Chapter 9 - THE VOICE THAT LIED
Graham Vale looked terrible.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His knuckles were scraped.
His glasses were gone.
He sat beneath a blanket while paramedics examined him.
“I came to speak with Helena.”
He looked at Mason.
“Someone struck me from behind.”
“When.”
“Approximately eight forty.”
Claire had fallen at nine seventeen.
Mason played the recording.
Graham listened to the words.
“Do it now.”
He frowned.
“That sounds like me.”
“But it isn’t.”
Lucas paced.
“Who could imitate you.”
Graham gave a humorless smile.
“In this house.”
“Half the family.”
Claire did not trust him.
“You altered Henry’s estate.”
Graham looked at her.
“No.”
“We have Henry’s recording.”
For the first time, Graham appeared shaken.
“What recording.”
Mason said nothing.
Graham leaned back.
“If Henry believed I altered his estate, then Henry was wrong.”
Evelyn entered.
“You helped me hide sixteen million dollars.”
Graham closed his eyes.
“That is true.”
Lucas stared at him.
“Why.”
“Because your mother asked me to protect your sister from prosecution.”
All eyes turned toward Helena.
Helena stood near the fireplace.
She did not deny it.
“I protected my daughter.”
Graham continued.
“But the trust was another matter.”
“I never altered it.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Then why does my signature appear on amendments I never signed.”
Graham looked genuinely confused.
“What amendments.”
Claire pulled photographs from her phone.
He studied them.
His face changed.
“These are not mine.”
“Your firm’s letterhead.”
“Forged.”
“Your digital seal.”
“Copied.”
Mason leaned forward.
“Who had access.”
Graham’s answer came immediately.
“My deputy general counsel.”
Lucas frowned.
“Who.”
Graham looked at him.
“Nathan Cole.”
Claire knew Nathan.
Lucas’s closest friend.
Best man at their wedding.
Godfather chosen for their unborn daughter.
The man who had been standing beside Lucas during nearly every major moment of their marriage.
Claire remembered the gala.
Nathan had hugged her shortly before she went upstairs.
He had touched her elbow.
He had asked whether she was feeling tired.
He had told her to take the east staircase because the main hall was crowded.
Claire’s blood ran cold.
“Where is Nathan.”
Lucas pulled out his phone.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Mason spoke to an officer.
“Find Cole.”
The officer returned after checking the guest records.
“Nathan Cole never signed out.”
Mason frowned.
“So he’s here.”
The officer shook his head.
“His car left the property at nine twenty-one.”
Four minutes after Claire fell.
Lucas stared at the security photograph.
Nathan was behind the wheel.
In the passenger seat sat someone wearing a hooded coat.
Claire zoomed in.
A small piece of green fabric showed beneath the coat.
Emerald green.
Claire looked toward Evelyn.
May you like
Evelyn was standing right beside her.
Which meant somebody else at the gala had been wearing the exact same color.
