Chapter 4 - THE CAMERA IN THE STUDY
I didn't sleep.
At six the next morning, Mr. Brooks arrived with two security specialists.
They checked every entrance.
Every computer.
Every camera.
Every file.
Then one of them found something.
A hidden recording device.
Inside my study.
My stomach dropped.
“Who installed it?”
“We're checking.”
Daniel stood behind me.
“Mom…”
I looked at him.
“Did Vanessa ever have access to this room?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Whenever she wanted.”
I stared at the device.
Then we played the recording.
Vanessa's voice filled the room.
“I don't care what she says. The estate should be Daniel's.”
A man's voice answered.
“Then you need proof she's mentally incompetent.”
I froze.
Daniel whispered,
“Who is that?”
The recording continued.
Vanessa spoke again.
“How?”
“Medical records.”
“I don't have any.”
“You don't need real ones.”
Silence.
Then the man said:
“Once she's declared incompetent, the court can appoint someone else to manage the trust.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
Daniel stared at the speaker.
“My wife was trying to take the estate?”
I nodded.
The recording continued.
“After Daniel gets control, we transfer the properties.”
“To whom?”
“Us.”
The recording stopped.
Mr. Brooks looked grim.
“She's been planning this for months.”
Daniel's face turned pale.
“She wanted me to steal from Mom.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“She wanted you to believe you were stealing for yourself.”
He covered his face.
Then his phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
Her voice was calm.
“Daniel, we need to talk.”
“You tried to have my mother declared incompetent.”
Silence.
“Who told you that?”
“I heard the recording.”
Another silence.
Then Vanessa said:
“Your mother is manipulating you.”
Daniel laughed.
“You really still think I’m that stupid?”
She hung up.
Five minutes later, police arrived.
But Vanessa was gone.
So was the man from the recording.
Mr. Brooks looked at me.
“She knew.”
“What?”
“She knew you had the camera.”
I frowned.
“No.”
He pointed toward the desk.
There was a note.
Three words.
You should have listened.
Daniel stared.
“Where is she?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Then one of the security specialists entered.
“Ms. Whitmore?”
“Yes?”
“We found something in the garage.”
He handed me a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Vanessa standing beside the estate's old financial manager.
A man I trusted.
On the back was a date.
Three months earlier.
Daniel looked at me.
“Mom…”
I knew what he was thinking.
This wasn't just Vanessa.
May you like
Someone inside the estate had been helping her.
And I knew exactly who.
