Chapter 7 - Gregory Shaw Knew Every Secret
Gregory Shaw had been a junior attorney for Carter Manufacturing when
Arthur vanished.
He helped Margaret handle the missing-person filings.
Later, he prepared documents that allowed her to exercise control over
several family assets.
Nothing initially appeared illegal.
Then Daniel’s attorney found a discrepancy.
Arthur had been declared legally dead unusually quickly because an
affidavit claimed wreckage containing his blood and personal effects had
been recovered.
Arthur stared at the document.
“That never happened.”
The affidavit was signed by a private investigator.
Thomas Bell.
Thomas was dead.
But his archived business records still existed.
Daniel obtained them through counsel.
One invoice referenced “A.C. identification package.”
Another showed payment from Gregory Shaw.
Emma felt cold.
Someone had manufactured evidence supporting Arthur’s presumed death.
Margaret insisted she knew nothing about that.
Daniel no longer accepted statements without verification.
Then Rachel found an old storage box Margaret had left in her garage.
Inside were copies of letters Arthur had mailed over the years.
Not one letter.
Seven.
Margaret had kept them.
Daniel read the first.
Then the second.
Then stopped.
His father had tried to contact him repeatedly.
Margaret intercepted every attempt.
Daniel confronted her in the presence of attorneys.
“Why?”
Margaret cried.
“Because he abandoned you.”
“So you decided I wasn’t allowed to choose whether I wanted him back?”
“He was dangerous.”
“Was he?”
Margaret hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
Arthur had been selfish.
Cowardly.
Possibly implicated in financial crimes.
But Margaret had transformed those facts into a permanent right to
control Daniel’s relationship with him.
Emma saw the same pattern.
Margaret staged photographs because she believed Emma was not the mother
she wanted for her grandchildren.
She intercepted Arthur’s letters because he was not the father she
wanted for Daniel.
She manipulated Michael because he was useful.
Rachel because she was persuadable.
Gregory because he understood legal leverage.
Then Daniel asked the question that changed the investigation.
“Did Gregory tell you to stage Emma’s house?”
Margaret stared.
“No.”
“Did he suggest building a neglect case?”
Silence.
Emma knew.
May you like
Gregory had not merely drafted papers from Margaret’s information.
He had helped design the strategy.
