Chapter 7: The Photograph From 2009
Claire had never seen the photograph before.
Her father, Thomas Bennett, looked younger but unmistakable.
Lily appeared to be seventeen.
Victoria stood between them with one hand raised, as though ordering the photographer to stop.
On the back wall was the logo of the Bennett Children’s Foundation.
“My father ran that foundation,” Claire said. “He never mentioned your family.”
Daniel examined the image.
“Lily volunteered there during high school.”
“Why would Victoria be arguing with them?”
Claire called her father’s former assistant, Margaret Shaw.
Margaret was silent for several seconds after hearing Lily’s name.
Then she asked, “Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t be alone.”
Claire put the call on speaker.
Margaret explained that Thomas Bennett had discovered financial irregularities inside the foundation in 2009.
Large donations had disappeared.
The money had been redirected through companies connected to Victoria Parker.
“Your father intended to expose her,” Margaret said.
“What stopped him?”
“He died.”
Claire’s father had suffered a heart attack two weeks after the photograph was taken.
Claire had been fifteen.
“Are you saying Victoria caused his death?”
“I’m saying your father did not believe his heart condition was natural.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What did Lily know?”
“She found the original financial records. Thomas hid them before his death.”
“Where?”
Margaret hesitated.
“He told me the evidence would remain with the child who had nothing.”
Ethan entered the room holding his stuffed bear.
Claire stared at him.
“The child who had nothing?”
Margaret’s voice dropped.
“Thomas created a trust. I don’t know who received it.”
A loud sound came through the phone.
Glass breaking.
Margaret gasped.
Then the line went dead.
May you like
Seconds later, Claire received one final message from Margaret’s number.
The key is inside Ethan’s blue jacket.
