Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Stole the Evidence

Nobody slept.

Julian found a muddy footprint beneath the guest-room window.

Small.

Probably a woman’s.

The lock had not been forced.

Ruth stared at the open window.

“Whoever did this knew the latch sticks.”

Adrian looked at her.

“Who knows your house that well?”

Ruth’s answer came slowly.

“My niece.”

Her name was Claire Miller.

Thirty-eight.

Ruth’s late brother’s only daughter.

For the past two years, Claire had helped with groceries, doctor appointments, and bills.

She also had a spare key.

Luca frowned.

“Would she steal from you?”

“No.”

Ruth said it too quickly.

Then she remembered.

Claire had been asking strange questions.

Whether Ruth planned to stay in the house forever.

Whether she had a will.

Whether anyone had ever offered to buy the creek property.

Ruth’s face fell.

“She said she was worried about me.”

Matteo checked his phone.

“I can find out if she has any connection to Meridian Crest.”

Adrian nodded.

“Quietly.”

Ruth looked at him.

“Don’t destroy her life because of a suspicion.”

“We won’t.”

“Promise me.”

Adrian held her gaze.

“I promise.”

By sunrise, they had an answer.

Claire had received three payments over six months from a consulting company called North Lane Advisory.

North Lane shared an accountant with Meridian Crest.

Ruth sat very still.

“How much?”

“Forty-five thousand dollars.”

Her eyes closed.

“That is more money than Claire makes in a year.”

Luca crouched beside her.

“She may have been manipulated.”

Ruth laughed sadly.

“Is that what we call betrayal now?”

“No.”

His voice softened.

“It’s what we call not knowing the whole story yet.”

At nine that morning, Claire knocked on the front door.

Everyone froze.

Ruth walked toward it.

Adrian stopped her.

“No.”

“It’s my house.”

He stepped aside.

Ruth opened the door.

Claire stood outside crying.

Her blond hair was wet from the rain.

She held a plastic evidence container against her chest.

The missing photographs.

“I’m sorry.”

Ruth stared at her.

Claire walked inside.

“I took them.”

“Why?”

“Because Grant said they were fake.”

Ruth’s face hardened.

“He paid you.”

Claire looked down.

“Yes.”

“For what?”

“At first? Information.”

“What information?”

“When you went to the doctor. Whether you lived alone. Whether you were thinking about selling.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

Ruth’s eyes filled.

“And last night?”

Claire began sobbing.

“He called me after he saw those cars here. He said dangerous men were using you. He said if I brought him anything Thomas left behind, he would stop the eviction.”

“Did you give him the photographs?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Claire looked at Adrian.

“Because I heard him talking to someone in the parking lot.”

“What did he say?” Matteo asked.

“He said, ‘Once the old woman is out, tear the house down before anyone finds the foundation.’”

Silence.

Ruth gripped her walker.

Claire continued.

“He wasn’t trying to protect you. He was trying to erase something.”

Adrian took the photographs.

“Did he know you came back?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Claire looked at Ruth.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

Ruth’s voice broke.

“I trusted you.”

“I know.”

“You sat at my table.”

“I know.”

“You brought me soup.”

Claire cried harder.

“I know.”

Ruth looked away.

Some betrayals hurt precisely because they arrive carrying groceries.

Adrian stepped in.

“Claire, we need everything Grant asked you to do.”

She nodded.

“I saved the messages.”

Matteo looked up sharply.

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“What about payments?”

“Yes.”

“Calls?”

“My phone records them automatically for work.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“You recorded Grant Holloway?”

Claire nodded.

“Yesterday he told me something else.”

Ruth looked at her.

“What?”

Claire swallowed.

“He said the forged deed was only Plan B.”

Everyone went still.

“What was Plan A?” Luca asked.

Claire stared at Ruth.

“To have you declared mentally incompetent.”

Ruth’s hands began to shake.

Claire pulled an envelope from her coat.

“He had a doctor ready to sign it.”

Adrian opened the envelope.

Inside was a draft guardianship petition.

At the bottom was the name of the proposed guardian.

Claire Miller.

Ruth looked at her niece.

Claire’s face collapsed.

“I swear I never agreed to that.”

But Ruth was no longer looking at her.

She was looking at the date.

The petition had been drafted three months before Meridian Crest ever offered to buy the house.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

Which meant Grant had not targeted her because she refused to sell.

He had targeted her before she even knew anyone wanted the land.