Chapter 8 - THE MONEY PETER STOLE BEFORE THE FUNERAL
The amount was $38.6 million.
Peter moved it through three family trusts.
Nobody noticed because Robert's estate was enormous.
I didn't notice because Peter handled the financial transition.
Again.
Comfort over scrutiny.
My father's phrase had become a curse.
Federal investigators froze several accounts.
Peter vanished.
His Chicago house was empty.
Office cleared.
Company phone abandoned.
For the first time, I understood what Claire had been doing for months.
Preparing exits.
Separating assets.
Creating evidence copies.
Making herself legally independent.
She had expected Peter to run.
She had also expected me to defend him.
“Did you?” I asked.
“Did I what?”
“Think I'd protect him?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
That hurt.
“Why?”
“Because you always did.”
I wanted to argue.
Then remembered every time Claire criticized Peter.
I called her suspicious.
Emotional.
Ungrateful.
Peter was family.
Apparently family had become my excuse for stupidity.
Then Vanessa approached me.
“I have something.”
She handed me a keycard.
Corporate archives.
Basement level.
Peter had asked her to retrieve documents weeks earlier.
She never did.
Claire looked at her.
“Why tell us now?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Because I helped enough.”
We went with federal agents.
The archive contained old board minutes.
Building inspections.
Private correspondence.
And a hidden safe behind a movable shelf.
Inside:
Cash.
Passports.
A burner phone.
And three photographs.
One showed Peter meeting Arthur.
One showed Peter meeting Dr. Reeves.
The third showed Peter meeting Claire.
I stared.
Date:
Six months earlier.
Before the divorce.
Claire's face changed.
“You met him?”
She looked at the photograph.
“No.”
“That's you.”
“It isn't.”
Same coat.
Same hair.
Same build.
Then I saw the woman's hand.
No wedding ring.
Claire had always worn hers until the day she filed.
The photo was staged.
Someone resembling her.
Why?
To create evidence that Claire conspired with Peter.
The burner phone contained messages.
CLAIRE:
Daniel has no idea.
PETER:
Good. After Robert's file is gone, we move.
Fake messages.
Fabricated conspiracy.
Then one draft hadn't been sent.
PETER:
If she refuses, use Vanessa. Daniel will believe the mistress before the wife.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
“He planned to make me accuse Claire.”
“Yes,” Claire said.
“Of what?”
“Robert's murder.”
Silence.
Peter had built multiple escape routes.
If investigators reopened Robert's death, Claire could be blamed.
If Claire survived that, Vanessa could testify falsely.
If Vanessa refused, her affair with me made her credibility disposable.
We were all pieces.
Then federal agents found a hidden folder on the burner phone.
Travel reservations.
One-way charter.
Departure from a private airfield outside Chicago.
Tonight.
Destination:
Montreal.
Passenger:
Peter Morgan.
May you like
And one guest.
Patricia Holloway.
