed several emergency orders involving Blair's custody.
And according to Evelyn's notebook, the same man who had once told her that her concerns about Claire were “emotionally exaggerated.”
Richard stared at the photograph.
May you like
Claire and Marcus were not the whole conspiracy.
Not even close.
Related Stories
