Chapter 6 - Nora's Visit

Claire shook her head immediately.

"No."

Lily looked hurt.

"I saw her shoes."

"You can't know someone from shoes."

"Grandma wears the shiny black ones with the gold buckle."

David remembered them.

Nora wore them constantly.

Michael sat completely still.

Sarah asked Lily, "What night?"

"Two nights ago."

"What time?"

"After Mom went upstairs."

Claire frowned.

"My mother wasn't here."

Lily looked confused.

"She was."

David checked the exterior cameras.

The previous forty-eight hours were intact except for one missing period.

Tuesday, 9:11 p.m. to 9:34 p.m.

Twenty-three minutes.

The camera system showed no outage.

Only deleted footage.

David stared at the log.

"Someone used the local administrator password."

Claire said, "Only you know it."

"Not anymore."

He opened the system-access history.

A device had connected from inside the house.

The kitchen tablet.

Claire's tablet.

She backed away.

"I didn't do that."

David believed she believed herself.

Whether that mattered was another question.

Sarah advised them not to confront Nora alone.

David ignored the advice partially.

At noon, he called Nora and asked her to come over for lunch.

He did not mention Michael.

Nora arrived at 12:42 wearing navy trousers, a cream blouse and the same black shoes Lily had described.

She stepped into the foyer.

Then saw Sarah Kline.

Her smile weakened.

"Unexpected company."

Sarah said nothing.

Nora turned to David.

"Is Claire all right?"

"She's in the dining room."

Nora entered.

Claire sat at the table.

Michael stood near the window.

Nora stopped.

For perhaps one second, nothing happened.

Then her handbag slipped from her fingers.

"Michael."

He watched her.

Nora recovered remarkably quickly.

"You're alive."

Michael's voice was quiet.

"You knew that two nights ago."

Nora looked toward Lily.

"Lily said something?"

David closed the dining-room door.

"Sit down."

Nora remained standing.

"I don't appreciate being ambushed."

David replied, "Neither did I."

Nora looked at Claire.

"You told him?"

"No."

"Then how—"

"Because I broke the lock."

Nora's eyes flickered.

Claire saw it.

"Mom."

Nora looked at her daughter.

"Did you come here Tuesday night?"

"No."

Lily appeared in the hallway.

Nora saw her.

Lily pointed toward her shoes.

"Those."

Nora's expression hardened.

Sarah stepped in.

"Mrs. Bennett, this conversation can end now if you'd prefer counsel."

Nora studied her.

"I don't need an attorney."

"That may change."

Nora finally sat.

David placed the typed threat note on the table inside a transparent sleeve.

"Did you put this under the basement door?"

Nora read it.

Her face revealed nothing.

"No."

"Did you delete my security footage?"

"No."

"Did you receive money from Beacon Family Support?"

That got a reaction.

Small.

But real.

Nora looked at Claire.

"Why are you discussing private family finances?"

Michael said, "Because Beacon is tied to the theft."

Nora turned toward him.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I've spent three years finding out."

"Three years hiding."

Michael's jaw tightened.

Nora continued.

"You abandoned your daughter."

Claire whispered, "Mom, stop."

"No. Everyone seems determined to treat Michael like a victim."

Michael stood.

"I disappeared because someone threatened Lily."

"And what did disappearing accomplish?"

"She stayed alive."

"You don't know that she was ever in danger."

"I had photographs."

Nora looked away.

David noticed.

"You've seen them."

Nora's silence confirmed it.

Claire stared.

"Mom?"

Nora exhaled.

"Michael showed me one before he disappeared."

Michael shook his head.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes."

"No."

Nora leaned closer.

"You came to my house the night before you vanished."

Michael looked confused.

"I never went to your house."

Nora's confidence faltered.

David watched both of them.

Michael's memory was either incomplete—

or somebody had manufactured an entire encounter.

Nora stood.

"This is ridiculous."

Sarah remained calm.

"Mrs. Bennett, Brightwell's security director called David hours after Michael was discovered. How did Brightwell know?"

"I have no idea."

"Claire told you Michael was alive."

"Yes."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"No."

Sarah held her gaze.

Nora reached for her handbag.

"I won't sit here while you imply I'm involved in corporate crimes."

David blocked the doorway.

"One more question."

"Move."

"Why did Brightwell Holdings guarantee the trust that transferred this house to Claire?"

Nora froze.

Claire stared at her mother.

"What?"

David placed the property record on the table.

Nora read it.

Her face changed.

Not shock.

Recognition.

Claire stood.

"You knew."

Nora closed her eyes.

"Your father arranged that."

"With Brightwell?"

"He had compensation deferred through the company."

Michael shook his head.

"Robert left Brightwell two years before he died."

"Benefits can continue."

"Not through a shell trust established six months after his death."

Nora looked sharply at him.

Michael continued.

"I checked."

David watched Nora's fingers tighten around her handbag.

"What did you take from my office?"

She looked at him.

"Nothing."

"Someone took my original Brightwell grievance file."

"I wasn't in your office."

"Then who was?"

Nora's phone buzzed.

She glanced down.

A message preview appeared before she covered the screen.

David saw only three words.

GET OUT NOW.

Nora moved toward the doorway.

Michael stepped in front of her.

"Who sent that?"

"Move."

"Nora."

"Move!"

Her voice cracked.

For the first time, the controlled woman disappeared.

Fear replaced her.

David took one step back.

"Who are you afraid of?"

Nora looked around the room.

At Claire.

At Michael.

At Lily.

Finally at David.

"You think finding Michael means you've uncovered something."

Nobody moved.

Nora whispered, "You haven't."

"What haven't we uncovered?"

She looked toward the windows as though expecting someone outside.

"The reason your father really left Brightwell."

David's heart stopped.

"My father never worked there full-time."

Nora gave him a sad look.

"That's what Jonathan wanted you to believe."

David's voice hardened.

"What are you saying?"

Nora swallowed.

"Thomas Hale didn't merely audit Brightwell."

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She looked at the old report.

"He helped build the system they later used to steal the money."