Chapter 8 - Thomas Vale Comes For Caroline’s Key
Security intercepted Thomas before he reached the music box.
He claimed Richard had invited him.
Richard had not.
Police found a lock-pick set and a flash drive in his coat.
Thomas immediately requested an attorney.
He said nothing else.
Andrew recognized the name.
Thomas had administered the shell companies Charles used to pay trial
settlements.
He was also the last person Caroline met professionally before her
death.
Richard’s grief transformed into focus.
He would not accuse Thomas of murder without evidence.
He would preserve everything.
The brass key opened a private records vault in an old Ashford office
building scheduled for demolition.
Inside were paper files Charles never digitized.
Trial records.
Settlement agreements.
Internal safety warnings.
And Caroline’s notebook.
One page was dated four days before her death.
T.V. KNOWS I HAVE THE DATABASE.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, ANDREW MUST GET LILY AWAY FROM THEM.
Richard stopped reading.
Andrew looked equally stunned.
Caroline had trusted him to protect Lily.
Yet Andrew had stayed hidden.
“I never saw this,” he whispered.
Richard believed him.
The notebook continued.
Caroline had removed the trial database from the silver bracelet and
placed it somewhere “no Ashford would voluntarily look.”
That clue made no sense.
Then Lily solved it.
When Richard showed her a photograph of Caroline’s belongings, she
pointed to an ugly ceramic cat.
“Daddy hated that.”
Richard almost laughed.
Caroline used to tease him about it.
He had called it the ugliest thing in their house.
The ceramic cat had remained in a box since Caroline’s death.
Inside its hollow base was the chip.
Caroline had known Richard would never throw away something she loved
after she died, even if he hated looking at it.
The database contained devastating evidence.
Charles’s company had concealed serious adverse events.
Thomas Vale had altered patient records.
And Victoria’s mother’s case had been among those hidden.
But the final folder was encrypted.
Its title:
C.A. — DEATH CONTINGENCY.
Caroline Ashford.
Someone had created a file specifically for the possibility of
Caroline’s death.
Richard stared at the password field.
Then Lily quietly said:
May you like
“Try my birthday.”
The file opened.
