Chapter 5 - Andrew’s version
Andrew asked to speak to Michael.
Not through attorneys.
Not in the police interview room.
At the hospital.
Michael nearly refused.
Clara told him to go.
“I want to know what he says when he thinks he’s talking only to you.”
Detective Walsh permitted the conversation with conditions.
No threats.
No discussion of concealed evidence.
An officer remained nearby.
Andrew looked exhausted.
The expensive watch was gone.
His cuff sleeves were rolled up.
For the first time in years, Michael saw the younger brother who used to follow him around their father’s warehouse.
Then Andrew spoke.
“I didn’t know she would poison them.”
Michael almost hit him.
He stopped himself.
“You locked the pantry.”
Andrew’s face crumpled.
“I installed the lock.”
“Why?”
“Mom told me Clara was hiding company papers in there.”
Michael stared.
“You believed that?”
“At first.”
“You watched my wife and daughter go hungry.”
“I didn’t know she was refusing them food.”
“Clara says you were there every day.”
“I saw Lily eating.”
“Less.”
Andrew looked away.
“I thought Mom was being controlling. I didn’t understand how bad it was.”
Michael leaned closer.
“You never asked?”
Silence.
“You didn’t want to know.”
Andrew’s eyes filled.
“No.”
That answer was worse because it was truthful.
Michael sat back.
“What did you mean on the recording when you asked if she ‘used more’?”
Andrew swallowed.
“She had been spraying something around the pantry.”
“What?”
“I don’t know exactly. Something for insects. She said there were bugs.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“You smelled it.”
“Yes.”
“And left.”
“I told her to stop.”
“And left.”
Andrew looked down.
“Yes.”
Michael wanted to hate him cleanly.
But guilt was rarely clean.
Andrew had participated.
Enabled.
Ignored.
Perhaps been manipulated.
None of that erased what he had done.
“Why the restructuring agreement?”
Andrew hesitated.
“Mom said Dad wanted her to maintain control of the company.”
“That isn’t what Dad’s trust says.”
“I know that now.”
“When did you find out?”
Andrew closed his eyes.
“Three weeks ago.”
Michael stood.
“You kept asking me to sign after you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I owe money.”
Michael stared.
Andrew continued.
“A lot.”
“How much?”
“Enough that if the development deal collapsed, I was finished.”
Michael sat slowly.
“Who do you owe?”
Andrew looked toward the officer.
“I’ll tell Walsh.”
“Tell me.”
“One of the investors financing the redevelopment.”
“Name.”
Andrew hesitated.
“Martin Vale.”
Michael had heard the name.
Vale Strategic Partners.
A private investment firm negotiating to buy several Carter properties.
Sarah Levine had once described their offer as unusually aggressive.
Michael asked:
“Does Mom know him?”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“Better than I did.”
A chill moved through Michael.
“How?”
“They’ve been talking for more than a year.”
“About the land?”
“About everything.”
Andrew leaned closer.
“Michael, Mom didn’t come live with you because she needed somewhere to stay.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“Then why?”
“To get access to your house.”
“To Lily’s trust documents?”
“That’s what I thought.”
Michael noticed the wording.
“Thought?”
Andrew looked toward the hospital corridor.
“Then I found something in her room.”
“What?”
“A photograph of Dad.”
Michael waited.
“Dad was lying in a hospital bed.”
Michael frowned.
Their father had died after what everyone believed was a sudden heart problem.
“What’s strange about that?”
“The photograph was taken the night before we were told he became sick.”
Michael froze.
“How do you know?”
“The date.”
Andrew swallowed.
“And Martin Vale was standing beside him.”
Michael stared.
“I thought Dad never met Vale.”
“So did I.”
Andrew removed a folded sheet from his pocket.
The officer immediately stepped closer.
“It’s just a copy.”
He placed it on the table.
A handwritten note.
Thomas Carter’s handwriting.
MICHAEL — IF ELEANOR BRINGS VALE INTO THE COMPANY, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING.
Michael read it twice.
“Where did you get this?”
“Dad’s old desk.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
Andrew looked ashamed.
“I was scared.”
“Of Mom?”
“Of what Dad knew.”
Michael thought of Lily’s doll.
Thomas giving it to her shortly before his death.
The hidden partition labeled TC_FINAL.
A warning about Vale.
A photograph taken before Thomas supposedly became ill.
This was no longer only about Clara and Lily.
Something had begun while their father was alive.
Maybe earlier.
Detective Walsh entered.
“We unlocked the hidden partition.”
Michael stood immediately.
“What’s inside?”
“One video.”
“How long?”
“Two minutes, eleven seconds.”
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
Michael’s throat tightened.
“Play it.”
Walsh shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because your father isn’t alone in the recording.”
Michael stared.
“Who’s with him?”
Walsh looked toward Andrew.
Then back at Michael.
May you like
“Your mother.”
👉 Thomas Carter had secretly recorded Eleanor before his death, and whatever was on that video had been important enough to hide inside Lily’s doll.
