Chapter 8 - Someone Comes Back for Proof
Lauren touched the necklace at her throat.
“This?”
Noah backed away from her.
Ethan moved in front of him.
“Take it off.”
Lauren’s eyes widened.
“Ethan, wait.”
“Take it off.”
She unclasped the thin gold chain and placed it on the table.
The pendant was a small oval locket Sarah had worn for years.
After Sarah’s death, Ethan had given it to Lauren because it had belonged to their mother.
Claire had never worn it.
At least not in front of Ethan.
Detective Ortiz picked up the note with gloved fingers.
“Who wrote this?”
Lauren stared at it.
“I have no idea.”
“You brought the rabbit here.”
“Yes.”
“Where did you get it?”
Lauren swallowed.
“It was left in my car.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Ortiz’s expression hardened.
“You said Noah gave it to you.”
“I thought he had.”
“No,” Noah said. “I didn’t.”
Lauren covered her face for a moment.
“I received a text from his number.”
Noah held up his tablet.
“I don’t have a phone.”
The room went silent.
Someone had impersonated him.
Lauren handed Ortiz her phone.
The text read:
Aunt Lauren, please take Mom’s rabbit. Don’t tell Dad. Claire checks everything.
It had included a photograph of the rabbit sitting behind a planter near Lauren’s office.
Ortiz studied the image.
“This was staged.”
Ethan looked at the necklace.
“And the note?”
“Possibly staged too.”
Sarah’s warning returned to him.
Don’t trust the evidence that arrives too easily.
Mark knows how to build a story.
The note was designed to make Ethan suspect Lauren.
Someone wanted the investigation split.
Someone wanted family members accusing one another.
Noah looked at Lauren.
“Did you come to our house last week?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
Ethan’s voice sharpened.
“Why?”
“I wanted to talk to Claire.”
“At midnight?”
“It wasn’t midnight. It was around nine.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you had stopped taking my calls.”
The accusation was true.
Claire had told Ethan Lauren was angry about the estate.
Lauren had told him Claire was isolating the children.
Ethan had chosen the explanation that required less conflict.
Lauren continued.
“I used my key. Claire was in Emma’s room.”
“The camera caught your shoes.”
“I know.”
“You knew about the camera?”
“No. I saw it that night.”
Noah’s head snapped up.
“You saw it?”
Lauren nodded.
“You hid it well. But the charging cable reflected in the mirror.”
“Why didn’t you take it?”
“Because I realized why you put it there.”
Noah’s eyes filled.
Lauren looked at Ethan.
“I tried to tell you something was wrong.”
Ethan had no answer.
Ortiz asked Lauren what happened that night.
“I confronted Claire. She said I was paranoid. Then Mark walked in.”
Ethan went still.
“Mark?”
“He came through the side door like he owned the place.”
“Did he see you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Lauren’s face tightened.
“He told me Sarah had always been unstable near the end.”
Ethan felt sick.
Same strategy.
Same story.
Discredit anyone who noticed.
Lauren reached into her purse.
“I recorded part of it.”
She played an audio memo.
Mark’s voice filled the room.
You need to stop upsetting Ethan. He’s barely holding things together.
Then Lauren’s voice.
I’m not talking about Ethan. I’m talking about what you’re doing in this house.
Mark answered.
Careful, Lauren.
A pause.
Then Claire.
She knows about the key.
The recording ended.
Ortiz sat back.
“That helps.”
“It gets worse,” Lauren said.
She took out a second item.
A security access card.
Mark Caldwell.
“I found this taped beneath the rabbit.”
Ethan stared at it.
Mark had lost his executive badge.
Or claimed he had.
This was a duplicate.
Ortiz checked the card number through Riverfront security.
It was the same badge used by the hooded figure after Mark entered the tower.
Somebody wanted police to think Lauren had used Mark’s badge.
But the placement was too convenient.
Ethan looked at the rabbit.
“Whoever planted this expected Lauren to bring it here.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Which means they expected us to find the badge.”
Noah whispered, “It’s another story.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward the rabbit.
“Mom said Mark builds stories.”
Ethan understood.
Mark was not only hiding evidence.
He was constructing a suspect.
Lauren.
The angry sister.
The woman with a key to the house.
The woman seen in the nursery.
The woman wearing Sarah’s necklace.
The woman found with Mark’s badge.
Perfect.
Except for one thing.
The hidden camera had recorded Mark himself.
And Mark did not know how much Noah had saved.
A loud crash came from the second floor.
The security guards ran for the stairs.
Ethan followed.
May you like
Emma’s nursery window stood open.
The white music box was gone.
