Chapter 9 - My Father’s Oldest Friend
Charles Voss arrived at the rental house the next morning carrying flowers.
He was seventy-one, tall and silver-haired, with the careful manners of someone who still sent handwritten thank-you notes. He had given the eulogy at Dad’s funeral. As children, Ryan and I called him Uncle Charlie.
He embraced Mom.
“Evelyn, I am so sorry.”
She remained stiff in his arms.
Charles looked at me. “I should have come sooner.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“The board has been in chaos.”
I showed him the photograph found in Nashville.
The color drained from his face.
“Where did you get that?”
“Someone left it after searching my storage boxes.”
He removed his glasses.
“The picture was taken when Daniel and I purchased our first warehouse.”
“Who wrote the message?”
“I have no idea.”
“Was Grant working for you?”
“No.”
“Were you aware of the defective steel?”
His pause lasted less than a second, but I saw it.
“I learned about it after the collapse.”
“Dad’s ledger lists payments authorized through the finance department.”
“Ryan disguised them as consulting fees.”
“You were the chief financial officer.”
“And your brother was president.”
Mom spoke quietly.
“Daniel stopped trusting you before he died.”
Pain crossed Charles’s face.
“Daniel stopped trusting everyone.”
“Did he accuse you?”
“He accused me of failing to supervise Ryan.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Charles set the flowers on the table.
“Your husband became suspicious during his final months. Some suspicions were justified. Others were not.”
Mom’s eyes hardened.
“Do not speak of him as confused.”
“I would never—”
“That is what Ryan said about me.”
Charles looked away.
Detective Ortiz arrived while Charles was still there. He asked to interview him at the station.
Charles agreed immediately.
Too immediately.
After they left, Mom sat beside me.
“He’s frightened.”
“Of being blamed?”
“No. Of whoever left that photograph.”
The company audit revealed that Northbridge Consulting was only one of several shell corporations. More than $3.8 million had been removed from Kane Architectural Supply over nine years.
Some payments predated Tessa’s involvement.
The oldest transfers had been authorized by Charles.
That afternoon, Claire received an anonymous email containing scanned invoices. The message claimed Charles had created the original fraud scheme and recruited Grant to approve falsified inspections.
The evidence appeared devastating.
But something bothered me.
“Why send this now?” I asked.
“To shift blame,” Claire said.
“From whom?”
“Ryan? Tessa? Grant?”
“All three are already caught.”
“Then perhaps someone else benefited.”
We examined company ownership records. Dad had held forty-two percent of voting shares, now controlled by Mom’s trust. Ryan held twenty-four percent. Charles owned eighteen percent, while smaller investors held the rest.
If Mom transferred or sold her shares, control of the company could shift.
“Who becomes acting president?” I asked.
Claire checked the board announcement.
“Executive vice president Nathan Voss.”
“Charles’s son.”
Nathan had been two years ahead of me in school. Charming, athletic, and ambitious, he joined the company after college. He had spent years managing out-of-state operations and rarely attended family events.
He also owned the commercial storage facility where Dad’s package had been kept.
I called Denise.
“Who told you my property was moved to that facility?”
“Our building’s new owner.”
“Who purchased the clinic building?”
She checked old emails.
“Voss Development Group.”
Nathan’s company.
The realization left me cold.
Grant had known about the package because Nathan knew where it was.
The photograph might not have been a warning about Charles. It could have been an attempt to frame him.
Ortiz called from the station.
“Charles admitted authorizing early payments to Grant.”
“Why?”
“He says Ryan told him the payments were expedited inspection fees. He discovered the truth later but covered it up to protect the company.”
“Did he know about Dad’s murder?”
“He denies it.”
“Where is Nathan?”
“At the corporate office.”
“No. He isn’t.”
I had just received a text from Mom’s temporary nurse.
Mrs. Kane asked me to tell you she went to meet Mr. Voss about the company. She said you approved it.
I had approved nothing.
“Which Mr. Voss?” I asked.
The nurse replied with a photograph from the front-door camera.
Nathan stood beside a black sedan, smiling as he helped Mom inside.
I called her phone.
It went straight to voicemail.
Claire contacted company security. Nathan had not been at the office all morning.
Ortiz issued an alert for his vehicle.
Then Mom called.
Her voice sounded steady, but I could hear a car engine behind her.
“Meredith, Nathan explained everything.”
“Where are you?”
“He’s taking me to the bank.”
“Why?”
“To protect the trust before the company collapses.”
“Mom, do not sign anything.”
Nathan spoke in the background.
The call ended.
I tried again.
No answer.
Claire pulled up the trust documents.
“With Ryan removed, Evelyn can appoint a new corporate proxy.”
“And if she appoints Nathan?”
“He could control her shares and the company.”
My phone chimed with a message from Mom’s number.
Stop looking into your father’s death, or this time your mother will not come home.
May you like
Nathan had spent years watching Ryan, Tessa, and Grant take the risks.
Now that they were falling, he intended to inherit everything.
