Chapter 8 - The Man Who Owned the Accounts
Peter arrived in the library wearing a navy suit and the relaxed smile of a man who expected to be welcomed.
“Richard. I hear the evening has become difficult.”
“You tried to access my camera archive,” Richard said.
Peter's smile barely shifted. “I was helping. Victoria said Maya was distressed and there were concerns about staff conduct.”
“Why did you ask Grace to sign a statement saying Maya was violent?”
“I asked her to document behavior. There's a difference.”
Elaine placed a copy of the guardianship form on the table. “Then explain why it carries a signature that was copied from an old contract.”
Peter did not touch the paper. “You're letting grief cloud your judgment. Eleanor was suspicious of everyone.”
“Don't speak about my wife as if you knew her better than I did,” Richard said.
Peter's eyes cooled. “I know she was going to create problems for a lot of people. She was looking into Northstar when she went into the hospital. If she'd lived, the foundation would have been in court by now.”
The words hung in the room. Peter seemed to realize what he had said only after it was too late.
Elaine's pen stopped moving.
“What did you mean by that?” Richard asked.
“I mean she was going to make accusations. Accusations that could have destroyed a charity she cared about.”
“You know what she found.”
“I know what she suspected.”
Richard asked Omar to escort Peter from the house and preserve every document he had brought. Peter threatened legal action, but Elaine reminded him that the original records would be provided to investigators.
When the door closed, Maya appeared in the hallway. “Is he the reason Mommy died?”
Richard wanted to give her a clean answer. He could not.
“I don't know,” he said. “But we will find out what happened. And you will never have to carry the blame.”
May you like
His phone rang. The hospital records office had returned Elaine's call.
There was a missing page in Eleanor's medical file, and someone had requested it be sealed after her death.
