Chapter 13 - THE DINNER INVITATION
Marcus Vale chose a restaurant downtown.
Public.
Crowded.
Expensive.
Exactly the kind of place where he could disappear into a crowd.
I went with two detectives nearby.
Griffin stayed outside.
Marcus was already seated.
He looked older than the photographs.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Calm eyes.
He smiled.
"You look like your father."
"I've been told."
"He was a good man."
"You killed him."
His smile disappeared.
"I didn't."
"Then who did?"
"You're asking the wrong question."
"What question should I ask?"
"Who benefited?"
I stared at him.
"You."
He shook his head.
"Not me."
"Then who?"
He leaned forward.
"Your father knew your husband was being manipulated."
I said nothing.
"He also knew Ilsa was stealing."
"I know."
"He knew Evan was unstable."
"I know."
"And yet he protected them."
"Why?"
"Because he believed people could change."
I almost laughed.
"Did he?"
Marcus looked at me.
"No."
He slid a folder across the table.
Inside was a bank record.
Payments from Evan to Amelia.
Then payments from Amelia to Marcus.
And one final payment.
To someone named Griffin Whitaker.
I froze.
"What is this?"
Marcus smiled.
"Ask your husband."
I stood.
"You're lying."
"Perhaps."
He looked at me.
"But you already know your husband accepted money."
"To pay his debts."
"Yes."
"Not to kill my father."
"I never said he killed him."
My blood ran cold.
"Then why show me this?"
"Because Griffin knows who did."
I turned.
Outside the restaurant, Griffin stood near the car.
Marcus called after me.
"Claire."
I stopped.
"Your father didn't leave you forty million dollars."
I turned.
"He left you leverage."
"What does that mean?"
Marcus smiled.
"It means your daughters don't just inherit money."
He leaned back.
"They inherit evidence."
I left.
In the car, I confronted Griffin.
"What did you know?"
He looked at me.
"I knew Dad was afraid of Marcus."
"That's not what I asked."
"I knew there was a second account."
"What account?"
"The one Marcus used."
I stared at him.
"How much?"
"Almost eighty million."
I felt dizzy.
"Eighty million?"
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Marcus.
ASK GRIFFIN ABOUT THE WATCH.
I looked at Griffin's wrist.
He was wearing my father's old watch.
I had never seen it before.
"Take it off."
He looked confused.
"What?"
"The watch."
He removed it.
I turned it over.
There was a tiny compartment.
Inside was a microchip.
Griffin stared.
"I didn't know that was there."
I looked at him.
"Maybe."
Then the detectives called.
Marcus had disappeared.
May you like
But before leaving, he had sent one final message.
The killer is closer than you think.
