Chapter 3 - The Metal Case Contains Claire’s Photograph
The metal case was opened under evidence protocol.
Inside were no diamonds.
No cash.
No murder weapon.
There were documents.
A flash drive.
A handwritten journal.
And a photograph of Claire taken outside a Boston accounting firm four
years earlier.
At that time, Claire had never met Ethan.
On the back Emily had written:
CLAIRE BENNETT — AUDIT TEAM — POSSIBLE SAFE CONTACT.
Claire’s confusion deepened.
Before marrying Ethan, she had worked as a forensic accountant.
Her firm occasionally reviewed nonprofit organizations.
One client had been the Morgan Family Foundation.
Claire had not worked directly on the engagement.
She had only assisted with data reconciliation for two weeks.
Apparently Emily knew.
Mason played the first audio file from the drive.
Emily’s voice filled the hospital room.
“If you found this, Margaret knows I copied the ledgers.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Emily described suspicious transfers from the Morgan Family Foundation
into consulting companies.
One company purchased medical properties.
Another paid “research grants.”
The amounts totaled more than twenty million dollars.
Emily believed Margaret and her late husband, Charles Morgan, were using
charitable funds to support private family investments.
But Emily repeatedly said she did not yet know whether the transactions
were criminal.
She was preserving records until an independent accountant could review
them.
Then Emily mentioned Claire.
“Bennett’s firm is scheduled for the foundation review. I looked at the
staff list. Claire Bennett has fraud examination experience. I don’t
know her, but if something happens to me, someone outside this family
needs the records.”
Claire felt cold.
She had not been chosen because of fate.
She had been identified professionally.
Then the recording continued.
“My husband knows I’m investigating.”
Claire opened her eyes.
Emily’s next words changed everything.
“Ethan says he wants to help me expose his parents.”
Claire stared at Mason.
If Emily was telling the truth, Ethan had once stood against Margaret.
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So what happened between that recording and the night he watched Claire
fall?
