Chapter 13 — The Dead Woman’s Account
The tape was twenty-three minutes long.
Evelyn explained that Vivian Caldwell had staged her death after Malcolm discovered her theft.
She had escaped with the help of a financial adviser and continued moving money through offshore companies.
Years later, Celeste found her mother.
Instead of exposing her, Celeste joined her.
North Coast Consulting had been created as one of their shared shell companies.
Richard replayed one section.
“I traced payments to a woman living under the name Victoria Crane.”
Priya searched the name.
Victoria Crane owned a private estate in Rhode Island.
She had no social media presence.
No current driver’s license.
No recent photographs.
But property records showed that the estate had been purchased twenty-one years earlier.
One month after Evelyn’s death.
Lena stared at the date.
“You think she killed my mother.”
Richard’s silence answered her.
Police obtained a warrant for the Rhode Island estate.
They found the house abandoned.
The fireplaces were still warm.
Someone had left only hours earlier.
In the basement, investigators discovered boxes of financial records and dozens of photographs of the Ashford family.
Lena at school.
Richard entering hotels.
Evelyn carrying groceries two days before her fatal crash.
One photograph had been taken from inside Evelyn’s car.
On the back, someone had written:
She knows too much.
Lena’s grief changed into something colder.
Not rage.
Purpose.
Priya found a map pinned beneath a desk.
Three locations were circled.
The Ashford Hotel.
The Caldwell estate.
And a small coastal town in Maine.
Beside the Maine circle was a date.
Tomorrow.
Richard studied the map.
“Why would Vivian go there?”
Walter, now out of the hospital, recognized the town.
“Malcolm owned a cottage there.”
“Does Celeste know about it?” Lena asked.
Walter nodded.
“She grew up there.”
Under the map, Priya found a hotel reservation.
May you like
It had been booked under Lena’s name.
Someone expected her to arrive.
