Chapter 4 - HIS MOTHER KNEW
Richard had always believed his mother capable of many things.
Coldness.
Manipulation.
Class prejudice.
Emotional cruelty disguised as concern.
But conspiracy?
He did not want to believe it.
Which, he realized bitterly, sounded exactly like what he had told himself about Victoria.
Never again.
“Call my mother.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Now?”
“Now.”
Eleanor Hawthorne lived twenty minutes away in a stone estate that had belonged to Richard’s grandparents.
At sixty-eight, she remained one of the most intimidating women in Northern California philanthropy.
Hospitals named wings after her.
Universities competed for her donations.
Magazine profiles called her elegant.
Emily had another word.
Frightening.
Eleanor had never liked her.
Not because Emily had done anything wrong.
Because Emily was staff.
In Eleanor Hawthorne’s world, invisible social lines were meant to remain invisible only because respectable people never crossed them.
Marcus called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Richard frowned.
“She always answers me.”
“Maybe she’s sleeping.”
“It’s eight-thirty.”
Marcus ordered a security unit to check on her.
Richard turned toward Emily.
“You knew my mother disliked Victoria.”
Emily almost laughed.
“Your mother dislikes everyone.”
“Fair.”
“But yes.”
“Did she ever say why?”
Emily thought.
“Once.”
“What did she say?”
“That Victoria wanted the Hawthorne name more than she wanted you.”
Richard looked away.
It sounded painfully accurate now.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe she did.”
He looked back.
Emily’s expression was pointed.
And Richard remembered.
Christmas.
Two years earlier.
His mother telling him Victoria was “dangerously ambitious.”
Richard had accused her of elitism.
“She’s successful in her own right.”
Eleanor had responded:
“That isn’t what I mean.”
He had refused to listen.
Again.
Always the same failure.
He heard warnings only when they fit what he already wanted to believe.
Half an hour later, Marcus received a call.
His expression tightened.
“What?”
“Mrs. Hawthorne isn’t home.”
Richard stood.
“Where is she?”
“Unknown.”
“Car?”
“Gone.”
“Phone?”
“Off.”
Richard felt dread rise.
“Find her.”
Detective Ortiz entered.
“We may have a location.”
“How?”
“Traffic camera.”
She showed them an image.
Eleanor’s silver Bentley heading south.
Timestamp: 6:14 p.m.
Two hours earlier.
“Where was she going?”
Ortiz enlarged the route.
“Possibly toward Half Moon Bay.”
Richard frowned.
“My family has a property there.”
Marcus looked at him.
“The old beach house?”
“Yes.”
The house had been closed for nearly three years.
Catherine had loved it.
After her death, Richard could not bring himself to visit.
“Send police.”
Ortiz shook her head.
“We need more than a guess.”
“My mother may be involved in a homicide.”
“We don’t know that.”
Richard’s frustration surged.
Emily stepped closer.
“Why would she go there tonight?”
Richard turned.
“What?”
“If she knows Victoria was arrested…”
He understood.
“She’s hiding something.”
“Or protecting something.”
Richard called the caretaker.
No response.
Then an old memory surfaced.
Catherine had once joked that the Half Moon Bay house was the only place Eleanor could keep secrets because Richard hated the damp air and never visited.
At the time, he had laughed.
Now he didn’t.
“I’m going.”
Ortiz stepped in front of him.
“No.”
“It’s my property.”
“And potentially part of an active investigation.”
“My mother is there.”
“Which is why you don’t arrive furious and destroy evidence.”
Richard stared at her.
She stared back.
Emily almost admired her.
Nobody spoke to Richard that way.
Apparently he needed more people who did.
Ortiz agreed to send officers to conduct a welfare check.
Richard remained at the hospital.
It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.
Not act.
Not control.
Wait.
The boys had been moved to a private family room.
Emily sat on a couch between Noah and Liam.
Ethan was drawing.
Richard approached cautiously.
“What are you making?”
Ethan held up the paper.
A house.
Four stick figures.
No.
Five.
Emily.
The three boys.
And a tall figure standing far away.
Richard.
His chest tightened.
“Who is that?”
Ethan looked at him as if the answer were obvious.
“You.”
“Why am I so far away?”
Ethan continued coloring.
“You’re always at work.”
Richard swallowed.
A five-year-old had just summarized his fatherhood in five words.
He sat on the floor.
“Can I move closer?”
Ethan stopped.
“With the crayon?”
“With everything.”
The boy studied him.
“Maybe.”
Richard nodded.
“Okay.”
Maybe was more than he deserved.
Thirty minutes later, Ortiz returned.
“We found your mother.”
Richard stood.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Half Moon Bay.”
“What was she doing?”
Ortiz’s expression was unreadable.
“She was burning documents.”
Richard felt physically ill.
“What documents?”
“Some were already destroyed.”
“And the rest?”
“We recovered a metal box.”
Catherine’s box.
He knew before Ortiz said it.
“Your mother wants to speak with you.”
“Here?”
“She’s being brought in for questioning.”
Richard looked toward the boys.
Emily quietly said,
“Go.”
He hesitated.
“I’ll stay with them.”
That simple assurance meant more to him than Emily probably realized.
Two hours later, Eleanor Hawthorne entered a police interview room.
Richard watched through one-way glass.
She still looked elegant.
Gray silk blouse.
Pearl earrings.
Hair perfectly arranged.
Except ash stained one cuff.
Ortiz sat across from her.
“Mrs. Hawthorne, why were you burning documents?”
Eleanor folded her hands.
“Personal family papers.”
“Connected to Catherine Hawthorne?”
Silence.
Ortiz continued.
“Your son has questions.”
Eleanor’s eyes shifted toward the glass.
She knew he was watching.
“Then let him ask.”
Richard entered.
For the first time in his adult life, he did not kiss his mother’s cheek.
“What did you take from Catherine’s study?”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“Richard.”
“What did Daniel take?”
She looked toward Ortiz.
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll speak to my son privately.”
Ortiz shook her head.
“No.”
Eleanor exhaled.
Richard leaned forward.
“Did Daniel kill Catherine?”
His mother’s composure broke.
Just slightly.
But he saw it.
“Oh my God.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“Because that is an insane question.”
“So answer it.”
“I said no.”
“Why did Catherine write that if something happened to her, I should find Daniel?”
Eleanor looked genuinely startled.
“What?”
Richard placed the photograph in front of her.
His mother stared at the handwriting.
Then whispered,
“She kept it.”
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor looked older suddenly.
“She told me she had proof.”
Richard’s blood went cold.
“Proof of what?”
“Daniel was stealing from the company.”
Richard stared.
“How much?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew he was stealing?”
“She suspected.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“She intended to.”
“When?”
“After the boys were born.”
Richard’s fist tightened.
“Then she died.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What was in the box?”
“Documents she had collected.”
“Why did Daniel take them?”
His mother looked at him.
“I gave them to him.”
Richard actually stepped back.
“You what?”
“I didn’t know what they were.”
“You just gave my dead wife’s private documents to another man?”
“He told me Catherine had been auditing company finances for him.”
“And you believed that?”
Eleanor looked ashamed.
“At the time, yes.”
Richard laughed once.
Empty.
“You spent my entire life telling me not to trust people.”
“Richard—”
“And you handed Daniel evidence Catherine had gathered against him?”
“I didn’t know!”
The room went silent.
Eleanor’s voice cracked for the first time.
“I had just watched my son lose his wife.”
Richard stared at her.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From knowing Catherine had been investigating your best friend behind your back.”
Richard shook his head.
“You weren’t protecting me. You were deciding for me.”
The irony was not lost on him.
He had done exactly the same thing to everyone else for years.
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
“I regretted it.”
“Why burn papers tonight?”
She hesitated.
Richard’s voice hardened.
“Mom.”
“There were letters.”
“What letters?”
“From Catherine.”
“To whom?”
“To me.”
Richard stared.
“What did they say?”
Eleanor looked toward the table.
“She was afraid.”
“Of Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He had been moving money from company accounts. Catherine discovered it while reviewing charitable foundation records.”
“How?”
“She served on the foundation board.”
Richard remembered.
Catherine had enjoyed the work.
He had considered it a hobby.
Another thing he had underestimated.
“She confronted him?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He threatened her.”
Richard stopped breathing.
“What did he say?”
Eleanor’s face changed.
“He told her if she destroyed him, she would destroy you too.”
“Why?”
“Because some of the transfers were made using your authorization codes.”
Richard felt sick.
“He framed me.”
“She believed he was preparing to.”
“And you burned those letters?”
“I panicked.”
“Why?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“Because one of them implicated me.”
Richard stared.
“How?”
“Catherine begged me to help her expose him.”
“And?”
“I told her to stop.”
The words sat between them.
Richard’s voice became almost inaudible.
“You told her to stop investigating the man who was stealing from us?”
“I was afraid of scandal.”
He stared at his mother.
Eleanor Hawthorne, who had spent her life protecting the family name.
Even when protecting the name meant failing the family.
“She died because everyone cared more about appearances than listening to her.”
“We don’t know that Daniel killed her.”
“No. But we know she was afraid.”
Eleanor wiped one tear angrily.
“There’s something else.”
Richard froze.
“What?”
“The night before she gave birth, Catherine called me.”
“What did she say?”
“That if anything happened during delivery, it would not be an accident.”
Richard went completely still.
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“She was terrified and exhausted. I thought she was imagining things.”
“You thought.”
“Yes.”
“You thought.”
Richard stepped away.
He could barely look at his mother.
Ortiz leaned forward.
“What exactly did Catherine say?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“She said Daniel had access to someone inside the hospital.”
Richard’s heart slammed against his ribs.
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
Ortiz immediately left the room.
The investigation had just changed again.
Richard stared at his mother.
“You let me bury her believing it was random.”
“I’m sorry.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Sorry.”
“I loved Catherine.”
“Then you should have believed her.”
Eleanor flinched.
The sentence echoed another truth.
Emily should have been believed too.
His sons should have been believed.
Catherine should have been believed.
How many disasters in his life had begun because powerful people dismissed someone they considered inconvenient?
Richard turned to leave.
His mother called after him.
“There’s one document I didn’t burn.”
He stopped.
“What?”
Eleanor reached slowly into her handbag.
Ortiz immediately returned.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Eleanor removed a sealed envelope.
“I kept this because Catherine made me promise never to destroy it.”
Richard stared at his name on the front.
RICHARD — ONLY IF I’M GONE.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter from his wife.
Richard,
If you are reading this, then something happened before I could explain everything.
Daniel is not acting alone.
I found payments from the family foundation to someone connected to the maternity wing.
I don’t know exactly what he plans to do, but I believe the boys may be part of it.
Please do not trust anyone simply because they have been beside us for years.
Especially—
The letter ended there.
The final page was missing.
Richard stared at the torn edge.
“Where is the rest?”
Eleanor went pale.
“It was there.”
Ortiz looked at her.
“When?”
“When I put it in my safe five years ago.”
“Who had access?”
Eleanor’s lips parted.
Then her expression changed.
“Daniel knew the combination.”
Richard felt the room grow cold.
But Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Not only Daniel.”
“Who else?”
She looked at her son.
“Victoria.”
Richard stared.
“That’s impossible. I didn’t meet Victoria until two years after Catherine died.”
Eleanor whispered,
“You didn’t.”
The room went silent.
Richard’s pulse slowed.
“What are you saying?”
His mother looked terrified.
“Victoria attended Catherine’s funeral.”
May you like
Richard stopped breathing.
“She knew Daniel back then.”
