Chapter 4 - THE EYE INSIDE THE NURSERY
Detective Reed took the recorder from Margaret without touching it directly.
“Who has access to the nursery?”
Elena answered first.
“Me.”
“Margaret.”
“The night nurse.”
“Arthur when he visits Lily.”
She looked at Victoria.
“And Victoria.”
Victoria rolled her eyes.
“You cannot possibly be serious.”
Arthur looked ready to explode.
Reed inspected the device.
“This isn’t a baby monitor.”
“It transmits remotely.”
Elena felt sick.
“How long has it been there?”
“We’ll need to examine it.”
Victoria walked toward the staircase.
Arthur blocked her path.
“Where are you going?”
“To my room.”
“You’re staying where the police can see you.”
“I am not your prisoner.”
“No.”
Arthur’s voice lowered.
“You’re worse.”
Victoria laughed.
“You should be careful.”
“Threatening your wife in front of detectives is not intelligent.”
Elena looked toward Reed.
“Can you search her room?”
“Not without consent, a warrant, or probable cause tied to a specific crime.”
Arthur immediately spoke.
“I own the house.”
Reed shook his head.
“Not enough.”
Victoria smiled again.
That smile told Elena something.
She had expected this.
Maybe not every detail.
But she had prepared for the possibility of being investigated.
Elena climbed the stairs.
Victoria called after her.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To my daughter.”
Arthur followed.
Victoria did too.
Reed instructed the younger detective to remain downstairs.
When Elena entered the nursery, Lily was sleeping in the white bassinet beside the window.
Nothing looked disturbed.
That frightened Elena more.
Whoever had planted the device knew exactly how to enter the room without drawing attention.
Margaret pointed to the lower wooden frame.
“It was taped underneath.”
Arthur crouched.
“Any others?”
“I haven’t checked.”
They searched the room carefully.
Behind a framed photograph near the rocking chair, Arthur found a second transmitter.
Inside the air-conditioning vent, Reed discovered a miniature camera.
Elena covered her mouth.
Victoria stopped smiling.
Reed looked at her.
“Still think this is ridiculous?”
Victoria lifted her chin.
“I have never seen those devices.”
Arthur stared at the camera.
“This was pointed directly at Lily’s crib.”
Elena’s hands began shaking.
Victoria spoke impatiently.
“Then clearly someone is watching Elena.”
“Not me.”
Arthur’s response came instantly.
Victoria turned.
“Why are you so certain?”
“Because Elena didn’t steal twenty-eight million dollars.”
“She might have stolen more.”
Elena looked at her.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
Victoria folded her arms.
“Michael was not the saint you remember.”
“You already said that.”
“He had secrets.”
“So do you.”
“You want to know where he was going that night?”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Enough.”
Victoria ignored him.
“He was going to meet someone at Warehouse Twelve.”
Elena looked at Arthur.
“You said that.”
Arthur nodded.
Victoria continued.
“What Arthur didn’t tell you is who owned the lease.”
Elena turned back.
“Who?”
Victoria smiled.
“You.”
Elena stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Victoria’s voice became almost gentle.
“It is simply something Michael never bothered to tell you.”
Arthur looked confused.
“Elena owned Warehouse Twelve?”
“According to the corporate registry.”
Victoria reached into her handbag.
Reed immediately told her to move slowly.
She removed several folded pages.
“My attorney prepared these this morning.”
Elena took them.
The documents showed a holding company called ELM Holdings.
Elena recognized the initials.
Elena Louise Mercer.
Her maiden name.
The company had been formed four years earlier.
Warehouse Twelve had been transferred to it nine months before Michael’s death.
The registered authorization carried Elena’s electronic signature.
She shook her head.
“I never created this company.”
Victoria’s eyes glittered.
“Then someone created it for you.”
Arthur took the pages.
“This can be fabricated.”
“Everything can be fabricated when the evidence points toward Elena.”
Reed looked at the documents.
“I’ll need copies.”
Victoria handed them over.
Elena walked to the crib.
Lily shifted in her sleep.
Elena stared at her tiny daughter.
Someone had created a company in Elena’s name.
Someone had placed Michael’s destination under her ownership.
Someone had forged documents using Michael’s signature after his death.
And someone had hidden cameras beside Lily’s crib.
This was bigger than stolen money.
It was a structure.
A trap assembled one document at a time.
Reed’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
“When?”
Arthur watched him.
“What happened?”
Reed ended the call.
“Our financial crimes unit located the offshore account receiving the Whitmore trust transfers.”
Arthur waited.
Reed looked directly at Elena.
“The account is registered to ELM Holdings.”
Nobody moved.
Victoria slowly turned toward Elena.
May you like
Then she whispered the words she had clearly been waiting to say.
“Now tell Arthur again that I’m the thief.”
