Chapter 8 - EMILY'S LAST RECORDING
We returned to Emily's house.
The house had been quiet for three years.
Now every room felt like a locked drawer.
I searched the places where Emily used to hide sentimental things.
A recipe book.
A sewing basket.
A blue vase.
Nothing.
Then Sophie wandered into the old study.
She pointed at the bookshelf.
“Mommy used to put secrets there.”
I looked at her.
“Which secrets?”
She pointed to a green book.
Inside the hollowed pages was another memory card.
My hands shook.
The file contained audio only.
Emily's voice.
“Claire, stop pretending you have control.”
Claire answered.
“You're making a mistake.”
“No. You did.”
There was a long pause.
Emily continued.
“I recorded everything.”
Claire laughed.
“You think Ethan will believe you?”
“He doesn't have to.”
“Then who?”
“The police.”
Claire's voice became quiet.
“You know what happens if I go down.”
“Then go down.”
A man's voice entered the conversation.
Victor.
“We don't have time for this.”
Emily said, “You two already took enough.”
Then Claire spoke the sentence that changed the case.
“Your husband signed the transfer documents. He will look guilty before anyone looks at us.”
I closed my eyes.
That was the plan.
Use my forged signature.
Kill Emily.
Let me become the suspect if anyone investigated.
But there was more.
Emily had recorded the sound of someone entering the room.
A ring tapped against glass.
Sophie suddenly spoke from behind me.
“That sound.”
I turned.
“What sound?”
“The ring.”
She pointed at the speaker.
“The man from Mommy's car.”
We replayed it.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two taps.
Pause.
One tap.
Harris listened.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“That's a code.”
Daniel frowned.
“What code?”
“A police signal used by a private security company.”
Harris traced it.
The signal belonged to a company called Northstar Security.
Northstar had only one executive connected to Claire.
Rachel's fiancé.
My own sister's future husband was not just Claire's ally.
He had been part of the operation.
Daniel looked sick.
“You think I knew?”
“I think you know more than you told me.”
He shook his head.
“No. But I know who ran Northstar.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at me.
May you like
“Your father.”
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