Chapter 7 - Emily’s Last MessageDaniel watched Emily’s recording three times.
Not immediately.
People did not casually discover their mother had murdered their father twelve years after his funeral.
“That’s insane.”
Marcus sat inside an interview room at Chicago Police Headquarters.
“I wish it were.”
“Why would she kill him?”
“Because Dad was leaving her.”
Daniel stared.
“No.”
“He had another woman.”
“Stop.”
“I found the letters.”
Daniel slammed both hands onto the table.
“Our father loved her.”
“He was terrified of her.”
Detective Ruiz remained silent.
Marcus continued.
“Dad discovered Mother had been moving money out of Parker Development.”
Daniel’s anger shifted.
“What money?”
“Millions.”
“Where?”
“Offshore accounts. Shell companies. Fake suppliers.”
“That would have been discovered.”
“It was.”
“By whom?”
“Dad.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“He planned to report her.”
Daniel sat slowly.
“You’re saying Mom embezzled from the company?”
“For years.”
“Why didn’t Dad tell us?”
“He was trying to protect us.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Same mistake everyone makes with her.”
Daniel remembered the polished version of his childhood.
Margaret organizing charity dinners.
Margaret managing household accounts.
Margaret advising William on company events.
Had she been stealing the entire time?
Marcus reached into his jacket slowly.
An officer stopped him.
“It’s paper.”
He removed a folded photocopy.
A handwritten letter.
Daniel recognized his father’s handwriting immediately.
Daniel, if anything happens to me, do not believe the first story you are told.
Daniel’s skin prickled.
The letter continued.
Your mother has become dangerous. I have collected records proving what she did. I am storing them somewhere she cannot reach.
Daniel looked up.
“Where did you get this?”
“Dad’s office.”
“The locked office?”
“Yes.”
“Owen heard you with Mom.”
Marcus nodded.
“She caught me searching.”
“So you started helping her?”
“She showed me evidence of something I did eight years ago.”
“What?”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“A development project in Milwaukee.”
Daniel remembered.
An apartment fire had killed two construction workers.
Parker Development paid millions in settlements.
“Safety reports had been altered,” Marcus admitted.
Daniel stared.
“You altered them?”
“I approved them knowing inspections weren’t complete.”
Daniel stood.
“You killed two men.”
“I was twenty-seven and stupid.”
“You covered it up!”
“Yes!”
Marcus’s voice broke.
“Dad found out before he died. Mother kept copies.”
Daniel felt disgusted.
“She blackmailed you.”
“For years.”
“And you let her destroy Owen to protect yourself?”
Marcus couldn’t answer.
Daniel leaned across the table.
“He is eight years old.”
“I know.”
“You watched her convince everyone he was dangerous.”
“I know.”
“You put his mother’s vitamins in his room.”
“Mother did that.”
“You planted his shoes.”
“Yes.”
“You helped write the note.”
Marcus looked sick.
“Yes.”
Daniel almost hit him again.
Ruiz stepped closer.
“Where would Margaret take Owen?”
Marcus shook his head.
“There are properties Daniel doesn’t know about.”
“Which ones?”
“Mother secretly purchased several using shell companies.”
“Give me addresses.”
Marcus gave them five.
Police searched the first four.
Empty.
The fifth was an abandoned private school outside Rockford.
By the time officers arrived, Margaret was gone.
But Owen had been there.
His jacket lay in a classroom.
And on a dusty blackboard someone had written:
RED BARN
Detective Ruiz stared.
“Your son left this?”
Daniel smiled for the first time all day.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“When Owen was five, Emily taught him what to do if he ever got lost.”
“Leave clues?”
“Specific things he saw.”
Ruiz called officers.
“Search every red barn near Route 20 between Rockford and Freeport.”
Margaret meanwhile drove west.
“You shouldn’t have written that.”
Owen stared ahead.
“I didn’t.”
“You think I’m stupid?”
“No.”
Margaret gripped the steering wheel tighter.
She was no longer pretending to be gentle.
“You are exactly like your mother.”
Owen looked at her.
“My real mom?”
“Yes.”
“You hated her too?”
Margaret didn’t answer.
Owen suddenly understood something.
“Did you hurt her?”
The vehicle swerved slightly.
Margaret turned toward him.
“Your mother had cancer.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
For the first time, Owen saw fear in Margaret.
Emily had died when Owen was three.
Daniel believed cancer had taken her.
But during her final months, Emily had repeatedly insisted someone was entering her hospital room.
Daniel had assumed medication made her confused.
Now Owen remembered one strange detail.
His mother once grabbed his hand and whispered,
If Grandma ever tells you something about me, ask Dad to check the blue box.
Owen had forgotten.
Until now.
“There’s a blue box,” he said.
Margaret slammed the brakes.
The SUV stopped on an empty country road.
She turned.
“What did you say?”
Owen knew immediately.
The box was real.
“I said nothing.”
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Emily tell you?”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Where is the box?”
Owen cried out.
Margaret released him.
Her breathing was heavy.
Then she smiled again.
The switch terrified him.
“I’m sorry.”
Owen moved closer to the door.
Margaret continued driving.
But now Owen knew he had found something she feared.
Back in Chicago, Daniel was searching through Emily’s old belongings.
Blue box.
Blue box.
He opened closets.
Storage bins.
Suitcases.
Nothing.
Claire, still hospitalized, called.
“Daniel.”
“I’m searching.”
“For what?”
“Owen remembered Emily mentioning a blue box.”
Claire went quiet.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“When I moved into the house, there was a blue metal box in the basement.”
He froze.
“Where?”
“Behind the furnace.”
Daniel ran downstairs.
Dusty shelves lined the basement.
Old decorations.
Paint cans.
Tools.
Behind the furnace, tucked between two walls, sat a blue metal lockbox.
Daniel pulled it free.
A key was taped beneath it.
Inside were hospital papers.
Photographs.
Letters.
And a flash drive.
Daniel inserted the drive into his laptop.
One video appeared.
Emily Parker filled the screen.
Thin.
Pale.
Clearly near the end of her life.
Daniel covered his mouth.
Emily looked directly into the camera.
“If you’re watching this, Daniel, then Margaret has finally gone too far.”
His hands started shaking.
Emily continued.
“My cancer is real. But my declining condition isn’t entirely because of cancer.”
May you like
Daniel stopped breathing.
“I believe your mother has been poisoning me.”
Related Stories
