Chapter 7 - THE FIRST PROOF
The estate security system held thirty days of footage.
Celeste knew that.
What she apparently did not know was that an older backup server retained motion-triggered clips for one year.
Vincent found six recordings.
In the first, Celeste entered my mother’s room at 3:12 a.m.
No nurse was present.
She opened drawers.
Checked behind paintings.
Searched beneath the mattress.
In the second, she photographed my mother’s communication board.
In the third, she followed Delia into the cellar.
In the fourth, Roman entered the estate forty minutes after Celeste left.
No scheduled meeting.
No record in the visitor log.
In the fifth, Roman handed Celeste an envelope.
In the sixth, Celeste kissed him on the cheek.
Not romantically.
Familiarly.
Like people who had been doing business together a long time.
I watched the clip three times.
Vincent stood beside me.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing.”
He glanced at me.
“That isn’t like you.”
“No.”
I closed the laptop.
“That’s why they’ll expect something else.”
I invited Roman to lunch.
He arrived smiling.
We discussed port insurance.
Labor negotiations.
A judge’s retirement.
Then I casually mentioned Delia.
Roman buttered his bread.
“The nurse?”
“Yes.”
“Terrible accident.”
I looked at him.
“Accident?”
His knife stopped.
Only briefly.
“Celeste told me she fell.”
Celeste had never publicly given that explanation.
Interesting.
I poured wine.
“What do you know about Ewan’s trust?”
Roman’s eyes rose slowly.
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you nervous?”
“I’m not.”
I smiled.
Neither of us touched the wine after that.
Before Roman left, I gave him one final test.
“The wedding is going forward.”
His shoulders relaxed.
Barely.
But enough.
“Good.”
He smiled.
“Your father would have wanted it.”
That told me everything.
When the door closed, Miriam stepped from the adjoining room.
“You recorded it?”
“Yes.”
“Still not enough.”
“I know.”
We needed proof that connected Roman, Celeste, and Victor Vandermark to the manipulation of the trust.
Then Delia called.
Her sister’s home had been broken into.
Nothing valuable was taken.
Only one drawer had been opened.
The drawer containing her papers.
Whoever came had been searching for the marriage certificate.
May you like
They were getting desperate.
Which meant we were getting close.
