Chapter 5 - The Ashes of a Buried Secret
The dawn broke over the estate,
casting a pale golden light through the tall stained-glass windows.
In the nursery,
the morning light revealed a sight that felt like a miraculous dream.
Evelyn sat in the center of the plush rug,
holding Leo and Toby tightly in her lap.
The young boys refused to let go of her hands,
their small faces buried in her lap as she stroked their hair.
Andrew stood nearby,
watching them with tears streaming down his face,
holding a hot mug of coffee he hadn’t touched.
A soft knock at the nursery door announced the arrival of Chief Inspector Vance,
Andrew’s cousin and a senior detective with the city police.
Inspector Vance walked in quietly,
holding a thick leather folder under his arm.
“Andrew,”
the inspector said softly,
nodding respectfully toward Evelyn.
“We conducted a preliminary search of Victoria’s private townhouse in the city.”
Andrew stepped out into the hallway,
closing the nursery door slightly to protect his family from the grim details.
“What did you find,
Julian?”
Andrew asked,
his tone cold and demanding.
Inspector Vance opened the folder,
revealing several financial ledgers and bank statements.
“Victoria was systematically embezzling money from your corporate accounts for over four years,”
Julian explained.
“Evelyn must have discovered the discrepancies right before the fire.
That was her true motive.”
Andrew clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
“And the body we buried?”
Julian sighed deeply,
his face grim.
“The dental records were falsified by Dr. Harrison,
Victoria’s personal doctor.
The body in the grave belonged to an unidentified victim from a local morgue that went missing three years ago.
Dr. Harrison has already been taken into custody,
and he is singing like a bird to avoid a life sentence.”
Andrew leaned against the wall,
closing his eyes as a wave of fury washed over him.
“She kept Evelyn hidden in a private facility,
drugged with memory-suppressing narcotics,”
Julian continued.
“When the funding ran out last month due to our recent financial audit,
the clinic discharged her,
assuming she was an abandon charity case.
She ended up at the employment agency by complete chance.”
“It wasn’t chance,”
Andrew whispered,
May you like
looking back toward the nursery door.
“She came back for her children.”
