Chapter 5 - THE HOUSEKEEPER'S CONFESSION
Claire gripped her phone.
“Rebecca is alive?”
Margaret's answer came slowly.
“She was when I last saw her.”
“When was that?”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
Claire closed her eyes.
The hope that had surged through her vanished almost immediately.
“Tell me everything.”
Margaret hesitated.
“Not over the telephone. Meet me at Saint Anne's Church. The old rectory. Midnight.”
Daniel shook his head when Claire told him.
“It could be a trap.”
Claire looked at the clock.
They had forty minutes.
“Margaret knew my father. She knows something.”
Eleanor touched Claire's arm.
“Then we go together.”
At 11:54 p.m., they arrived at the church.
It stood on a quiet residential street beneath bare trees.
A single light glowed inside the rectory.
Margaret opened the door before they knocked.
She looked older than Claire remembered.
Her gray hair had escaped its usual bun. Her hands trembled. She wore a plain brown coat over her housekeeper's uniform.
“Come inside.”
The room smelled of old books and coffee.
Margaret locked the door.
Then she faced Claire.
“I knew who you were from your first day at the estate.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Your mother's photograph was in the newspaper after Julien died. You look exactly like her.”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was afraid Armand would hurt you.”
Claire felt betrayed.
“You let me work there for six years without telling me what happened to my father.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew he was innocent.”
Margaret nodded.
Claire turned away.
For a moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she faced the older woman again.
“Tell me about Rebecca.”
Margaret sat down heavily.
“Rebecca discovered the foundation was being used to move money into shell companies. But she also found payments to police officers, judges, and contractors.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Bribes?”
Margaret nodded.
“She believed Armand had been buying protection for years.”
Eleanor looked horrified.
“From whom?”
“Anyone who could threaten his businesses.”
Claire asked, “What happened when Rebecca confronted him?”
“Armand locked her in the basement beneath the chapel.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
“He imprisoned her?”
“For two days.”
Margaret began crying.
“Julien discovered her by accident. He heard someone calling through the ventilation shaft.”
Claire sat very still.
“Dad found her?”
“Yes. He brought her food and water. He promised he'd get her out.”
“What happened?”
“Julien told Victoria what he'd discovered. He believed she would help.”
Claire remembered the cassette.
Victoria, please tell someone where I am.
Her father had trusted Victoria twice.
Both times, it had cost him.
Margaret continued.
“Victoria was terrified of Armand. She begged Julien not to confront him. But Julien refused.”
Eleanor whispered, “What happened to Rebecca?”
“On the night Julien died, I went back to the chapel. The basement was empty.”
“Did Armand release her?”
“No.”
Margaret reached into her coat.
She removed a folded letter.
“This arrived at my house six months after the accident.”
Claire unfolded it carefully.
The handwriting was uneven.
Margaret, I am alive. Do not try to find me. They believe I died, and for now that is the only reason I am safe. Tell Katherine I love her. Tell Julien's family I will never forget what he did for me.
There was no signature.
But Eleanor recognized the handwriting.
“It's Rebecca's.”
Margaret nodded.
“I received two more letters over the years. The last one arrived fourteen years ago.”
“Where were they mailed from?” Daniel asked.
“Different states. Colorado. Oregon. Maine.”
Claire frowned.
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
Margaret looked at her.
“Because the sheriff was one of the men Armand paid.”
She opened a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Sheriff Thomas Harlan standing beside Armand Beaumont and another man outside the chapel.
The date printed on the back was November 18.
Claire studied the third man.
He was tall, with dark hair and a severe expression.
“Who is he?”
Margaret's face tightened.
“Dr. Samuel Whitmore.”
Daniel looked up.
“The medical examiner?”
Margaret nodded.
“He signed your father's death certificate.”
Claire stared at the photograph.
The sheriff.
The medical examiner.
The most powerful man in town.
All standing together outside the chapel hours after her father's death.
Daniel carefully photographed the evidence.
Then he asked Margaret a question.
“Why did you wait until now to tell Claire?”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
“Because Victoria finally told me she's dying.”
Eleanor inhaled sharply.
“What?”
“Advanced heart disease. She has refused another procedure. The doctors say she may not have much time.”
Claire thought about Victoria's confession.
The shaking hands.
The tears.
The desperation.
Perhaps Victoria wasn't simply seeking forgiveness.
Perhaps she was trying to make amends before it was too late.
Margaret reached for Claire's hand.
“Your father was brave, sweetheart. He didn't want to destroy the Beaumont family. He wanted the stolen money returned to the workers.”
Claire swallowed.
“Then why did Laurent leave him in that car?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Laurent wasn't supposed to kill him.”
Daniel looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Armand ordered him to frighten Julien. Make him surrender the documents. But the argument became violent.”
Claire felt cold.
“Laurent caused the crash?”
Margaret nodded.
“He told Victoria that Julien grabbed the steering wheel.”
“Was that true?”
“I don't know.”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“But there was one witness.”
“Who?”
“A mechanic named Henry Cole. He was following the car because he'd been told to make sure Julien didn't escape.”
Daniel opened his laptop.
“Where is Henry now?”
Margaret hesitated.
“He lives at an assisted-living facility outside town.”
Claire stood.
“Then we need to speak with him.”
Margaret reached for her arm.
“There's something you should know first.”
Claire turned.
Margaret's face had gone pale.
“Henry didn't just witness the crash.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“He was the man who pulled your father out of the car. And he told me Julien was still breathing when the sheriff ordered him to put him back.”
