Chapter 10 - David's Last Payment Had Purpose
Samuel explained the withdrawal.
David had discovered proof of the trust fraud.
He had also found a former Hale accountant willing to testify.
Her name was Eleanor Drake.
The two million dollars was intended to relocate her and protect her.
But Eleanor disappeared.
Then David died.
Margaret finally admitted the family had concealed something else.
David’s heart attack may not have been natural.
A company physician had altered medication for his existing cardiac condition.
Before his own death years later, the doctor privately confessed that Harold Hale had pressured him.
Ethan stared at Margaret.
“My grandfather killed my father?”
“We could never prove it in court.”
Richard walked to the water.
All his certainty disappeared.
“My whole life, I believed David ruined mine.”
Margaret answered quietly.
“He was trying to protect your daughter.”
Emma opened the ledger again.
A recent document was tucked into the back.
It proposed transferring Charlotte’s remaining trust shares.
The beneficiary line read: R. Hale.
Richard immediately shook his head.
“I didn’t prepare that.”
Samuel examined the witness code.
HG-17.
Mrs. Green, who had arrived with Margaret, began crying.
Everyone turned.
“My name isn’t really Green,” she said.
May you like
“It’s Helen Graves.”
And she had been hiding inside the Hale household for twenty-three years.
