Chapter 6 - THE CRASH THAT NEVER MADE SENSE
Thomas Avery agreed to speak with Nathaniel by video call.
He had been a private investigator for twenty-seven years before retiring.
He remembered Claire's case immediately.
“Your wife contacted me because she believed someone had interfered with her car,” he explained. “She had experienced a brake warning that disappeared after the vehicle was serviced.”
“Did you find anything?”
“I found signs that warranted further inspection. But before I could complete the work, Claire died.”
Nathaniel's stomach tightened.
“Why wasn't this included in the official accident investigation?”
Thomas explained that his preliminary findings had never been formally submitted. Claire had asked him to wait until she could provide additional documentation.
After her death, he had tried to contact the family.
The call went unanswered, and he eventually closed the file.
“Do you still have the records?” Nathaniel asked.
“Yes. But they are incomplete, and they cannot establish who, if anyone, caused the problem.”
Thomas sent copies to Daniel.
The documents included photographs of the vehicle, repair invoices, and notes from Claire's meetings.
One note contained the initials R.S.
Richard Sterling.
Another mentioned an unidentified man who had visited the repair shop shortly before the vehicle was examined.
Nathaniel felt the room closing around him.
But Daniel remained cautious.
“These records justify asking more questions,” he said. “They do not prove that Claire's death was deliberate. We need to let the authorities assess the evidence.”
Nathaniel agreed to cooperate with a formal review.
Meanwhile, Lily's situation was becoming more difficult.
Someone had attempted to access the school portal and change her emergency contact information.
The request had been submitted using Vanessa's old credentials.
The school froze the account and notified Nathaniel.
He immediately arranged stronger safeguards and informed his attorney.
Then came the next blow.
Richard Sterling called Nathaniel directly.
“You're making a mess of something that should have stayed private,” Richard said.
“Your daughter dragged my child through a ballroom.”
“Your daughter is confused. You should stop listening to people who want to exploit your grief.”
Nathaniel stood by the window.
“Did you threaten Claire?”
Richard laughed.
“Your wife was a troubled woman.”
“Did you interfere with her car?”
The laughter stopped.
“You have no idea what you're accusing me of.”
“Then answer the question.”
Richard hung up.
Daniel recorded the details of the call and advised Nathaniel not to contact him again outside appropriate legal channels.
The following morning, investigators requested the original financial records and the vehicle documents.
The case was moving beyond a family dispute.
That afternoon, Eleanor took Lily to the garden while Nathaniel met with Daniel.
When he returned, he found the back door open.
Eleanor was standing in the hallway, pale with fear.
“Lily was here a minute ago.”
Nathaniel's blood turned to ice.
Security footage showed a delivery worker entering the garden gate with a package.
Moments later, a second person appeared near the side entrance.
The figure wore a maintenance uniform and carried a toolbox.
The footage did not show a clear face.
But it showed the person walking toward Lily.
Marcus activated the estate's emergency protocol.
Police were called immediately.
They found Lily hiding in the garden shed, frightened but unharmed.
She had run when the stranger asked her to come outside.
In her hand was a small piece of paper.
“Daddy, he said Vanessa sent him.”
The paper contained a hotel room number and a time.
Beneath it were five words:
BRING THE BLUE LEDGER. COME ALONE.
Nathaniel looked at Daniel.
May you like
Someone was desperate to obtain the evidence Claire had left behind.
And now they had tried to use his daughter to get it.
