Chapter 19 - The Secret Beneath the Floorboards
Thirty-six hours later, the storm had cleared, leaving the sky over Cape Falcon a brilliant, crystalline blue.
The cottage on the cliff was crawling with federal investigators, state detectives, and forensic specialists. Vanessa Mercer had been transported under armed federal marshal escort to a secure medical facility in Bangor before her transfer to a supermax federal penitentiary. Julian Vance’s body had been recovered from the tidal shoals three miles down the coast.
Daniel sat on an examination stool in an ambulance parked in the driveway, a paramedic finishing the final butterfly stitches along the laceration on his shoulder. Noah was sitting beside him, sipping hot cocoa from a paper cup, a clean white bandage over his temple. In Noah’s lap, Maya was happily gnawing on a fresh biscuit, entirely oblivious to the horrors of the previous night.
Detective Miller, the lead investigator from Westchester who had flown up on a private state transport, walked over to the ambulance. He held an evidence bag containing Clara’s brass jewelry case, the lock now popped open by the crime lab.
"You need to see this, Mr. Mercer," Miller said quietly, gesturing toward the back of his cruiser.
Daniel stood, kissing Noah’s head, and walked with Miller out of earshot of the children.
"Did the lab confirm what Vanessa said?" Daniel asked, his stomach knotting into a tight fist. "About Maya?"
Miller opened the evidence folder. "We ran an expedited DNA match through the state database using the cheek swab we took from Maya at the hospital yesterday. Vanessa was lying, Daniel. It was psychological warfare. Maya is one hundred percent yours and Clara’s biological child."
A heavy, staggering wave of relief washed over Daniel, almost dropping him to his knees. He braced his hand against the cruiser’s hood, burying his face in his hands as silent tears finally broke through his defenses. "Then what was in the safe deposit box? What was she screaming about?"
Miller pulled a thick stack of yellowed documents from the evidence bag. "This wasn't Clara’s box, Daniel. This was Vanessa’s mother’s box. Clara had discovered it three weeks before she was poisoned. That’s why Vanessa killed her."
Daniel frowned, wiping the rain and salt from his eyes. "What’s in the documents?"
"Thirty years ago, your father-in-law—Clara’s father—ran an offshore investment fund. Vanessa’s family lost everything in it. Vanessa wasn't just a socialite who married you for your wealth, Daniel. She targeted your family. She spent ten years infiltrating your social circle, befriending Clara, systematically poisoning her, all to execute a calculated plan of total financial and personal annihilation."
Miller turned a page, his expression hardening. "And there’s something else. Vanessa didn't break out of St. Jude’s alone. She didn't buy off Julian Vance with her own money. Her personal accounts were completely frozen by the federal government the day she was arrested."
Daniel’s blood ran cold. "If her money was frozen... who paid Julian Vance? Who bought the tow truck? Who forged the court transfer orders?"
May you like
Miller looked Daniel dead in the eye. "That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The wire transfer originated from an anonymous trust registered in Zurich, Switzerland. The trust account was created twenty-four hours *after* Vanessa was placed in custody."
***
