The photograph stayed on the table between us.<\/p>\n
I couldn't stop looking at Margaret Price.<\/p>\n
Twenty years had passed since David's funeral, yet I remembered her face.<\/p>\n
She had stood beside me that day.<\/p>\n
She had held my hand.<\/p>\n
She had told me that David had loved me.<\/p>\n
And all those years, I had never wondered why she was in that photograph with Victor Hale.<\/p>\n
Sarah examined the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's handwriting here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned closer.<\/p>\n
A short note had been written beneath the date.<\/p>\n
\u201cP and V know where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a chill.<\/p>\n
\u201cP?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd V?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer photographed the note.<\/p>\n
Then he asked, \u201cWhat does \u2018where it is\u2019 refer to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe policy documents,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n
I looked at the old letter.<\/p>\n
David had warned me about Victor.<\/p>\n
He had never mentioned Margaret.<\/p>\n
Maybe he hadn't known.<\/p>\n
Or maybe he had.<\/p>\n
The thought made me uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
I looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Ellen?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer checked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is still being interviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBring her here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, Ellen entered.<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
Her eyes were swollen from crying.<\/p>\n
She sat opposite me.<\/p>\n
I placed the photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen stared.<\/p>\n
Then nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret Price.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe used to work with Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she ever visit our house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow often?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce every few months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she discuss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a knot form in my stomach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad's investments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she meet Robert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow soon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah and I exchanged a glance.<\/p>\n
Ellen continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert said she was helping him understand the old accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert knew her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI introduced them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Robert asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
She had never told me.<\/p>\n
Ellen lowered her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't think it mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt matters now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
I placed the photograph in front of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Victor Hale?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never met him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I heard them arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they arguing about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich policy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad's.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Victor want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted the original documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Victor say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the documents could destroy him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say what was in them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Robert answer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he would find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Robert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you leave him?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I thought I could control the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
That was exactly what Robert had thought about me.<\/p>\n
Control.<\/p>\n
Everyone believed they could manage the consequences.<\/p>\n
Nobody expected the consequences to manage them.<\/p>\n
The officer asked, \u201cDid Margaret Price know about the documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called Robert once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she had been waiting twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
I looked at Sarah.<\/p>\n
Twenty years.<\/p>\n
That number again.<\/p>\n
This had not begun with Ellen.<\/p>\n
It had not begun with Robert.<\/p>\n
It had begun before my husband died.<\/p>\n
Perhaps before I even knew there was something worth hiding.<\/p>\n
The officer's phone rang.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
Then looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe former accountant has been found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he safe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he find the missing envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he find?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA note.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed the phone to Sarah.<\/p>\n
She read the photographed note.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop looking for what David hid.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a chill.<\/p>\n
There was another line.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour wife is already being watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Ellen.<\/p>\n
Her face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what it says.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could refer to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all fell silent.<\/p>\n
Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk your daughter what happened at the bakery six months before David died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Ellen.<\/p>\n
She frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Dad arguing with someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen opened her eyes.<\/p>\n
Her face had changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember another man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know his name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
She thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cTall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGray hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart sank.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah asked, \u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told Dad that if he didn't cooperate, you would lose everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands went numb.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your father answer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he would rather die.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
David.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
Three people connected to a secret I had never understood.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed something I had missed.<\/p>\n
David was holding an envelope.<\/p>\n
The same kind of envelope as the one we had just opened.<\/p>\n
I pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cZoom in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer enlarged the photograph.<\/p>\n
There was writing on the envelope.<\/p>\n
Only three letters.<\/p>\n
D.M.<\/p>\n
Sarah stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose aren't his initials.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband signed his documents D.A.M.\u201d<\/p>\n
She frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cD.A.M.?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Arthur Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n
The envelope said D.M.<\/p>\n
Someone had removed his middle initial.<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then at the old letter.<\/p>\n
Then at the note from the unknown sender.<\/p>\n
Something didn't fit.<\/p>\n
David had hidden the documents.<\/p>\n
But perhaps he hadn't hidden them for himself.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he had hidden them because he knew someone else would come looking.<\/p>\n
The officer asked, \u201cDo you know where the photograph was taken?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is outside the old investment office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor's office?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah looked at the date.<\/p>\n
Two days before David died.<\/p>\n
I whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid wasn't meeting Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was meeting someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Victor's office was closed that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered.<\/p>\n
David had told me he was going to meet his lawyer.<\/p>\n
Not Victor.<\/p>\n
Daniel Price.<\/p>\n
The attorney.<\/p>\n
Margaret's husband.<\/p>\n
Sarah immediately reached for her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll pull the old appointment records.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer asked, \u201cCould Price have been involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
But I knew one thing.<\/p>\n
If David had met Daniel Price two days before his death, then the warning letter had another meaning.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Victor Hale had never been the person David feared most.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Victor had been the person David wanted me to notice.<\/p>\n
A distraction.<\/p>\n
A name.<\/p>\n
A threat placed in plain sight.<\/p>\n
The real danger might have been much closer.<\/p>\n
The officer's phone rang.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
Then his expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
He listened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Sarah asked.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe former accountant has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTen minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom his office?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walked out voluntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found the security footage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left with someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer showed us the image.<\/p>\n
I recognized the woman immediately.<\/p>\n
Margaret Price.<\/p>\n
The photograph stayed on the table between us. I couldn't stop looking at Margaret Price. Twenty years had passed since David's funeral, yet I remembered her face. She had stood … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3875,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3860\/revisions\/3875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}