Chapter 7: The Man Who Knew Our Father
For several seconds after Ethan said the attorney's name, nobody moved.
Richard Hale.
My father's attorney for nearly thirty years. The man who had helped establish our company, drafted our contracts, and stood beside me at the funeral while assuring me that my father had left everything in capable hands.
The man who had once brought Lily a birthday present and spent twenty minutes teaching her how to fold paper airplanes.
I remembered her running through the house, laughing as one of his airplanes landed on the kitchen counter.
I remembered Richard smiling at her.
I had trusted that smile.
Officer Brooks closed the folder.
“Mr. Reed, when did Richard Hale last visit your home?””
“About a week before I left for Savannah.””
“Was anyone else present?””
“My wife. Lily. I was there for part of the visit.””
“What was the purpose of his visit?””
I rubbed my forehead.
“He said he needed my signature on some company documents. He also wanted to discuss a review of our ownership structure.””
“Did you sign anything?””
“I signed several pages. I didn't read every line.””
Officer Brooks's expression tightened.
“You signed legal documents without reading them?””
“I trusted him. He'd represented my father for decades.””
“Trust doesn't eliminate the need for verification, Mr. Reed.””
“I understand that now.””
She turned toward Ethan.
“Why did you believe Mr. Hale was involved in the messages?””
Ethan's shoulders sagged.
“Because Vanessa told me.””
“Did she provide evidence?””
“She said Richard had been helping her gain access to the company's financial records. She said he could make sure Marcus lost control of the business if he became too distracted by his personal life.””
I stared at my brother.
“And you believed that?””
“I saw emails between them.””
“Where?””
“On Vanessa's laptop.””
“Did you copy them?””
Ethan nodded.
“They're in the folder.””
Officer Brooks reopened it and began examining the documents.
I walked to the window.
Outside, the last sunlight fell across the neglected garden where our father used to grow tomatoes. He'd taught Ethan and me to plant them in neat rows, insisting that the best fruit came from patient work.
I remembered Ethan complaining that gardening was boring.
Our father had smiled.
“Anything worth keeping takes care,” he'd told us.
I'd forgotten those words.
Or perhaps I'd remembered them only when they suited me.
I turned back.
“Did Richard know about my affair?””
Ethan nodded.
“He knew before you did, Marcus.””
The room went silent.
“What?””
“Vanessa had been working with him for months. She told him about you before she ever met you.””
I felt my stomach turn.
“So the introduction wasn't just your idea.””
“No.””
“Richard arranged it?””
“I think so.””
I gripped the windowsill.
“Why would a respected attorney risk everything for an affair?””
Ethan shook his head.
“It wasn't about the affair. That was just the easiest way to get you to make mistakes.””
Officer Brooks looked up from the folder.
“Explain.””
“Richard wanted control of the company. After Dad died, Marcus inherited the majority of the shares. Richard couldn't change the will without exposing himself, so he needed another way to make Marcus vulnerable.””
I stared at the documents.
“What does my marriage have to do with company ownership?””
“Your father's will contains a clause about financial misconduct and incapacity. If the board believed you were neglecting your responsibilities or exposing the business to legal risk, they could suspend your authority while an independent review took place.””
I felt sick.
“So Richard planned to make me look unstable.””
“And reckless,” Ethan said.
“He wanted the board to believe you were distracted, unreliable, and making decisions that threatened the company.””
“By encouraging my affair?””
“By encouraging you to hide it. By making sure you spent money you couldn't explain. By creating situations where you would lie to Danielle and ignore your responsibilities.””
I stared at him.
“Did Vanessa know about the clause?””
“Yes.””
“And you?””
“I found out three weeks ago.””
I stepped toward him.
“Three weeks ago, you knew someone was trying to destroy my family and take my company, and you still did nothing?””
Ethan lowered his head.
“I was trying to figure out how to stop it.””
“No. You were trying to figure out how to save yourself.””
He didn't argue.
Officer Brooks placed the documents in a clear evidence sleeve.
“We'll need the original records and a formal statement from both of you. Mr. Hale will also need to be interviewed.””
I nodded.
Then I remembered the photograph.
Lily at the kitchen table.
The leverage we need.
“Officer Brooks, Ethan said Richard visited our house and asked Lily about business documents.””
She looked at me.
“What exactly did he ask her?””
“I don't know. I wasn't there for the entire conversation.””
Ethan shifted in his chair.
“He asked her whether she knew where you kept your old paperwork. He said he wanted to show her something interesting.””
My pulse quickened.
“Why would he ask an eight-year-old that?””
“He told me he was playing a game with her.””
“What game?””
Ethan hesitated.
“He called it a treasure hunt.””
I stared at him.
“What was he looking for?””
“Your father's old ledger. The one that documented the company's original ownership agreements.””
I knew the ledger.
My father had kept it in a locked drawer in his study. It contained the earliest financial records from when the business had been nothing more than a small office and a handful of cleaning contracts.
After his death, I'd moved several boxes of documents into storage.
The ledger had been missing for months.
I'd assumed I'd misplaced it.
“Did Lily find it?””
Ethan nodded.
“She told Vanessa she had found a book with your grandfather's handwriting.””
I froze.
“My grandfather?””
“Our grandfather's,” Ethan corrected.
“Dad kept some of his father's notes in the same ledger.””
Officer Brooks leaned forward.
“Did Lily tell anyone where she put it?””
“I don't know,” Ethan said.
“But Richard was angry when he discovered it was missing.””
A chill spread through me.
“Why?””
“Because the ledger contained records of a transfer that contradicted the ownership structure Richard had presented to the board.””
Officer Brooks closed her notebook.
“Mr. Reed, do you know where the ledger is now?””
“No.””
I thought of Lily's bedroom.
Her drawings. Her notebooks. The tiny paper key she'd made for me.
Then I remembered the old wooden jewelry box on her dresser, the one she used to store seashells, birthday cards, and little treasures she found in the garden.
She'd once told me it was her secret place.
My heart began pounding.
“Officer Brooks, I think I know where we should look.””
We drove to my house together.
Danielle opened the door before I could knock.
She looked at Officer Brooks, then at me.
“What happened?””
“I need to check Lily's room,” I said.
“There's something she might have found.””
Danielle's face tightened.
“Marcus, her room is not a place for you to start tearing things apart.””
“I won't touch anything without the officer's permission.””
Officer Brooks stepped forward.
“We're looking for a missing business ledger that may be relevant to the investigation. We believe Lily might have come across it.””
Danielle stared at her.
“Why would Lily have a business ledger?””
I told her about Richard's visit and the so-called treasure hunt.
Her expression changed from confusion to horror.
“He asked Lily to find something in our house?””
“We think so.””
Danielle stepped aside.
“Then find it.””
We entered Lily's bedroom.
The afternoon light fell across her pink curtains. Her schoolbag sat beside the desk, and the small wooden box rested on her dresser.
Officer Brooks photographed the room before approaching it.
“Is this the box you mentioned?”” she asked.
I nodded.
She opened the lid carefully.
Inside were shells, a plastic bracelet, two birthday cards, a broken hair clip, and a folded piece of paper.
There was no ledger.
Danielle picked up the paper with trembling fingers.
It was a drawing of a treasure chest.
Beneath it, Lily had written:
The grown-ups keep looking in the wrong place.
My stomach tightened.
“Wrong place for what?”” Danielle whispered.
Officer Brooks examined the box again.
“Was there anything else Lily used to hide things in?””
Danielle looked around the room.
“Her stuffed rabbit. She carried it everywhere. She used to hide little notes in the pocket I sewed onto its back.””
I turned toward the bed.
The rabbit wasn't there.
“Where is it?””
Danielle's face went pale.
“I gave it to the funeral home with her belongings.””
She covered her mouth.
“I didn't know. I didn't know any of this.””
Officer Brooks immediately contacted the funeral home to arrange a search of Lily's stored belongings.
While she spoke on the phone, I noticed something beneath the desk.
A small envelope, wedged behind a drawer.
I pointed it out.
Officer Brooks photographed it, then carefully removed it.
My name was written on the front.
For Daddy. Don't open until you find the book.
Danielle pressed her hand to her chest.
I stared at the envelope.
Lily had known where the ledger was.
She had left me a clue.
And she'd been waiting for me to find it.
Officer Brooks opened the envelope and removed a small piece of paper.
There was a drawing of our house.
A red X marked the basement.
Underneath, Lily had written:
Grandpa's treasure is where the water sleeps.
I looked at Danielle.
Our basement had a narrow storage room beneath the old staircase. My father used to call it the cellar, although it had been renovated years ago.
There was a locked cabinet down there, one I hadn't opened since his funeral.
Officer Brooks looked at me.
“Do you know what she means?””
I nodded slowly.
“I think I do.””
We went downstairs.
The air smelled of damp concrete and old cardboard. Officer Brooks turned on the lights while I walked toward the cabinet.
It was locked.
I searched my key ring until I found the small brass key I'd inherited from my father.
The lock clicked.
Inside were old tax records, photographs, and a stack of business documents tied with faded string.
At the bottom sat a thick black ledger.
I lifted it carefully.
A piece of paper slipped from between the pages and landed at my feet.
It was a copy of my father's original ownership agreement.
At the bottom, in his handwriting, was a note.
If anyone ever attempts to alter this agreement, consult the original witnesses before signing any amendments.
Below that were three names.
My father's accountant.
His former business partner.
And Richard Hale.
But the final line was what made my hands shake.
Richard has already asked me to change the terms. I refused.
Danielle stood behind me.
“Marcus?””
I turned the page.
There was another note, written months later.
If Richard returns after my death, do not trust anything he asks you to sign without independent review.
For several seconds, the basement was silent.
Then Officer Brooks's radio crackled.
An officer had just reached the funeral home.
Lily's stuffed rabbit had been found.
And hidden inside its pocket was a small flash drive.
A flash drive that, according to the preliminary report, contained a recording made on the afternoon of my daughter's death.
Officer Brooks looked at me.
“Mr. Reed, we need to hear that recording.””
My mouth went dry.
“Who recorded it?””
She glanced at the report.
“Your daughter.””
And for the first time since Lily died, I wondered whether she had left us more than clues.
May you like
I wondered whether, in her final hours, my little girl had discovered the truth about the people around her.
And whether she had tried to leave behind a warning that none of us had been willing to hear.
