Chapter 7 - Abigail's Last Investigation.
Marcus did not return to the main house immediately.
He stood inside the gardener's cottage while Jenna photographed everything and Nathan read through the old notebook page by page.
The storm had finally arrived.
Rain struck the cottage roof in hard, uneven bursts.
Each sound made the small room feel more isolated.
Maria had gone back to Leo.
Owen remained at the estate controls.
That left Marcus, Nathan, and Jenna surrounded by three years of secrets.
"Start at the beginning," Marcus said.
Nathan held the notebook carefully.
"The first entry is dated April 6, three years ago."
"Two weeks before Abigail met Eleanor at the restaurant."
Marcus nodded.
Nathan read.
"Subject E.V. attended private investor dinner at Halpern Capital."
"G.B. present."
"Conversation continued after event."
The next entry recorded a second meeting between Eleanor and Grant.
Then a third.
Then a transfer from an investment partnership to Eleanor's consulting company.
Marcus stared at the rain-streaked window.
"Was she working for Grant?"
Nathan shook his head.
"Not necessarily."
"The notes suggest Abigail thought Grant was using Eleanor as an information channel."
"Information about what?"
"Vance Global."
Marcus turned.
Nathan continued reading.
At the time, Grant worked for Halpern Capital, a fund that had quietly accumulated Vance Global shares through several entities.
The position was not large enough to threaten control.
But it was large enough to make inside knowledge valuable.
Eleanor had not yet met Marcus publicly.
Yet she had begun attending events where he was expected to appear.
"So she targeted me," Marcus said.
Nathan did not answer.
Marcus looked at him.
"Say it."
"Abigail believed that was possible."
The sentence hurt more than Marcus expected.
He remembered the night he first met Eleanor at a museum fundraiser.
She had been standing alone near a sculpture, laughing quietly after spilling champagne on her own shoe.
Nothing about it had felt arranged.
That was why it had worked.
"Keep reading."
Nathan turned several pages.
The investigator had documented Eleanor's relationship with Grant becoming less frequent after she began dating Marcus.
There were no obvious payments for almost a year.
Then, six weeks before Marcus proposed, a new company appeared.
Harrow Consulting LLC.
It paid Eleanor's old firm one hundred fifty thousand dollars.
Harrow was managed by a law office connected to Daniel Cross.
Marcus looked toward Nathan.
"Daniel paid her?"
"Not necessarily."
"A firm can form companies for clients without controlling them."
"But Abigail clearly wanted to know who was behind Harrow."
Jenna pointed to a note in the margin.
D.C. DENIES CLIENT IDENTITY.
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"Of course he did."
Nathan turned another page.
"Then this."
The entry was written in red ink.
ABIGAIL BELIEVES E.V. DOES NOT KNOW FULL PURPOSE OF G.B. PLAN.
Marcus read it twice.
"What plan?"
Nathan turned the page.
The next sheet had been torn out.
Not recently.
The paper fibers were old.
Someone had removed it long before Marcus found the cottage.
Jenna examined the binding.
"Several pages are missing here."
Marcus felt frustration sharpen.
"Can they be recovered?"
"Maybe from pressure marks on the pages beneath."
"We can photograph them under angled light."
Nathan continued farther into the notebook.
The entries became less frequent after Abigail's health declined.
Then, one week before her death, there was a final note.
A.B. REQUESTS FINAL MEETING.
G.B. ARRIVES INSTEAD OF E.V.
MARCUS MUST NOT BE PRESENT.
Marcus stared at Nathan.
"Grant met my mother the week she died?"
Nathan's face had gone pale.
"I didn't know."
"Where?"
The note said only EAST STUDY.
Marcus thought of his mother's room.
The hidden safe.
The crooked painting.
Grant had been inside.
Maybe that was how the files had been copied.
"Why didn't the investigator record the meeting?"
Nathan turned the next page.
There was one final sentence.
DEVICE REMOVED BEFORE MEETING.
"Somebody knew they were being recorded," Jenna said.
Marcus nodded slowly.
"Grant."
"Or Abigail," Nathan replied.
Marcus looked at him.
"Why would my mother remove her own recorder?"
Nathan's eyes stayed on the notebook.
"Because maybe she wanted the conversation off the record."
That possibility bothered Marcus more.
They returned to the house near eight o'clock.
Eleanor was waiting in the dining room with Daniel.
Grant had left after surrendering his company devices.
Marcus had allowed it because Jenna had copied the vehicle plate and instructed gate security to log his departure.
Now the long dining table sat untouched beneath the chandelier.
Dinner had been prepared but never served.
Eleanor looked exhausted.
For the first time all day, the exhaustion seemed real.
"Where were you?" she asked.
"On my property."
"That's not an answer."
Marcus almost laughed at the echo of his own words from earlier.
"You are in no position to complain about incomplete answers."
Daniel stood.
"Marcus, we need to discuss temporary arrangements."
"No."
"You haven't heard them."
"I don't need to."
Marcus walked to the head of the table.
"Eleanor may stay in the west guest suite tonight if she wants."
"She does not enter the nursery without another adult present."
"She does not remove Leo from the property."
"And tomorrow morning, our lawyers can put an interim agreement in writing."
Eleanor stared at him.
"You are treating me like a criminal."
"I'm treating you like someone who booked a secret international flight with our son."
"I told you why."
"No."
Marcus's voice hardened.
"You told me words."
"You have not told me the truth."
Daniel stepped between them verbally rather than physically.
"Then maybe everyone needs sleep before truth becomes whatever the angriest person says it is."
Marcus looked at him.
"Did you know my mother had an investigator living on the east property?"
Daniel's expression froze.
Eleanor looked from Marcus to Daniel.
"What?"
Marcus watched her carefully.
Her surprise looked genuine.
That was useful.
Daniel recovered.
"I knew Abigail retained investigators."
"Not where they worked."
"Do you know the name Elliot Reed?"
Daniel's face lost color.
"Where did you hear that?"
Marcus did not answer.
Daniel took a step forward.
"Marcus."
"Where did you hear that name?"
"So you know him."
Daniel looked toward Eleanor.
Then back at Marcus.
"Privately."
"No."
"Here."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Elliot Reed is dead."
The dining room became silent.
Marcus stared at him.
"When?"
"Two years ago."
"How?"
"Car accident in Vermont."
Nathan entered behind Marcus just in time to hear the answer.
"That was never confirmed."
Daniel turned.
"His family identified him."
"A closed casket and dental records supplied by a private clinic."
Nathan's tone sharpened.
"I reviewed it for Abigail's estate."
"There were inconsistencies."
Daniel looked irritated.
"You think he faked his death?"
Marcus answered.
"I think someone using his face and another name has been living in my gardener's cottage."
Eleanor stood abruptly.
"What cottage?"
Marcus watched her.
"The one with photographs of you and Grant covering three years."
Her face drained.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because I would have known."
"Would you?"
Eleanor's fear deepened.
"Marcus, I never hired anyone to watch the house."
"I believe you."
That startled her.
"You do?"
"About that."
Marcus pulled one photograph from his pocket and placed it on the dining table.
It showed Eleanor meeting Grant near the greenhouse months earlier.
She stared at it.
"Where did you get this?"
"The cottage."
"Who took it?"
"Maybe Elliot Reed."
Eleanor lowered herself into the chair.
The fight left her face.
"He was supposed to be gone."
Marcus's attention sharpened.
"You knew him."
Eleanor realized the mistake.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Nathan looked at Marcus.
Marcus did not raise his voice.
"Tell me."
Eleanor stared at the photograph.
"He came to me after your mother died."
"Why?"
"He said Abigail had asked him to finish something."
"What?"
Eleanor's eyes filled with something that looked like shame.
"He wanted me to help expose Grant."
The answer was so unexpected that Marcus said nothing.
Eleanor continued.
"He said Grant had been using both of us."
"He said I thought I was protecting my future, but Grant was building a way to control the company through me."
Marcus stared at her.
"Did you believe him?"
"Not then."
"And now?"
Eleanor looked at the photograph again.
"Now I don't know who to believe."
Daniel suddenly looked toward the doorway.
"Where is Grant's laptop?"
Nathan answered.
"Security has it."
"Get it offline."
"It is offline."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"I mean physically disconnected from power."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
Daniel looked genuinely alarmed.
"Because if Elliot is alive and Grant knows you seized the device, there may be a kill switch."
Nathan stared at him.
"For data?"
"For evidence."
At that exact moment, the lights in the dining room went out.
The chandelier died.
The house dropped into darkness.
A second later, the emergency lights should have come on.
They did not.
May you like
Marcus's first thought was Leo.
He ran for the stairs.
