Chapter 8 - THE PERFECT STORY
When Clara returned to the mansion with Nora and a police escort to collect more belongings, Beatrice was already giving an interview outside the gates.
“It's a tragic accident,” she told a local reporter, eyes shining with practiced tears. “I'm trying to protect my granddaughter from further trauma.”
“She's my daughter,” Clara said from behind the cameras. “And she is alive.”
Beatrice's eyes hardened for an instant. Then she reached toward Clara as if to embrace her. Clara stepped back.
Inside, an officer supervised as Clara packed Rosie's clothes. On the nursery shelf sat a second yellow rubber duck, still in its store wrapper. Attached was a narrow strip of red satin ribbon, identical in color to the piece Elena had recovered from the gate.
Clara photographed it without moving it. Detective Vega requested that it be documented and collected.
“Do you have a receipt?” Vega asked Beatrice.
“Of course not. It's a toy.”
“And who brought it here?”
“I have staff for those details.”
At the front entrance, Miles handed Nora a thick packet titled ACCOUNTING SUMMARY. He claimed Daniel had been secretly withdrawing trust funds before his crash, and that Clara had known.
“Sign this acknowledgment,” he told her, “and we can keep it out of court.”
Nora didn't take the pen. “Why would I sign a statement before reviewing its source documents?”
Miles smiled. “Because reputations are fragile.”
On the ride home, Nora compared the alleged transfers to the bank records from locker 317. The routing numbers matched North Lake Advisory. The account owner on Miles's summary, however, had been changed to Daniel Bennett.
Someone wasn't merely stealing the money.
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Someone was preparing to blame the dead man for it.
