Arthur Bell's office was closed.
That did not stop them from finding him.
Richard located the address through old records. It was not his current office but a private residence outside the city.
They did not approach immediately.
Claire sat in the car with her father.
Daniel waited in the vehicle behind them.
Elliot stood on the sidewalk, watching the house.
Celia had gone.
She had refused to become part of the confrontation.
Claire understood.
Some people survived by knowing when to leave.
“We shouldn't be here,” her father said.
“I know.”
“Then why are we?”
“Because Arthur knows we're looking.”
Her father looked at her.
“That doesn't make this safe.”
“No.”
Claire looked toward the house.
“But it makes it necessary.”
The front door opened.
Arthur Bell stepped outside.
He carried no umbrella.
He looked directly toward Claire's car.
Then he walked down the driveway.
Her father reached for the door handle.
Claire stopped him.
“Let him come.”
Arthur reached the vehicle.
Claire lowered the window.
“Mr. Bell.”
“Claire.”
“You know why we're here.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Arthur looked older than he had outside the courthouse.
“I have been waiting twenty years for someone to ask.”
Claire stared.
“What happened to my grandmother?”
“She discovered what I had done.”
“What did you do?”
“I changed the trust.”
Her father's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas threatened her.”
Claire frowned.
“Thomas was dead.”
“Not then.”
The statement stunned everyone.
Arthur continued.
“Thomas believed the trust gave your family too much protection. He wanted access to the records.”
“Why?”
“Because those records proved he had been accepting money from people who wanted control of your grandfather's assets.”
Claire understood.
“So he wasn't the protector.”
“No.”
“He was the person your grandmother feared.”
Arthur nodded.
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
Claire thought of Evelyn.
“How?”
“Evelyn helped him.”
Her father stepped forward.
“My sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she help him?”
“Because she believed she could expose him.”
Arthur looked at Claire.
“She was wrong.”
Claire's voice was quiet.
“What happened to Evelyn?”
“She discovered Thomas was working with another person.”
“Who?”
Arthur hesitated.
Then said, “Marlene Hayes.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
Marlene had lied.
But Arthur's story still did not explain everything.
Claire asked, “Why would Marlene work with Thomas?”
“Because she believed the trust could protect Daniel.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“How?”
“Thomas promised her that if the trust were dissolved, certain claims against your father would disappear.”
Daniel shook his head.
“My father?”
Arthur nodded.
“Your father had discovered what Thomas was doing.”
“So Thomas wanted him gone.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked sick.
“What happened to him?”
Arthur's eyes lowered.
“He ran.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Claire interrupted.
“What about my grandmother?”
Arthur looked at her.
“She didn't die when you were told she did.”
Her father stopped breathing for a moment.
Claire felt tears fill her eyes.
“Where did she go?”
“She disappeared because she believed Thomas's associates would hurt you.”
“And she died later?”
Arthur nodded.
“When?”
“Two years later.”
Claire closed her eyes.
At least one impossible date now had an explanation.
Her grandmother had signed the resignation after the date the family believed she had died because the family had been given the wrong date.
But why?
“Why did everyone believe she died earlier?”
Arthur answered.
“To protect the trust.”
Claire opened her eyes.
“From whom?”
“From everyone.”
A long silence followed.
Then Claire asked the question that had been haunting her.
“Was Daniel sent to marry me?”
Arthur looked at him.
“No.”
Daniel's shoulders dropped.
Arthur continued.
“But Marlene later realized the marriage gave her an opportunity.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
He lowered his eyes.
Arthur said, “Your husband wasn't the architect.”
“He was a participant.”
“Yes.”
Claire nodded.
That distinction mattered.
But it did not forgive him.
Her father asked, “Who is the person behind the current attempts?”
Arthur looked toward the road.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No. I truly don't.”
Claire studied him.
“Then why create Whitmore Continuity Services?”
Arthur looked surprised.
“I didn't.”
Celia had filed it.
But perhaps under someone else's instructions.
Claire suddenly remembered the bank transfer.
The authorization code.
Her father's retired code.
She looked at her father.
“Dad.”
He turned.
“Your old authorization code.”
“What about it?”
“Who knew it?”
Her father thought.
Then his face changed.
“One person.”
“Who?”
He whispered a name.
“Thomas's former assistant.”
Arthur looked at him.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because she died.”
Claire felt the pieces rearranging again.
A dead woman.
A supposedly dead grandmother.
A missing aunt.
A vanished father.
An unknown company.
Someone had spent decades using death as camouflage.
Arthur stepped back.
“Claire, you need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because if the assistant is alive, she has access to records that could destroy every person connected to this.”
“Then we find her.”
Arthur looked at her.
“No.”
His voice was urgent.
“You don't understand.”
Claire waited.
“She doesn't want the trust.”
“What does she want?”
Arthur's answer came quietly.
“She wants the child.”
The world seemed to stop.
Claire's hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
Daniel stepped between her and Arthur.
Her father opened the car door.
“Everyone inside.”
Arthur turned toward his house.
Then stopped.
A small envelope had been pushed beneath his front door.
He picked it up.
His face went white.
Claire saw the handwriting from across the driveway.
It was the same handwriting that had appeared on the note in the Blue Room.
E.
Arthur opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
He looked at Claire.
“She knows.”
“Who?”
Arthur handed her the photograph.
It showed Claire leaving the courthouse that morning.
Taken from across the street.
On the back were four words.
YOU HAVE THREE DAYS.
Click here to continue reading: PART 20: THREE DAYS
The Seat My Husband Refused Me Became the Smallest Part of What I Was About to Discover
Part 19 of 25
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