Chapter 6 - THE BLOOD THAT TOLD A LIE
The documents hidden beneath the chapel altar revealed a financial trail that stretched back more than two decades.
There were bank transfers.
Property records.
Insurance policies.
And a series of confidential agreements bearing signatures that appeared to belong to Catherine Veller.
But one document stood apart from the rest.
It was a medical report.
Evelyn sat beside Lina in Detective Mercer's office as he examined it.
The report contained genetic testing results from a private laboratory.
Three names appeared on the page.
Catherine Bennett Veller.
Clara Bennett.
And Isabelle Veller.
Mercer read the report twice.
Then looked up.
“Evelyn, I need to ask you something.”
She stiffened.
“What?”
“Have you ever had a DNA test?”
“No.”
“Not even when you were a child?”
“Not that I remember.”
Mercer placed the report on the table.
“This document suggests that someone tested your genetic relationship to Catherine and Clara when you were an infant.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Why?”
“That's what we're trying to understand.”
Lina leaned forward.
“What does it say?”
Mercer pointed toward a paragraph.
“The results indicate that Catherine and Clara were genetically identical twins.”
Evelyn nodded.
“We know that.”
“Yes. But that makes identifying which sister gave birth to a child unusually complicated using standard genetic testing.”
Lina looked confused.
“So the report can't tell us who Evelyn's mother was?”
“Not conclusively.”
Evelyn stared at the paper.
“Why would anyone need to know?”
Mercer hesitated.
“Because someone may have questioned your parentage.”
The room fell silent.
Evelyn felt as though the floor had shifted beneath her.
For twenty-four years, she had believed Catherine was her mother.
Now even that certainty seemed to be slipping away.
Lina reached for her hand.
“Whatever these papers say, they don't change who loved you.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I've seen the way you speak about your mother.”
Evelyn swallowed.
“And I've seen how frightened you are of losing her all over again.”
The flash drive proved more difficult.
It was encrypted.
Mercer sent it to a digital forensic specialist, Dr. Rebecca Shaw, who worked with the county's major crimes unit.
Rebecca was a quiet woman in her thirties with a reputation for solving cases that others considered hopeless.
She examined the device.
“This encryption is old, but sophisticated for its time.”
“How long?” Mercer asked.
“Depends on the password.”
Evelyn suddenly remembered something.
“My mother had a phrase.”
Rebecca looked up.
“What phrase?”
“She used it whenever she wanted me to remember something important.”
“What was it?”
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“Even the smallest star can guide you home.”
Rebecca typed.
The screen flashed.
Access granted.
Mercer stared.
“Well, that's something.”
Rebecca opened the first folder.
Inside were scanned contracts.
Emails.
Audio files.
And a video labeled:
FOR ARMAND — IF I DON'T SURVIVE.
Evelyn's hands began to shake.
Mercer looked at her.
“Are you ready?”
She took a breath.
“Yes.”
Rebecca clicked play.
The screen flickered.
Then Catherine Veller appeared.
She sat in what looked like a hotel room.
Her hair was loose.
Her face was pale.
And her eyes were filled with fear.
“If you're watching this,” Catherine began, “then I failed to protect my family.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice.
Not a recording from an unknown source.
Not a stranger's warning.
Her mother.
Catherine continued.
“Armand, I know you've trusted Victor Hale for years. But he's been stealing from the company.”
Mercer leaned closer.
“Through shell corporations and fraudulent investments, Victor has diverted millions of dollars.”
Catherine paused.
“And I believe someone inside our family helped him.”
The video crackled.
She looked toward the door.
Then back at the camera.
“I confronted Victor yesterday. He threatened me.”
Evelyn began to cry silently.
Catherine's voice trembled.
“He told me that if I exposed him, Isabelle would suffer.”
The image froze briefly.
Then resumed.
“I've hidden copies of everything beneath the chapel. If anything happens to me, please protect our daughter.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“And Armand, there's something else.”
The recording distorted.
Her next words were difficult to hear.
“Clara isn't the enemy. She's been trying to help me.”
Then the screen went black.
Evelyn stared.
“That's it?”
Rebecca checked the file.
“There's more data, but part of the video is damaged.”
“Can you recover it?”
“I'll try.”
Mercer stood.
“We have enough to reopen the investigation into Catherine's death.”
Lina looked at him.
“And Isabelle's disappearance?”
“That too.”
Evelyn wiped her face.
“Then why did the recording warn me about my father?”
Mercer frowned.
“What recording?”
“The music box.”
He considered it.
“Because someone wants you to distrust him.”
“Or because he really did something.”
Mercer nodded.
“Both possibilities remain open.”
At the mansion, Armand waited for Margaret.
She had vanished shortly after sunset.
Her phone was switched off.
Her car remained in the garage.
And no member of the staff had seen her leave.
Armand stood beside the bedroom window, staring toward the chapel.
He remembered Catherine.
Not as the frightened woman in the video he had yet to see.
But as the woman who used to laugh while dancing barefoot in the kitchen.
The woman who had taught Isabelle to ride a bicycle.
The woman who once told him that wealth meant nothing if a person lost the ability to love.
He had spent fifteen years blaming himself for failing to protect their daughter.
Now he wondered whether his blindness had begun long before she disappeared.
A knock sounded.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Margaret entered.
Her face was pale.
“Where have you been?” Armand asked.
She closed the door.
“Trying to fix something.”
“What?”
She looked at him.
“Everything.”
Armand studied her.
“Margaret, I know about Victor.”
She froze.
“What do you know?”
“That he was stealing from my company.”
She stared.
“And I know Catherine discovered it.”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“Armand—”
“Did you help him?”
She shook her head.
“Not the way you think.”
“Then tell me.”
Margaret stepped toward him.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
Armand waited.
“Years ago, Victor convinced me to invest money through one of his companies. He said it was legitimate.”
“And?”
“When I discovered the truth, he threatened to expose me as an accomplice.”
Armand's face hardened.
“So you stayed silent.”
“Yes.”
“Even after Catherine died?”
Margaret began to cry.
“I was afraid.”
Armand looked away.
“For fifteen years, I thought my daughter was dead.”
“I know.”
“And you knew something.”
Margaret nodded.
He turned toward her.
“Did you know Isabelle was alive?”
A long silence followed.
Then Margaret whispered:
“Yes.”
Armand stared at her.
The room seemed to disappear around him.
“You knew?”
She covered her face.
“I found out six years ago.”
Armand stepped backward.
“Six years?”
“Victor told me.”
“And you said nothing?”
“He threatened to kill her if I told you.”
Armand's voice broke.
“You let me mourn my daughter while you knew she was alive?”
Margaret collapsed into a chair.
“I thought I was protecting her.”
Armand stared at the woman he had trusted for twelve years.
Then he said quietly:
“Get out.”
Margaret looked up.
“Armand—”
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
She rose, trembling.
But before she reached the door, she stopped.
“There is something you need to know.”
Armand did not answer.
Margaret turned.
“Victor isn't working alone.”
He looked at her.
“Who is helping him?”
She swallowed.
“Someone you trust more than anyone.”
Armand felt a cold pressure in his chest.
“Who?”
Margaret's lips trembled.
May you like
“YOUR BROTHER.”
END OF CHAPTER 6
