Chapter 3 - Photographs That LiedThe missing object was a small black external drive.
Claire admitted it at two in the morning.
Detective Ellis had discovered an empty space behind several books in Claire’s study, along with fresh scratches near the window latch.
Daniel stood in the doorway while crime-scene technicians dusted the desk.
“You hid evidence in our house?”
Claire looked exhausted.
“Yes.”
“And didn’t tell me.”
“No.”
“What was on it?”
“Copies Marcus made.”
“Copies of what?”
“Vendor contracts. Payment records. Authorization files.”
“Files with my name?”
“Yes.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Anything else?”
Claire looked away.
“That was enough.”
“No, Claire. Apparently it wasn’t.”
He stepped closer.
“My daughter nearly dies. A drive disappears from my house. My sister’s code opens the gate. And I discover my wife has been secretly meeting a private investigator who thinks someone stole seven million dollars through my company.”
Claire’s voice hardened.
“I did not create this.”
“You created the secrecy.”
“Yes.”
For once she did not defend herself.
“That was wrong.”
The admission took some heat from him.
Not enough.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because the first forged authorization Marcus found was yours.”
Daniel stared.
“Forged?”
“He believes it was forged.”
“Then why hide that from me?”
“Because at first we didn’t know it was forged.”
That answer hurt more.
“You thought I stole the money.”
“For eleven days.”
Daniel went silent.
Claire’s voice shook.
“I’m ashamed of that.”
“You should be.”
“I am.”
“But you kept investigating me.”
“I kept investigating the transactions.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Daniel turned toward the window.
He saw his reflection beside hers.
For twelve years they had been a unit.
Now they looked like witnesses waiting in separate rooms.
Detective Ellis entered.
“We found no forced entry at the service gate. Whoever came in used the code.”
“Renee’s,” Daniel said.
“Or someone who had it.”
Claire asked, “What about the pool?”
“An officer looked at the equipment. The vacuum hose had been pulled nearly twenty feet farther out than its normal position. We need a technician before drawing conclusions.”
Daniel pictured Emily’s ankle trapped.
“Could someone have moved it?”
“Possibly.”
“Intentionally?”
“Also possible.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel looked at her.
“If somebody did that because of your investigation—”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
His control finally cracked.
“You don’t know what it felt like seeing her under that water.”
Claire flinched.
“I was there.”
“You were looking at Marcus.”
Silence.
Daniel regretted the cruelty immediately.
But he did not apologize.
The next morning Renee arrived.
She entered the living room carrying coffee, worry carved into her face.
Daniel had known that face since childhood.
Renee had held his hand at their father’s funeral.
She had defended him from bullies when he was ten.
She had helped him survive the first year after he became CEO.
She hugged him.
“I barely slept.”
Daniel did not hug back.
Renee noticed.
“What?”
“Your code opened my side gate yesterday.”
“I told you. I was at work.”
“Security is checking.”
“Good.”
She looked toward Claire.
“Is Emily still at the hospital?”
“She’ll come home this afternoon,” Claire said.
Renee’s eyes lingered on her.
Then Renee spoke softly.
“I warned you.”
Daniel turned.
“Warned her about what?”
Claire’s expression changed.
Renee seemed to realize she had said too much.
“Nothing.”
“Renee.”
She sighed.
“Ask your wife where she’s been spending her afternoons.”
Claire went pale.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Renee opened her purse.
“Daniel, I didn’t want to do this today.”
“Do what?”
She removed an envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Claire entering a downtown hotel.
Marcus Reed walking behind her.
Claire and Marcus sitting together in the hotel bar.
Marcus touching Claire’s arm.
Another photograph showed them embracing outside a parking garage.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Claire whispered, “Those aren’t what they look like.”
Renee’s laugh was soft and sad.
“Isn’t that what everyone says?”
Daniel examined the dates.
Four meetings.
Three months.
He looked at Claire.
“You told me he was an investigator.”
“He is.”
“Why the hotel?”
“He was meeting a source there.”
“And the hug?”
Claire shook her head.
“Daniel—”
“Why did he hug you?”
“Because I was upset.”
“About what?”
She glanced at Renee.
Daniel saw it.
Fear.
Not of him.
Of his sister.
Renee crossed her arms.
“She’s been lying to you for months.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Tell him how you got those photographs.”
“I hired someone.”
Daniel stared.
“You hired somebody to follow my wife?”
Renee’s expression softened.
“I was protecting you.”
The phrase struck him.
Claire had used almost the same words at the hospital.
Two women he loved.
Two secret investigations.
Both claiming protection.
Daniel suddenly wanted both of them out.
Then Detective Ellis entered from the hallway.
“Ms. Brooks?”
Renee turned.
“Yes?”
“Your office confirmed you left yesterday at 3:42.”
Renee blinked.
Daniel watched her carefully.
“They said you returned at 4:34.”
“I went for coffee.”
“Where?”
“I don’t remember.”
Ellis held up her phone.
“Your car crossed the toll camera two miles from this neighborhood at 4:01.”
Renee stared at Daniel.
He felt something in his chest break.
“Why were you here?”
“I wasn’t.”
“The camera says otherwise.”
“I drove nearby.”
“Why?”
Renee looked at Claire.
“I wanted to talk to her.”
“About Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“Then why lie?”
“Because I knew how it would look.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Everybody suddenly had that excuse.
Detective Ellis asked, “Did you enter the Brooks property?”
“No.”
“Did anyone else have your access code?”
Renee hesitated.
“My assistant might.”
“Name?”
“Gregory Vale.”
Claire made a sound.
Daniel turned.
“You know him?”
“I know the name.”
“How?”
Claire looked at Renee.
Then at Daniel.
“Because Gregory Vale controls three of the shell companies Marcus traced.”
Renee’s face became utterly still.
Daniel saw it.
A fraction too still.
Claire continued.
“And two weeks ago, Marcus found something else.”
Daniel waited.
“What?”
“Every fraudulent contract was approved through Renee’s division.”
Renee’s mouth opened.
Claire did not let her speak.
“That is why I didn’t tell you, Daniel.”
Daniel looked at his sister.
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Because I knew you would never believe me.”
Renee shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Daniel wanted to agree.
Instead, he remembered the pause on the phone.
He remembered the photographs.
He remembered Renee appearing with proof of Claire’s supposed affair less than twenty-four hours after Emily nearly drowned.
Then Detective Ellis’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression hardened.
“Understood.”
She ended the call.
“What?” Daniel asked.
Ellis looked at Renee.
“Mr. Gregory Vale’s company car was recorded entering your neighborhood yesterday at 4:04.”
Nobody moved.
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Then Ellis added:
“And it left at 4:21.”
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