Chapter 10 - The Camera Behind the AngelPeter returned home with a deputy present.
Marlene came too.
The house looked almost exactly as it had Christmas morning.
Tree.
Stockings.
Torn wrapping paper.
Silence.
The deputy, Sonia Ramirez, specialized in financial crimes but had been asked to attend because the trust complaint and potential surveillance overlapped with a fraud investigation already involving Vale.
Peter pointed toward the living room.
“I didn’t install an interior camera.”
Marlene whispered, “Neither did I.”
“You had administrator access.”
“Yes, but I never added one.”
They searched.
Forrest’s toy drone.
Television.
Bookshelves.
Nothing.
Then Ivy, who had come only because Peter refused to leave her with uncertainty about her own house, pointed toward the Christmas tree.
“What about the angel?”
Everyone looked up.
The porcelain angel topper had a tiny dark circle in its chest.
A camera lens.
Peter felt physically sick.
Ramirez photographed it before removing it.
The device transmitted over Wi-Fi.
Installation date:
October 18.
Marlene stared.
“That’s when Marcus came here.”
Peter turned.
“Marcus was in our house?”
“He brought documents.”
“You never told me.”
“I know.”
Ramirez looked between them.
“What documents?”
“A possible offer for land I didn’t know Peter owned.”
Ramirez’s eyebrows rose.
“Mrs. Carter, that sentence is going to require considerable explanation.”
By evening, investigators had enough for a search warrant request related to Marcus’s known business records.
Vale’s financial practices had apparently been under state review for months.
Natalie’s ledger could strengthen the case.
The trust petition, however, created immediate danger.
Marcus could attempt to argue Peter had concealed assets or failed to administer the trust for years.
Elaine dismissed most of it.
“You cannot administer something intentionally hidden from you.”
“But the photographs?”
“Manipulative.”
Peter looked at the image of Ivy on the stairs.
“It proves my household wasn’t safe.”
Elaine nodded.
“That concerns me more.”
Peter looked at Marlene.
She did not defend herself.
The next morning, Marlene voluntarily signed an affidavit describing Christmas morning.
She admitted locking Ivy out.
She admitted previous emotional mistreatment.
She admitted searching Natalie’s belongings.
And she stated Peter had known none of it.
Peter read the affidavit.
“You realize this could affect custody of Coral and Forrest.”
“Yes.”
“Grant could use it.”
“He should know.”
Peter looked at her.
This was the first time he had seen Marlene choose truth when lying would protect her.
It did not undo anything.
But it mattered.
That afternoon, Marcus Dunne called Peter directly.
“I think we should resolve this privately.”
Peter recorded the call after confirming Colorado law with counsel.
“Resolve what?”
“The misunderstanding surrounding Natalie’s trust.”
“You mean your attempt to remove me?”
Marcus sighed.
“Peter, you’re a doctor. Not a fiduciary.”
“I have counsel.”
“You also have a daughter who has been through enough.”
Peter’s grip tightened.
“Don’t mention Ivy.”
“I am thinking about Ivy.”
“No. You’re thinking about her assets.”
Marcus became cold.
“If litigation begins, every ugly detail becomes public.”
“Marlene’s treatment of Ivy?”
“Yes.”
“My father’s debt?”
“Yes.”
“Your work for Vale?”
Silence.
Peter continued.
“Should we discuss that publicly too?”
Marcus hung up.
Ramirez later told Peter the call was useful but not decisive.
“Men like Dunne survive by implying things rather than saying them.”
Peter asked, “Can you stop the petition?”
“No. Different process.”
“What can I do?”
“Tell the truth faster than he can weaponize it.”
Peter disliked publicity.
Natalie had too.
But secrecy had allowed too many people to manipulate him.
Peter made a decision.
At the temporary trust hearing scheduled for December 30, he would not hide Christmas morning.
He would describe it himself.
He told Ivy.
“Some adults may ask questions about what happened.”
“Will I have to talk?”
“Only if necessary, and I’ll be there.”
“Will Marlene?”
“Yes.”
Ivy went quiet.
Then asked, “Is she going to jail?”
“No.”
“For locking me out?”
“No.”
Ivy considered this.
“Then what happens to her?”
Peter answered carefully.
“She loses things because of choices she made.”
“Like you?”
Peter blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“You lose your wife.”
The simplicity of it stunned him.
“Yes.”
Ivy hugged him.
“I’m sorry.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“Me too.”
That night, he took Natalie’s handmade ornament from the evidence bag after investigators finished documenting it.
The glass star had a small crack across one point.
Peter held it beneath the tree lights.
Inside the hollow center, something moved.
He shook it.
A tiny rolled piece of paper fell onto his palm.
Natalie had hidden one final message.
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Only four words:
ASK MARLENE ABOUT CORAL.
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