Chapter 10 - THE MAN IN THE CABIN
Police followed the tracker into a heavily wooded area.
The signal stopped near an isolated hunting cabin owned by a shell company.
The company traced back to Robert.
Detective Hale led the operation.
Inside the cabin, officers found Thomas Avery alive.
He was dehydrated, exhausted, and badly frightened.
Robert was gone.
Avery had been held for nearly three weeks.
Once doctors cleared him for questioning, he asked for Mark.
Sarah joined him.
Avery looked at Mark for a long moment.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
Mark swallowed.
“My father hired you.”
“Yes.”
“To investigate her death?”
“Yes.”
Avery looked toward Detective Hale.
“William spent years believing Catherine’s crash was an accident.”
“Then he found an old letter.”
“What letter?”
“One Catherine wrote to her attorney.”
“She was afraid of Brenda.”
Mark closed his eyes.
Avery continued.
“William hired me to reopen everything.”
“I found the original mechanic.”
“He was still alive.”
“He admitted Robert paid him to stay quiet.”
Sarah felt cold.
“Robert?”
Avery nodded.
“The mechanic saw evidence that someone had interfered with Catherine’s vehicle.”
“Robert offered him money.”
“Why would Robert protect Brenda?”
“Because he had helped her.”
Mark gripped the chair.
Avery continued.
“Brenda had gambling debts.”
“Robert had business debts.”
“They were stealing from Catherine together.”
“When Catherine discovered it, she threatened to report them.”
Sarah whispered, “So they silenced her.”
Avery looked directly at her.
“I cannot prove Brenda caused the crash.”
“But I can prove Robert helped bury evidence afterward.”
“Where is the proof?”
Avery’s expression hardened.
“William had it.”
“And when William died, Robert came looking for it.”
Mark leaned forward.
“Did Robert kill my father?”
Avery shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“But William believed someone was monitoring his medication.”
Sarah’s blood ran cold.
William had died from what doctors believed was a heart attack.
Avery continued.
“He planned to request a full medical review.”
“He died the morning before the appointment.”
Mark stood so suddenly his chair fell backward.
For seventeen years, his family had accepted Catherine’s death as an accident.
For six weeks, they had accepted William’s death as natural.
Now both were in question.
Sarah asked about the missing evidence.
Avery hesitated.
“I moved it.”
“Where?”
“I promised William I would tell only Mark.”
Mark stared at him.
Avery gave a weak smile.
“Your father said Brenda searched places connected to money.”
“So he told me to hide everything somewhere connected to grief.”
Mark’s expression changed.
“My mother’s grave.”
Avery nodded.
“There is a sealed container beneath the stone bench beside Catherine’s grave.”
Mark whispered, “Brenda knows where Mom is buried.”
“Yes.”
“But she doesn’t know where I placed the evidence.”
Detective Hale immediately arranged protection around the cemetery.
They arrived before sunset.
Sarah stayed several feet away with Noah.
Mark knelt beside the stone bench.
Officers carefully removed a hidden panel.
Inside was a waterproof case.
Mark opened it.
There were financial records.
Photographs.
The original mechanic’s signed statement.
Copies of Catherine’s letter.
And a small notebook belonging to William.
Mark turned the final page.
One sentence had been underlined twice.
If Robert realizes Brenda cannot inherit, he will turn on her.
Sarah looked at Detective Hale.
“What does that mean?”
Before Hale could answer, his phone rang.
An officer was shouting through the line.
Brenda had just been found.
She had walked into a rural police station.
May you like
Covered in blood.
And she was claiming Robert had tried to kill her.
