Chapter 9 - Claire’s Voice
Julian denied touching the key.
Adrian believed one part of his reaction.
He truly had not expected his fingerprint to be there.
That did not make him innocent.
It only made the mystery worse.
“I want the print examined again.”
Julian paced inside Detective Ortiz’s interview room.
“It was examined twice.”
“Then someone put it there.”
Ortiz watched him.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your fingerprint is not a sticker.”
Julian turned toward Adrian.
“You know me.”
Adrian’s expression did not change.
“I thought I knew Conrad too.”
Julian flinched.
“I loved Claire.”
“She was afraid you would take Lily.”
“Because I threatened her.”
“That is not helping you.”
Julian stopped pacing.
“I touched her keys once.”
Ortiz leaned forward.
“When?”
“A week before she died.”
Adrian stared.
“Why?”
“She left them in my office.”
“Why did you have them?”
“I didn’t.”
“She forgot them.”
Julian looked at Ortiz.
“I drove them to her house.”
“The Vale house?”
“Yes.”
“Who did you give them to?”
Julian frowned as he tried to remember.
“Conrad.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Of course.”
“He was leaving.”
“Did you see Claire?”
“No.”
“So Conrad had her keys.”
“For maybe five minutes.”
Ortiz wrote something down.
“That is enough.”
Julian sat.
“I did not hurt my sister.”
Adrian stared at him.
“But you helped build the circumstances that made it possible.”
Julian looked away.
That afternoon, Owen recovered the corrupted portion of Claire’s medical-room recording.
Adrian watched it at Blackridge House.
He did not allow Lily in the room.
He did not allow Victoria either.
Only Owen, Marcus, Ortiz and Julian were present.
Claire appeared on the screen.
Conrad stood across from her.
The previously missing three seconds returned.
Claire held the fraudulent grant document.
“You signed this.”
Conrad’s face tightened.
“I authorized an emergency transfer.”
“To a company Sebastian owns.”
“I did not know.”
“You always know.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You knew when the first inhaler changed.”
Adrian’s heart stopped.
Conrad’s expression became cold.
“You are becoming paranoid.”
“I tested it.”
Silence.
Claire continued.
“And Marianne told me everything.”
Conrad stared at her.
“What did she tell you?”
“You want to know whether she mentioned your name.”
“Do not play games.”
“Then stop lying.”
Conrad moved closer.
“You have no idea what Sebastian will do if you expose him.”
Claire’s expression changed.
“And there it is.”
Conrad realized his mistake.
Claire smiled sadly.
“You were supposed to protect him, not become him.”
Julian whispered.
“That was the sentence.”
The recording continued.
Conrad lowered his voice.
“You need to leave this alone.”
“No.”
“For Adrian.”
“No.”
“For Lily.”
Claire’s eyes hardened.
“Do not say my daughter’s name.”
“If the foundation collapses, Adrian’s companies become entangled.”
“That is a lie.”
“You cannot know that.”
“I already do.”
Claire held up another document.
“I copied everything.”
Conrad’s composure cracked.
“Where?”
Claire smiled.
“You will spend the rest of your life wondering.”
The recording ended.
Adrian stared at the black screen.
Ortiz spoke first.
“That gives Conrad motive.”
“Not murder.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Julian.
“What was Sebastian stealing money for?”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
“We never knew.”
“Twenty-eight million dollars goes somewhere.”
“Shell companies.”
“For what?”
“I thought personal enrichment.”
“What did Claire think?”
Julian hesitated.
“She thought the medical grants were buying access.”
“To what?”
“Families.”
Adrian frowned.
“What families?”
“Children in respiratory studies.”
The room became silent.
Adrian felt sick.
“What kind of access?”
“Medical records.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Owen looked up from his laptop.
“Maybe not children.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
“Claire’s foundation funded studies involving genetic screening.”
Adrian stared.
“What are you saying?”
“Some grants included parental samples.”
Julian frowned.
“So?”
Owen looked at Adrian.
“Claire might not have been investigating medication.”
“She might have been investigating identities.”
Adrian felt a chill.
“What identities?”
Owen pulled up a database.
“Foundation participants.”
Names appeared.
Hundreds of families.
One record had been accessed repeatedly.
Claire Vale.
Another.
Lily Vale.
Adrian stood.
“Why were their names in the study?”
Julian looked shocked.
“They shouldn’t have been.”
Owen opened Lily’s record.
Most data had been deleted.
One line remained.
PATERNAL MATCH FLAGGED.
Adrian stared.
“What does that mean?”
No one answered.
Julian looked at him.
“Adrian.”
His voice was careful.
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“Did Claire ever question Lily’s paternity?”
The room went silent.
Adrian’s expression became deadly.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
“I’m asking because the database—”
“Lily is my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
Julian nodded.
Ortiz looked at the screen.
“This may not mean what we think.”
Owen opened audit records.
“One user accessed this file the night before Claire died.”
“Who?”
“Sebastian Laurent.”
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
“What did he do?”
“Downloaded the genetic report.”
“Where is it?”
“Deleted.”
“Recover it.”
“I’ll try.”
The door opened.
Grace entered.
Her face was pale.
“Adrian.”
“What happened?”
“Lily found something.”
Adrian immediately stood.
“What?”
“She was drawing.”
“That is not unusual.”
“No.”
Grace handed him a page.
Lily had drawn three stick figures.
One was labeled DADDY.
One was labeled MOMMY.
The third was a tall black figure.
Beneath it, in Grace’s handwriting, was a word Lily had asked her to spell.
OTHER DADDY.
Adrian stared at the page.
“What did she say?”
Grace looked frightened.
“She said the wall man told her you are not her real father.”
Julian swore quietly.
Adrian’s face went cold.
This was the psychological manipulation again.
A deliberate attempt to break Lily’s trust.
But then Grace continued.
“She also said Mommy argued with him once.”
Adrian looked up.
“What?”
“She says she remembers.”
“She was eleven months old when Claire died.”
“I know.”
“Then she cannot remember a conversation.”
“Maybe she remembers a recording.”
Adrian froze.
Grace nodded slowly.
“She says she heard Mommy’s voice in the wall.”
Owen stood.
“The camera system could have stored audio.”
They returned to the recovered files.
Owen searched by date.
Hundreds were corrupted.
One audio-only file remained.
The timestamp was six days before Claire died.
He played it.
Claire’s voice filled the room.
“Get out of my house.”
A man answered.
“You owe me the truth.”
Adrian could not identify the voice.
Claire sounded furious.
“I owe you nothing.”
“You let Adrian think she is his.”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
Julian looked at him.
The man continued.
“She carries my blood.”
Claire laughed.
It was not amusement.
It was contempt.
“You actually believe that?”
“I have the report.”
“You have a forged report.”
Silence.
Claire continued.
“Sebastian, listen to me carefully.”
Adrian’s pulse jumped.
The unknown man was Sebastian Laurent.
“Lily is Adrian’s daughter.”
Sebastian’s voice sharpened.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because the real test is in a place you can never reach.”
Sebastian breathed heavily.
“You used me.”
“No.”
“I loved you.”
“You stalked me.”
“You came to me when you fought with Adrian.”
“I came to your office for funding.”
“You touched me.”
“I shook your hand.”
Julian muttered a curse.
Claire’s voice hardened.
“You created a fantasy, Sebastian.”
“You will not keep my daughter from me.”
“She is not your daughter.”
A loud impact sounded.
Claire gasped.
Adrian stood.
Sebastian spoke again.
“If the audit opens, everyone learns what you did.”
Claire replied.
“Good.”
Another impact.
Then the recording stopped.
Adrian stared into space.
Sebastian had believed Lily was his.
Claire had insisted the report was forged.
The foundation database had been manipulated.
The custody plan suddenly acquired another layer.
If Sebastian could convince a court that Adrian was not Lily’s biological father, Adrian’s guardianship could be challenged.
And if Lily was removed from Adrian, Claire’s trust might transfer.
Julian whispered.
“Sebastian was not stealing only money.”
Adrian looked at him.
“What?”
“He was trying to steal Lily.”
Owen’s computer chimed.
He had recovered part of the deleted genetic report.
Everyone moved toward the screen.
The document loaded slowly.
PATERNAL COMPARISON.
SUBJECT: LILY CLAIRE VALE.
PRESUMED FATHER: ADRIAN JAMES VALE.
The final result line appeared.
PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 99.9998%.
Adrian exhaled.
Claire had told the truth.
Sebastian’s claim had been fabricated.
Then another field appeared beneath it.
SECONDARY COMPARISON REQUESTED.
NAME: SEBASTIAN HENRI LAURENT.
RESULT: NO BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP.
Julian stared.
“So he knew.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Sebastian accessed the file before the final result was uploaded.”
Owen checked timestamps.
Adrian was right.
Sebastian had downloaded an incomplete report.
Someone had shown him only what would fuel his obsession.
Someone had wanted Sebastian angry at Claire.
Someone had manipulated him too.
Ortiz’s face hardened.
“Conrad.”
Adrian looked at the old recording.
“Maybe.”
A phone rang.
This time it was Grace’s.
She looked at the screen.
“No number.”
Adrian took it.
He answered.
A man hummed four notes.
Lily’s wall song.
Adrian’s face went cold.
“Sebastian.”
The humming stopped.
A male voice replied.
“You finally learned my name.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than Claire ever wanted me to be.”
“You are not Lily’s father.”
A quiet laugh.
“I know.”
Adrian froze.
Every person in the room looked at him.
Sebastian continued.
“I have known for three years.”
“Then why did you pursue her?”
“I didn’t.”
Adrian’s pulse hammered.
“What?”
“You have been chasing the wrong man.”
“Claire named you.”
“Claire was trying to save me.”
Adrian stared at Julian.
Sebastian lowered his voice.
“Ask Conrad who altered the first genetic report.”
Adrian said nothing.
“Ask him who convinced me Lily was mine.”
The line crackled.
“And ask him why he needed me angry enough to follow Claire that night.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Did you kill her?”
Sebastian’s answer came without hesitation.
“No.”
“Did you see who did?”
Silence.
Then Sebastian whispered.
“Yes.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“Who?”
“You will not believe me.”
“Try.”
The line went dead.
A message arrived seconds later.
One photograph.
Claire’s wrecked car.
A man stood beside it before emergency services arrived.
The photograph was dark.
But the face was visible.
May you like
Conrad Hale.
And in his hand was Claire’s blue inhaler.
