Chapter 4 - Ethan Once Tried To Help Emily
Mason brought Ethan in for questioning after Margaret’s arrest.
Ethan asked for an attorney.
He had that right.
Hours later his attorney arranged a recorded interview.
Ethan admitted Emily discovered the foundation transfers.
He admitted helping her copy records.
He claimed he initially believed Margaret and Charles were stealing.
Then Charles showed him documents indicating some transfers were loans
authorized by the foundation board.
Ethan became uncertain.
Emily did not.
She kept investigating.
Their marriage deteriorated.
Claire asked Mason whether the loans were legitimate.
“Some appear properly authorized. Others don’t.”
Again, the truth refused to become simple.
Ethan told investigators that Emily left voluntarily after a fight.
He claimed she feared Margaret but refused police involvement.
“Why did everyone think she moved overseas?”
Ethan said Emily sent him a message from Montreal.
Mason showed him the writing analysis.
Ethan’s face changed.
“I didn’t write those messages.”
“Did your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Mason asked about Claire.
Why marry a forensic accountant whose firm had once reviewed the
foundation?
Ethan insisted he did not know Claire had worked on that engagement when
they met.
That was plausible.
Claire’s contribution had been minor.
But Margaret knew.
Emails recovered from Margaret’s computer showed she ordered a
background report on Claire two weeks after Ethan’s first date with her.
The report listed Claire’s former employer.
Margaret had known exactly who Claire was.
Yet instead of warning Ethan away, she encouraged the relationship.
Why?
Mason found another recording in Emily’s case.
Emily said the foundation ledgers were only the outer layer.
The real evidence was hidden somewhere Margaret could not remove without
destroying the house.
Claire realized the metal case had not been the main secret.
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It was a map.
And Emily had left instructions leading deeper into the walls.
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