Chapter 4 - THE ATTORNEY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Police arrived at Daniel Pierce’s office before midnight.
Daniel was alive.
He had suffered a serious head injury, but investigators found no immediate evidence explaining exactly what had happened.
The most important discovery was easier to understand.
His office safe had been opened.
Several trust records were missing.
So were two encrypted storage devices containing years of Whitmore legal files.
Richard stood behind a police barrier while Ethan remained beside him.
Sophia had refused to come.
She claimed she was too shaken.
For the first time that night, Ethan was relieved she had stayed behind.
Detective Laura Brooks approached them.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Richard nodded.
“Your attorney is being transported to St. Vincent’s.”
“Will he recover?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Richard looked through the glass toward Daniel’s office.
Papers covered the floor.
One cabinet had been opened.
Another remained locked.
Brooks continued.
“Was Mr. Pierce involved in any current dispute involving your family?”
Richard and Ethan exchanged a look.
“Yes.”
Brooks waited.
Richard explained the missing trust funds.
He explained Sophia’s staged accusation.
He explained the forged will.
He explained the deleted security footage.
Brooks’s expression became increasingly serious.
“Where is Mrs. Whitmore now?”
“At my house.”
Ethan answered.
“With my sister.”
Brooks looked at him.
“She’s your wife?”
“Yes.”
“And you believe she may be involved in the missing funds?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
Richard looked toward him.
Brooks noticed the bruise forming on Richard’s face.
“What happened there?”
Ethan’s stomach dropped.
Richard answered before he could.
“My son believed an accusation that turned out to be false.”
Brooks looked at Ethan.
“You struck him?”
“Yes.”
Richard added quietly.
“We’re dealing with that separately.”
Brooks wrote something in her notebook.
Ethan felt shame burn through him again.
Another detective approached Brooks and whispered into her ear.
Her expression changed.
She turned toward Richard.
“Do you know someone named Caleb Mercer?”
Ethan answered.
“Sophia’s brother.”
Brooks nodded.
“We found his number in Mr. Pierce’s recent calls.”
Richard frowned.
“When?”
“Four calls today.”
Ethan stared.
“Daniel called Caleb?”
“We don’t know who initiated each call yet.”
Richard looked toward the damaged office.
“Can you tell when the last one occurred?”
Brooks checked her notes.
“6:37 p.m.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“That was right before Sophia staged the attack.”
Brooks stared at him.
“You’ll need to explain that timeline.”
Ethan did.
When he finished, Brooks remained silent for several seconds.
Then she asked one question.
“Where is Caleb Mercer now?”
Ethan called him.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
He called again.
Nothing.
Richard contacted his investigator.
Caleb’s apartment was empty.
His car was gone.
His workplace had not seen him since that afternoon.
Brooks’s expression hardened.
“Mr. Whitmore, I suggest you return home.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if your wife is involved, I don’t want her realizing how much we know before I speak to her.”
Ethan stared toward Daniel’s office.
“She already knows.”
“How?”
“Because she always seems to know.”
Back at the mansion, Grace stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed.
Sophia sat at the island drinking water.
They had not spoken for nearly an hour.
When Ethan entered, Sophia looked at him.
“How is Daniel?”
Ethan stopped.
“I didn’t tell you we were going to Daniel’s office.”
Sophia froze.
Grace turned toward her.
Ethan moved closer.
“How did you know?”
Sophia set down the glass.
“Richard called Grace.”
Grace shook her head.
“No, he didn’t.”
Sophia looked at her.
“You told me.”
“No.”
Sophia’s eyes shifted.
Ethan felt something inside him break.
“You knew.”
“I guessed.”
“You guessed Daniel was hurt?”
Sophia’s jaw tightened.
“Ethan.”
“Did Caleb tell you?”
Sophia’s face hardened.
“Leave my brother out of this.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You spoke to him today.”
“So?”
“Daniel spoke to him too.”
Sophia’s eyes changed.
That was enough.
Ethan stepped closer.
“What happened in Daniel’s office?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are the trust files?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Caleb?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan slammed his palm onto the island.
“STOP SAYING YOU DON’T KNOW!”
Sophia flinched.
Grace stepped between them.
“Ethan.”
He backed away immediately.
Sophia stared at him.
Then she smiled bitterly.
“There.”
Ethan frowned.
“There what?”
“That temper.”
Sophia reached for her phone.
“You’re becoming exactly like him.”
Ethan stared at her.
She was recording.
He saw the small red indicator on the screen.
His blood went cold.
“You’re recording me.”
Sophia’s voice became soft.
“I’m protecting myself.”
Grace stared at her.
“From what?”
Sophia kept the phone pointed toward Ethan.
“From a husband who just screamed in my face after assaulting his elderly father.”
Ethan slowly stepped backward.
The trap became obvious.
Richard had been first.
Now Sophia was preparing another narrative.
This time Ethan would be the target.
Grace reached toward the phone.
Sophia pulled it away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Grace stopped.
Sophia looked directly into the camera.
“My husband is threatening me.”
Ethan laughed once in disbelief.
“No one is threatening you.”
“You just slammed the counter.”
“Because you are lying.”
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears.
The tears appeared almost instantly.
Grace looked sick.
“You did exactly this with Dad.”
Sophia pointed the phone toward her.
“Stay away from me.”
Grace raised both hands.
“I’m ten feet away.”
The front door opened.
Detective Brooks entered with Richard.
Sophia’s expression changed.
Then the tears returned even stronger.
“Detective.”
Brooks looked at the phone.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Sophia lowered it slowly.
“Yes?”
“I’d like to ask you some questions.”
Sophia looked at Ethan.
“Do I need an attorney?”
Brooks’s eyes remained calm.
“That’s your decision.”
Sophia nodded.
“Then I want one.”
Richard watched her.
Sophia turned toward him.
“Not Daniel.”
The statement created another silence.
Brooks asked.
“Why not Daniel?”
Sophia hesitated.
“He’s Richard’s attorney.”
Ethan looked away.
Sophia stood.
“I’m not answering anything else tonight.”
Brooks did not stop her.
Sophia began walking toward the staircase.
Richard spoke.
“One question.”
Sophia stopped.
Richard held up the forged will.
“Did Daniel make this?”
Sophia’s shoulders stiffened.
She turned slowly.
“I found it in your office.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I don’t know who made it.”
Richard moved closer.
“My investigator photographed you meeting Daniel three nights ago.”
Sophia said nothing.
“You were seen exchanging documents.”
Still nothing.
Richard’s voice lowered.
“If Daniel dies, whatever arrangement you had with him dies too.”
Sophia’s face changed.
Only for an instant.
Brooks saw it.
So did Ethan.
Then Sophia walked upstairs.
Brooks watched her disappear.
“She’s afraid.”
Richard nodded.
“Of being caught.”
Brooks looked at him.
“Maybe.”
Ethan frowned.
“What else?”
Brooks glanced toward the staircase.
“She might be afraid of whoever she was working with.”
The possibility had not occurred to them.
Richard looked toward Grace.
“Caleb.”
Brooks shook her head.
“Maybe.”
She pulled a plastic evidence bag from her coat.
Inside was a small flash drive.
“We found this hidden underneath Daniel’s desk.”
Richard stared at it.
“What is it?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Brooks looked at Ethan.
“But there was a handwritten label.”
She turned the bag around.
Three words were written in black ink.
IF I DISAPPEAR.
Ethan stared.
Brooks continued.
“There was something else.”
She handed Richard a photocopy of a page recovered from Daniel’s shredder.
Most of the text was destroyed.
Only a few lines remained readable.
Richard scanned them.
His face changed.
Grace stepped beside him.
“What does it say?”
Richard read the surviving sentence aloud.
“Upon confirmation of Richard Whitmore’s incapacity, successor control shall transfer immediately to Ethan Whitmore.”
Ethan stared at him.
“That’s not in the real trust?”
“No.”
Richard turned the page.
There was another fragment.
It contained Sophia’s name.
Beside it was a handwritten notation from Daniel.
DO NOT LET HER KNOW THE CAMERA SURVIVED.
Ethan looked toward the upstairs hallway.
A floorboard creaked above them.
Everyone looked up.
Sophia stood at the railing.
She had heard everything.
Then she lifted her phone to her ear.
“Caleb.”
Ethan ran toward the stairs.
Sophia smiled down at him.
“You need to leave now.”
The line disconnected.
May you like
And somewhere across the city, Caleb Mercer started his car.
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