Chapter 5 - WHAT HELEN TOOK
Evan drove home anyway.
Martin's black sedan was parked at the curb.
The front door was unlocked.
He entered quietly and found Helen and Martin in the study.
Martin was standing beside Robert's old desk.
Helen looked relieved and terrified at the same time.
"I told you not to come."
Martin turned.
"There he is."
"The family detective."
Evan held up Mara's patient note.
"What did Helen take from Room 417?"
Martin's smile disappeared.
Helen sat down slowly.
"A folder."
"What was in it?"
"Contracts."
Martin cut in.
"Old drafts that meant nothing."
"Twenty-five percent meant nothing?"
Martin's jaw tightened.
Helen whispered, "Robert told me Mara was trying to blackmail him."
"So you stole her papers."
"I took them."
"While she was recovering from giving birth to me."
Helen covered her mouth.
"Yes."
"What did you do with them?"
"I gave them to Robert."
Martin corrected her.
"You gave them to me."
Helen stared at him.
Martin realized his mistake one second too late.
"Why you?"
"Because I was counsel."
"Were you also counsel when her shares disappeared?"
Martin's eyes went flat.
"Be careful."
"Or what?"
Helen stood between them.
"Enough."
Martin picked up his coat.
"Robert spent his life trying to protect you from ugly facts."
"He protected himself."
Martin moved toward the door.
"Same difference in families like ours."
When he was gone, Helen locked the door behind him.
"What are you still not telling me?"
Helen walked to Robert's desk and opened the bottom drawer.
"I didn't give Martin everything."
"There was one page in Mara's folder I kept."
"Why?"
"Because it had your name on it."
The key opened a safe-deposit box Helen had not touched in twenty-nine years.
Inside was a single stock certificate.
Mara Ellis.
Twenty-five percent ownership.
On the back was a transfer clause.
Upon my death, all shares pass to my biological child, Evan Ellis Bennett.
Evan looked at Helen.
She whispered, "Your father knew."
Then they noticed a second document beneath it.
May you like
A ledger page showing that someone had been receiving dividends from Mara's shares for nearly three decades.
The account name was Claire Bennett.
