Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN THEY TRIED TO FRAME
The first arrest happened on January 6.
Not Grant.
Not Howard.
A former Bennett Harbor accountant named Michael Reeves was taken into custody after investigators discovered altered financial records on his office computer.
Claire recognized the name immediately.
Michael had worked under her when she built the original accounting system.
He had been one of the few employees who had treated her as a professional rather than Grant's wife.
Arthur called within minutes.
“They're claiming Michael accessed your authorization credentials.”
Claire stared at the report.
“Did he?”
“Not according to the original access logs.”
“Then who did?”
Arthur paused.
“Someone using an administrative override.”
Claire understood immediately.
Howard.
But the next discovery was worse.
The altered records contained Claire's digital signature.
There were payment authorizations, corporate approvals, and even a document transferring company funds into a personal account.
The signature looked perfect.
The timestamps were fabricated.
But the files were designed to make her look like the person responsible for the missing nine million dollars.
Grant called that afternoon.
“Claire, we need to talk.”
“About the forged documents?”
“About protecting Ethan.”
“You keep using his name.”
“Because he's my son too.”
“Then stop putting him in the middle of your crimes.”
Grant exhaled.
“I can make this go away.”
“How?”
“You withdraw your board challenge. You sign the revised voting agreement. You let Howard manage the company.”
“And in exchange?”
“I'll make sure you and Ethan are financially secure.”
Claire laughed.
“You think this is about money?”
“It's always about money when lawyers get involved.”
“No, Grant. It's about the fact that you stole from a company you claimed to love, used my credentials to hide it, and then threatened our six-year-old son.”
Silence.
Then Grant said, “You have no proof I did that.”
Claire looked at the recording device on the table.
“Are you sure?”
He hung up.
That evening, Arthur arrived with a forensic specialist.
They examined the suspicious authorizations.
The specialist discovered that Claire's credentials had been accessed through an old administrative account.
The account belonged to Howard.
But there was another login.
Grant's.
The two men had been working together.
The following morning, Detective Ruiz requested a meeting.
Claire arrived at the station carrying the flash drive and the original trust documents.
The detective listened to the recordings.
Then she opened the medical payment file.
“Ms. Bennett, your father's death is being reexamined.”
“Do you believe he was murdered?”
“We don't know yet.”
Claire stared at the table.
“What happens now?”
“We need the original medical records and testimony from the physician who signed the report.”
“Can you get them?”
“We're trying.”
Then the detective placed another photograph in front of her.
It showed Howard Bennett leaving a private clinic three days before Edward's death.
He was accompanied by a woman Claire had never seen before.
“Who is she?” Claire asked.
“We're still identifying her.”
Claire studied the image.
Something about the woman looked familiar.
Not her face.
Her posture.
The way she held a leather handbag.
Then Claire noticed the bracelet.
A silver chain with a tiny emerald charm.
Her mother had owned an identical one.
Claire looked up.
“Detective, where did you get this?”
“It came from the clinic's security footage.”
Claire leaned closer.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
The detective looked at the photograph again.
Then she turned the page.
The woman's name was listed beneath the image.
Margaret Bell.
Arthur's wife.
Claire felt the room tilt.
“Arthur's wife?”
“Yes.”
“But Arthur said he never knew about the clinic.”
Detective Ruiz closed the folder.
“Perhaps he didn't.”
Claire returned home in a daze.
Arthur was waiting in the study.
She placed the photograph in front of him.
“Tell me why your wife was with Howard Bennett three days before my father died.”
Arthur stared at it.
His face drained of color.
“Claire, I can explain.”
She stepped backward.
“Then explain.”
Arthur swallowed.
“Your father asked Margaret to meet Howard.”
“Why?”
“To give him something.”
“What?”
Arthur looked toward the desk.
“A copy of the original trust agreement.”
Claire's heart pounded.
“Why would my father give Howard that?”
May you like
Arthur's voice broke.
“Because your father believed Howard was planning to kill him.”
