Chapter 8: The Recording That Exposed the Whitmore Family
Richard didn't move.
For the first time that night, the old man looked frightened.
“Turn that thing off,” he ordered.
Grace shook her head.
“No.””
“Grace, you have no idea what you're doing.””
“I've spent nineteen years waiting for this moment.””
Victoria turned toward Richard.
“You told me the recording had been destroyed.””
Rose looked at her.
“You knew about it?””
Victoria immediately fell silent.
Richard grabbed his walking stick more tightly.
“Victoria, don't say another word.””
But it was too late.
Daniel stepped forward.
“You told her about the recording?””
Victoria looked at him.
“Daniel, I can explain.””
“I'm tired of hearing that.””
Richard gestured toward the two men.
“Take the device.””
Neither man moved.
The recording continued.
Richard's recorded voice echoed through the room.
“Thomas found the accounts. He knows about the transfers. If he goes to the authorities, everything is finished.””
Another voice answered.
A younger man's voice.
Rose recognized it from the first recording.
Her father's.
“Then return the money. Nobody needs to get hurt.””
Richard laughed.
“You still don't understand, Thomas. There is no money to return.””
“Then I'll expose you.””
A pause followed.
Then Richard spoke again.
“You won't have the chance.””
The recording ended.
Silence.
Rose looked at Richard.
“You murdered my father.””
Richard's expression hardened.
“Your father was a fool.””
Grace stepped forward.
“He was a better man than you could ever be.””
Richard turned toward her.
“Your husband stole from the Whitmore family.””
“No,” Grace replied.
“You stole from the company and framed him.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Why did my father protect you?””
Richard smiled bitterly.
“Because your father wasn't innocent either.””
Daniel stopped moving.
“What?””
“Your father approved the transfers. He signed the documents. He knew where the money was going.””
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“No.””
Richard looked at her.
“Oh, Evelyn. You really didn't know?””
“Stop.””
“Your beloved husband helped me move the money overseas. Thomas discovered the truth, and your husband panicked. He ordered the accounts closed and blamed Thomas for the entire operation.””
Daniel looked physically sick.
“My father was involved?””
Richard nodded.
“He wanted the company protected. I wanted the money. We had an agreement.””
Rose looked at Evelyn.
“Is that true?””
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“I knew your father had made mistakes. I never knew how far he had gone.””
Richard chuckled.
“Of course you didn't. You were too busy pretending your family was respectable.””
Daniel clenched his fists.
“Then why did you disappear?””
Richard's smile faded.
“Because your father became afraid of me. He wanted to confess everything after Thomas died. I couldn't allow that.””
“What did you do to him?””
Richard looked at the floor.
“I reminded him what would happen to his family if he talked.””
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You threatened your own nephew's life?””
“I protected the Whitmore name.””
Daniel stared at him.
“You destroyed it.””
The sound of sirens grew louder outside.
Grace looked toward the window.
“Someone must have heard the recording.””
Richard suddenly lunged toward the black device.
Rose pulled it away.
He lost his balance and fell against the cabinet.
His walking stick struck the floor.
“Give it back!””
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Don't touch her!””
One of the attackers tried to escape through the corridor.
But the hotel security alarm suddenly sounded.
A group of police officers rushed up the stairs.
“Police! Everyone put your hands where we can see them!””
Victoria immediately dropped her pistol.
“It wasn't me!”” she shouted.
“Richard planned everything!””
Richard looked at her with pure hatred.
“You ungrateful little—”
“Don't speak to me!”” Victoria snapped.
The officers separated everyone.
Daniel pointed toward the device.
“That recording contains evidence of financial crimes, threats, and a possible murder. Secure it.””
One officer took the device carefully.
Another approached Grace.
“Ma'am, are you injured?””
Grace shook her head.
“No. But I have documents proving what happened nineteen years ago.””
Rose stood beside her mother.
For the first time in her life, she could touch her mother's hand without wondering when it would disappear again.
But the relief lasted only a moment.
An officer approached Daniel.
“Mr. Whitmore, we need to speak with you privately.””
“About what?””
The officer opened a folder.
“We recovered a second recording from the hotel's security system.””
Daniel frowned.
“What recording?””
The officer looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother was recorded entering this building three hours before the incident.””
Rose turned toward Evelyn.
“What?””
Evelyn's expression changed.
The officer continued.
“She met someone in Room 217.””
Daniel looked at his mother.
“Who?””
The officer removed a printed photograph.
It showed Evelyn standing beside a man.
A man who was not Richard.
Rose took the photograph.
She recognized the face immediately.
It was the family doctor who had signed Thomas Carter's death certificate.
Dr. Samuel Hayes.
Rose looked at Evelyn.
“Why were you meeting him?””
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Because he called me.””
“What did he want?””
“He said he had something that could prove Thomas was still alive when the family announced his death.””
Daniel stared.
“Mom, what are you saying?””
Evelyn took a shaky breath.
“Thomas didn't die in the hospital.””
Rose felt her entire body go cold.
The officer stepped closer.
“Mrs. Whitmore, we need you to come with us.””
Daniel looked at his mother in disbelief.
“Mom?””
Evelyn looked at Rose.
“I was going to tell you.””
Rose shook her head.
“When?””
“When I knew it was safe.””
“Safe? My father might have been alive all these years, and you knew?””
“I didn't know where he was.””
“Then why did you tell me he was dead?””
Evelyn began crying.
“Because the doctor told me he had died. I found out the truth only yesterday.””
Grace stepped forward.
“Evelyn, what did Samuel tell you?””
Evelyn looked at her.
“He said Thomas had been transferred to a private medical facility under another name.””
Rose grabbed her mother's arm.
“Where?””
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“He gave me an address.””
Daniel looked at the officer.
“Do you have it?””
The officer shook his head.
“Not yet. The doctor hasn't been located.””
Evelyn reached into her handbag.
She removed a folded piece of paper.
On it was an address.
Rose took it.
She read it once.
Then again.
It was the address of a private care facility less than twenty miles away.
Beneath it, someone had written:
Patient: Thomas Carter.
Rose's eyes filled with tears.
Her father might still be alive.
Then Grace noticed something on the paper.
A handwritten note in the corner.
She grabbed it.
“No,” she whispered.
Rose looked at her.
“What?””
Grace pointed to the date.
It was tomorrow's date.
Someone had updated the patient's file that very morning.
May you like
And beneath the date were four words:
Transfer approved by Victoria.
