Chapter 4 - The Doctor Who Used the Back Door
Dr. Malcolm Voss did not look like a conspirator.
He looked like every expensive private physician Greenwich wealth could manufacture: silver at the temples, discreet watch, quiet voice, navy overcoat, practiced concern.
Detective Ortiz interviewed him at the hospital.
He denied everything.
“I prescribed antibiotics, a bronchodilator, and a mild sedative for sleep.”
“The bottle found beside Mrs. Vale’s bed wasn’t labeled.”
“Then it wasn’t mine.”
“Her housekeeper saw you leaving through the service entrance.”
“I make house calls.”
“At eleven forty at night?”
“Mrs. Vale’s schedule is irregular.”
Ortiz slid a photograph across the table.
Harbor Crest Consulting.
Voss did not touch it.
“Recognize the company?”
“No.”
“Two million dollars moved through it.”
“I’m a physician, Detective. Not an investment banker.”
Ortiz watched him.
“You own forty percent of Harbor Crest.”
For the first time, Voss blinked too slowly.
“My accountant established several entities.”
“Convenient accountant.”
“I want counsel.”
“Good idea.”
The interview ended.
But the damage had begun.
At Vale Meridian, Adrian sat in a locked conference room with Marcus Reed, his CFO, and Lydia Shaw, Evelyn’s trust attorney.
Lydia was sixty-two, White, silver-haired, and famously unimpressed by billionaires.
She placed two folders on the table.
“The authentic trust amendment.”
Then another.
“The forged version Evelyn showed me four days ago.”
Adrian compared them.
His mother’s signature looked perfect.
Almost.
Lydia pointed to the witness section.
“Wrong notary format.”
“That’s it?”
“No. Page eleven references a Connecticut statute amended eighteen months ago. The supposed execution date is three years earlier.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Sloppy.”
“Not really. Most people would never catch it.”
“And Celeste becomes co-trustee if Mom is incapacitated.”
“Yes.”
“What power would that give her?”
“Temporary voting authority over the family block and limited power to pledge certain trust assets.”
“For how long?”
“Ninety days unless challenged.”
Marcus swore under his breath.
Ninety days was enough to alter the Helix acquisition.
Enough to move hundreds of millions.
Adrian looked at Lydia.
“Why would my mother have Celeste’s name connected to this before we were engaged?”
“She wouldn’t.”
“So the forged document was created recently.”
“Almost certainly.”
“Then why date it three years ago?”
“To make it look unrelated to your engagement.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Lydia continued.
“There’s another issue.”
“What?”
“Evelyn asked me about Martin Arden.”
Adrian looked up.
“Celeste’s father.”
“Yes.”
“What did Mom know?”
Lydia hesitated.
“More than she told you.”
Across town, Naomi returned to the staff apartment above the mansion’s old carriage house.
She had been told not to work until police finished processing the scene.
Suspended with pay, effectively.
She hated it.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Naomi Carter?”
“Yes.”
“This is Malcolm Voss.”
Her body stiffened.
“You shouldn’t be calling me.”
“Probably not.”
“What do you want?”
“To warn you.”
Naomi almost hung up.
“About what?”
“You think Celeste is the center of this.”
“And you think she isn’t?”
“I think you witnessed the most visible part.”
“Meaning?”
Silence.
Then Voss said, “Martin Arden didn’t lose everything because he was incompetent.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed.
“He lost it because the Vale family made sure he did.”
“What does that have to do with Evelyn?”
“Ask her.”
“You were paid two million dollars.”
Another silence.
“I didn’t receive two million.”
“Your company did.”
“I didn’t know what the company was being used for.”
“Convenient.”
“That word keeps following me today.”
Naomi moved toward the window.
“Why call me?”
“Because Celeste thinks you have something.”
“The flash drive?”
Voss stopped breathing for half a second.
That told her enough.
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I know what she believes is on it.”
“What?”
“Proof her father was framed.”
Naomi tightened her grip on the phone.
“Framed for what?”
“Stealing from Vale Meridian.”
“And was he?”
Voss’s voice changed.
“Ask Evelyn why Martin Arden died convinced Richard Vale destroyed him.”
The line went dead.
Naomi stood motionless.
Then another sound came from below.
A car door.
She looked through the curtains.
Celeste stepped out of a black sedan behind the carriage house.
No police escort.
No luggage.
Just Celeste.
She looked up directly at Naomi’s window.
Then raised her phone.
Naomi’s phone buzzed with a text.
WE SHOULD TALK BEFORE ADRIAN LEARNS WHAT HIS MOTHER DID.
A second message appeared.
COME ALONE.
Naomi stared at the screen.
Ortiz had told her not to investigate.
Adrian had spent eleven years trusting her.
Evelyn had warned her not to trust the crying.
Naomi opened the drawer where she kept her keys.
Then stopped.
Instead she called Detective Ortiz.
“Celeste’s here.”
Ortiz answered immediately.
“Do not meet her alone.”
Naomi looked down.
Celeste was already walking toward the carriage-house door.
Too late.
The handle turned.
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And Naomi remembered she had locked it.
Someone downstairs had just opened it from inside.
