The next morning, Walter Fleming did not deny knowing his brother had been in Chicago.
He denied everything else.
Kenneth and I were back in Walter’s office before nine.
Lydia sat beside him.
Walter stood at the window with both hands behind his back.
“Ethan attended a medical-industry conference there that week.”
“So did Melinda,” I said.
Walter turned.
“You are assuming.”
“I am stating that both were in the same city at the same time.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
Kenneth added, “But an internal Fleming company account paid for Melinda’s hotel room.”
Walter’s expression barely changed.
“According to Connor.”
“According to an approval code.”
“Which can be assigned.”
“Can yours?”
Walter looked at him.
Lydia answered.
“Certain administrative staff had authorization to use Mr. Fleming’s executive billing profile.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“It is the answer.”
I watched Walter.
“Did Ethan have access?”
“No.”
“Did someone booking travel for Ethan?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Kenneth leaned back.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Walter frowned.
“This is still speculation.”
“Then call Ethan.”
“He's in Europe.”
“Phones work there.”
Walter’s face tightened.
“You assume he’ll cooperate.”
“Why wouldn't he?”
No one answered.
That silence was enough.
I asked, “How bad is their relationship?”
“Whose?”
“Connor and Ethan.”
Walter walked toward his desk.
“Complicated.”
“That word is doing heavy work.”
Walter sat.
“My brother and I have disagreed over business.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“Connor has resented Ethan for years.”
“Why?”
Walter looked irritated.
“Because Ethan was better at almost everything Connor wanted to be.”
The bluntness surprised me.
“Business?”
“Yes.”
“Money?”
“Yes.”
“Your approval?”
Walter’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Another family competition disguised as inheritance planning.
“Did Connor know Ethan was in Chicago with Melinda?”
“I don't know.”
“He apparently suspected someone.”
“That isn't the same.”
“Would Vale have investigated Ethan?”
Walter’s expression changed slightly.
“Probably.”
“Then Vale may know whether Ethan is Noah's father.”
Kenneth nodded.
“And may have DNA access.”
Walter stared at him.
“How?”
“Private investigators obtain discarded genetic material more easily than most people realize.”
I thought of Connor admitting Vale had acquired Gabriel’s sample without consent.
If Vale had tested Ethan too, then the missing investigator might already know Noah’s biological father.
“Has Ethan ever given DNA for family purposes?” I asked.
Walter frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Ancestry service. Medical screening. Anything.”
Lydia shook her head.
“You're moving into deeply private territory.”
“So is a forged paternity report tied to an eighteen-million-dollar trust.”
Walter ignored her.
“Our family completed genetic screening after my sister died of ovarian cancer.”
That immediately caught my attention.
“All of you?”
“My siblings and their adult children.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Connor?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
So legitimate DNA reference material already existed somewhere.
Kenneth understood at the same time.
“Could Vale access those results?”
“Not legally.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Walter stared at him.
“I don't know.”
I thought about Melinda crying on the phone.
Ethan used another name.
If true, he had concealed his identity.
But why?
“Where did Melinda meet Ethan?”
Walter looked at me.
“You're asking the wrong person.”
“I’m asking the person most likely to know where his brother spends time.”
He sighed.
“Ethan had investments in hospitality. He traveled constantly.”
“Was Daniel a name he used?”
“I've never heard that.”
“Middle name?”
“No.”
“Nickname?”
“No.”
Kenneth said, “Alias?”
Walter’s face hardened.
“You're suggesting my brother regularly deceived women about his identity.”
“No,” Kenneth said. “Melinda is.”
Walter looked toward me.
“She could be lying.”
“Yes.”
That answer surprised him.
“I’m not defending her.”
“Then why assume Ethan?”
“I don't assume anything anymore.”
For a moment Walter looked as though that sentence landed personally.
My phone vibrated.
Morales.
I answered.
“We found Raymond Vale.”
Everyone in the room froze.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Motel near Plainfield.”
“Condition?”
“Bruised. Dehydrated. Angry.”
“Was he being held?”
“He says no.”
I frowned.
“Then what happened?”
“He claims Connor staged the warehouse photo.”
“That contradicts Connor.”
“Yes.”
“What does Vale say?”
“That Connor asked him to participate in making it look like he’d been kidnapped.”
“Why?”
Morales replied, “To create leverage against someone else.”
“Who?”
“Walter Fleming.”
Every face turned toward Walter.
He went pale.
“That makes no sense,” he said.
Morales heard him.
“You’re there with him?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We need everyone available.”
Walter leaned toward the phone.
“Why would Connor stage Vale’s kidnapping for me?”
“We’re still interviewing him.”
“Ask him.”
“We are.”
I interrupted.
“Does Vale know about Ethan?”
Morales paused.
“How do you know that name matters?”
Because police already knew.
That told me everything.
“Melinda named him.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Morales exhaled.
“Then we need her formally interviewed again.”
“Why?”
“Vale says Ethan Fleming was one of his investigation targets.”
Walter stood abruptly.
“For Connor?”
“Yes.”
“What did he find?”
Morales hesitated.
“Enough to conclude Ethan and Melinda met in Chicago.”
Walter closed his eyes.
“Did they sleep together?”
“That is not something Vale can establish definitively.”
“DNA can.”
Morales became quiet.
My pulse accelerated.
“Did Vale test Ethan?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Nobody moved.
“And?”
“We haven't verified his documentation yet.”
“Morales.”
His voice became careful.
“Vale claims Ethan Fleming is Noah’s biological father.”
Walter sat down.
Not slowly.
His knees seemed to fail.
Lydia put a hand on his shoulder.
I stared at the phone.
“How certain?”
“Vale says he arranged a comparison using stored genetic material and Noah’s sample.”
“Legally obtained?”
“No.”
“Reliable laboratory?”
“He claims so.”
“Chain of custody?”
“Not court-admissible.”
“So scientifically suggestive, legally weak.”
“Exactly.”
Kenneth asked, “Does Vale still have the report?”
“Yes.”
“Police possession?”
“Now.”
Walter covered his face.
For several seconds, he looked nothing like the patriarch I had known.
Only a brother.
Then his hands dropped.
“Ethan knew?”
Morales said, “Vale believes so.”
“What do you mean believes?”
“According to Vale, he approached Ethan months ago.”
“Why?”
“At Connor’s direction.”
My stomach tightened.
“So Connor knew.”
Morales said, “Possibly before Gabriel filed.”
Walter looked sick.
I asked, “What happened when Vale approached Ethan?”
“He offered him a chance to quietly acknowledge or deny paternity.”
“That sounds unlike Vale.”
“Apparently Connor wanted leverage before confronting him.”
“What did Ethan do?”
“He paid Vale.”
Kenneth leaned forward.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“For silence?”
“Vale says for copies of the evidence.”
Walter laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“My entire family apparently pays the same investigator to lie about everyone else.”
No one contradicted him.
Morales continued.
“Ethan then left the country.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
The same period Gabriel filed.
The same period money moved.
“Where in Europe?” I asked.
“Switzerland.”
Walter stared toward the windows.
“He has a house near Lausanne.”
“Could Connor be heading there?”
Kenneth asked.
Morales replied, “Possible.”
Walter immediately reached for his phone.
Lydia caught his wrist.
“No.”
“He's my brother.”
“He's also potentially involved in active litigation.”
“He may not know.”
“He paid Vale fifty thousand dollars.”
Walter looked at her.
“For evidence. Not necessarily silence.”
“That distinction belongs to investigators.”
I watched the argument.
Something else bothered me.
“If Ethan is Noah’s father, why would Connor keep Gabriel focused on himself?”
Kenneth looked over.
I continued.
“Gabriel was useful as a false alternative.”
Morales said nothing.
“Connor knew Gabriel wasn't the father, but he let Gabriel file.”
Kenneth nodded slowly.
“Because while everyone argued Connor versus Gabriel…”
“Nobody looked for a third man.”
Walter's face hardened.
“My brother.”
“Yes.”
I turned toward him.
“And if Ethan is biologically Noah’s father, what happens to the trust?”
Walter went still.
Kenneth immediately understood.
“Ethan is a Fleming.”
Walter said nothing.
“Answer.”
Walter looked at me.
“The trust language specifies a biological descendant in Connor’s line.”
“So Ethan’s child would not qualify Connor.”
“No.”
“But would Noah qualify for anything through Ethan?”
Walter hesitated.
“Potentially.”
“How much?”
“That depends on Ethan’s estate.”
“Is he wealthy?”
Walter almost laughed.
“Very.”
I stared at him.
“So Noah sits between two fortunes.”
“That is one way to put it.”
“No. He sits between adults treating him like documentation.”
Walter flinched.
Good.
My phone vibrated again.
Melinda.
I answered.
“Police found Vale.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“My attorney told me.”
“Then you know about Ethan?”
“Yes.”
Her voice sounded hollow.
“Is it true?”
“I don’t know.”
“You slept with him.”
“Yes.”
“During the conception window.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever tell him you were pregnant?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
Walter’s head snapped up.
“What did he say?”
“He told me it couldn't be his.”
“Why?”
“He said he'd had a vasectomy.”
That stunned me.
Walter stood.
“What?”
Melinda heard him.
“Walter?”
“Ethan had a vasectomy?”
“That’s what he told me.”
Walter stared at us.
“My brother never had a vasectomy.”
Melinda began breathing faster.
“How do you know?”
“Because he wanted children.”
“Maybe he changed his mind.”
“No.”
“Walter—”
“He froze sperm two years before his divorce because he wanted another child someday.”
The room went very still.
Melinda whispered, “He lied to me.”
It seemed everybody in this story had.
I asked, “Did Ethan know your real name?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about Connor?”
“Not at first.”
“When did he find out?”
“After.”
“After what?”
“After I told him I was pregnant.”
“And then?”
“He disappeared.”
That aligned with fear.
Not proof.
“Did you contact him again?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When Noah was six months old.”
“Why?”
“Because Noah started looking like him.”
Walter closed his eyes.
“What happened?”
“Ethan answered.”
“And?”
“He told me never to contact him again.”
“Anything else?”
Melinda hesitated.
“He said Connor had already made his choice.”
My skin prickled.
“What choice?”
“I don't know.”
Walter looked at me.
He knew.
Or suspected.
“What does that mean?” I asked him.
“I don't know.”
“You reacted.”
“Because Ethan and Connor have history.”
“What kind?”
Walter stared down at his desk.
“When Connor was twenty-one, Ethan covered for him after an accident.”
“What accident?”
Walter did not answer immediately.
“Connor had been drinking.”
My stomach tightened.
“Car accident?”
“Yes.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“A cyclist.”
Kenneth went still.
“How badly?”
“Seriously.”
“Did Connor face charges?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Ethan said he had been driving.”
The office fell silent.
“You let your brother take responsibility for your son?”
Walter's face hardened with old shame.
“I learned afterward.”
“What happened to Ethan?”
“Civil settlement. No criminal conviction.”
“And Connor owed him.”
“Yes.”
A debt spanning decades.
One brother protecting a nephew.
Then possibly fathering that nephew’s child.
No wonder the truth threatened more than money.
Kenneth asked, “Could Connor have viewed raising Noah as repayment?”
Walter looked at him sharply.
I answered first.
“No.”
They turned toward me.
“Connor doesn't repay debts that way.”
Walter watched me.
“What does he do?”
“He converts debts into grievances.”
Silence.
“You're saying Connor would believe Ethan owed him.”
“Yes.”
“Even though Ethan protected him.”
“Especially because Ethan protected him.”
Walter sank back.
That was the saddest thing about Connor.
He could transform kindness into evidence that someone had power over him.
My phone chimed.
A message from Morales.
Ethan Fleming's attorney just contacted us.
I read it aloud.
Walter stood.
“What does he want?”
Another message appeared.
Ethan is returning voluntarily.
A third followed.
He denies being Noah's father.
Then a fourth.
But he has agreed to court-supervised DNA testing.
Click here to continue reading: PART 15: Ethan Returned to Face the DNA Test, but His First Conversation With Walter Revealed Why Connor Had Feared Him for Twenty Years
The Morning My Ex-Husband Tried to Humiliate Me in a Hospital Hallway and Misread the Calm on My Face
Part 14 of 35
