Chapter 3 - THE BLUE ROOM
At six the next morning, Dana authorized Ethan to leave the hospital with Richard under an emergency safety arrangement.
Mark was not allowed to take him home.
Claudia was instructed not to contact the boy.
Richard drove Ethan to his own estate twenty miles away, where his longtime housekeeper, Rosa, prepared warm oatmeal and found an old pair of slippers from when Richard's nephew used to visit.
Ethan barely spoke.
He ate everything.
That frightened Richard almost as much as the night before.
At eight, Richard returned to the Hawthorne mansion with Arthur and Detective Leah Morrison.
Mark waited in the foyer.
Claudia was gone.
“Where is she?”
Richard asked.
“She went to her sister's.”
Detective Morrison looked at Mark.
“You were instructed to remain available.”
“I am available.”
“Your wife was too.”
Mark looked away.
The blue room was on the third floor.
Richard remembered it as Sarah's reading room.
After her death, Mark had told him it remained untouched.
That was a lie.
The room now contained filing cabinets, a printer, two laptops, and stacks of legal documents.
Sarah's belongings had been shoved into cardboard boxes along one wall.
Richard saw her wedding photograph lying facedown on top of one box.
Something inside him broke quietly.
Arthur opened a folder.
“Three refinancing applications.”
Richard took the pages.
Every one carried his forged signature.
The requested amount totaled $2.4 million.
Detective Morrison photographed everything.
“Were any approved?”
Arthur nodded.
“One.”
Richard turned sharply.
“How?”
“That's what I'm trying to determine.”
Mark stood in the doorway.
“I can explain.”
Richard faced him.
“Start.”
Mark swallowed.
“Claudia said we needed liquidity.”
“We?”
“For investments.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You used Ethan's home as collateral?”
“It wasn't supposed to hurt him.”
Richard stared at his son.
Mark continued desperately.
“We were going to replace everything before anyone knew.”
Arthur pulled another file from the cabinet.
“I think someone knew.”
Inside were monthly statements from the Ethan Whitaker Protection Fund.
Richard recognized the account immediately.
It contained money Sarah had inherited from her parents.
Money reserved for Ethan's education, medical care, and future.
Arthur flipped to the last page.
Richard looked at the balance.
Then he looked again.
Nearly eight hundred thousand dollars was missing.
Mark sat down.
Richard felt suddenly cold.
“Where is the money?”
Mark whispered.
“I don't know.”
Detective Morrison turned.
“You expect us to believe that?”
Mark lifted his eyes.
“I knew about some transfers.”
“How many?”
“Maybe two hundred thousand.”
Richard took a step toward him.
“Where is the rest?”
Mark's silence answered.
Then Detective Morrison's phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Her expression changed.
She ended the call and looked at them.
“Claudia didn't go to her sister's house.”
Richard frowned.
May you like
“Where did she go?”
“To the airport.”
