Chapter 6 - THE PIECE CAUGHT IN THE DIAMONDS
Daniel recovered quickly.
"You're identifying handwriting from memory."
"I'm identifying my husband's handwriting."
"Which is not evidence."
Grant said, "Neither is your word."
Daniel looked at him.
"Then let professionals decide."
He walked toward the door.
Savannah called after him.
"Where's the letter?"
Daniel stopped.
"Safe."
"Safe for whom?"
He did not answer.
At six-ten that evening, the board suspended Grant as chief executive pending an internal investigation.
By six-thirty, reporters were outside Hale Tower.
By seven, Lena's photograph was on television.
Not because she had saved Margaret.
Because somebody had leaked that her employee badge had accessed Grant's records.
The headline beneath Lena's face read:
MAID QUESTIONED IN HALE WEDDING SCANDAL.
Lena stared at the television in the staff lounge.
Nine years of work.
Thousands of sheets changed.
Bathrooms scrubbed.
Christmas trees decorated after midnight.
Meals reheated for people too busy to come home.
One photograph made her look like a thief.
Grant entered.
"Turn that off."
Lena didn't.
"My ex-husband's going to see this."
"We'll correct it."
"My neighbors will see it."
"Lena."
"My son will see it."
That stopped Grant.
He sat across from her.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
He accepted that.
After a moment he said, "You're right."
Lena finally turned off the television.
"Mr. Hale, I don't need you to promise me this will disappear."
"What do you need?"
"I need you to find out who did it."
Grant nodded.
"That's what we're doing."
Margaret entered carrying two framed photographs.
One showed Grant's college graduation two days before the date on the supposed order to Daniel.
Robert Hale stood beside his son.
His right hand was encased in a rigid cast from knuckles to elbow.
Grant stared at it.
"He broke it skiing."
Margaret nodded.
"Could barely hold a fork."
Lena looked at the handwritten order again.
It had been dated May 14.
Robert's dominant hand had been immobilized.
Savannah, sitting across the room with a police officer nearby, spoke quietly.
"So Daniel forged it."
"Or somebody did," Grant said.
He was learning not to leap to conclusions.
That was progress.
Not comfort.
The detective told Savannah it was time to go make a formal statement.
She stood.
Then she reached behind her neck.
The Hale diamond necklace had remained around her throat through everything.
Margaret had worn it on her own wedding day.
Before that, Robert's mother had owned it.
Savannah removed it and held it out.
"I shouldn't have this."
Margaret looked at the necklace but did not take it.
"Keep it until tonight is over."
"No."
Savannah's hand shook.
"I lied to your son. I pushed you. I nearly got Lena killed."
Her voice cracked.
"I don't get to walk out wearing your family diamonds."
Grant looked away.
Margaret reached for the necklace.
The center pendant caught against Savannah's sleeve.
Something pale blue appeared beneath the hinged mounting.
Lena stood.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
She moved closer.
A narrow strip of paper was wedged behind one of the diamond settings.
Savannah stared.
"That must have torn off during the fight."
Margaret carefully pulled it free.
Three lines were visible.
The left half of each sentence was missing.
But Robert Hale's handwriting was unmistakable.
Margaret read:
"...Thomas refused the substituted support order."
Then:
"...Daniel authorized it without telling me."
And finally:
"...I let Pierce carry the blame afterward because I was afraid the company would fall."
Nobody spoke.
Grant took the fragment.
His father had not been innocent.
But the forged instruction had been a lie.
Robert had not ordered Daniel to use the steel.
Daniel had done that himself.
And Robert had helped bury the truth after people died.
Savannah sank into a chair.
"My father refused."
Margaret nodded.
"At first."
Savannah looked at her sharply.
"What does that mean?"
Margaret sat opposite her.
"It means Robert's letter said Thomas eventually signed."
"We know."
"No."
Margaret's eyes filled.
"You don't know why."
Grant said, "Mom."
She looked at him.
"Daniel threatened to bankrupt Thomas's engineering firm. But that wasn't what changed his mind."
Savannah's face tightened.
"What was?"
Margaret hesitated.
Then said, "You."
Savannah stopped breathing.
Margaret continued.
"Thomas had a daughter with a serious heart condition when she was young."
Savannah touched her chest instinctively.
She had never told Grant about the surgeries she underwent at nine and twelve.
Margaret said, "Your father's insurance came through his company. Daniel told him if the firm collapsed, the policy would disappear."
Savannah stared at Daniel's empty chair.
"He used my surgery?"
Margaret nodded.
"Robert wrote that Thomas signed because he believed refusing could cost you your treatment."
Savannah covered her mouth.
For twenty years, she had imagined her father signing because he was weak.
Then because he was corrupt.
Now another truth emerged.
He had done something wrong.
But he had done it while someone held his daughter's life over his head.
Savannah began crying.
Grant moved instinctively toward her.
Then stopped.
The distance between them was only six feet.
It felt much larger.
Savannah looked at him.
"I'm going downstairs."
"For what?"
"To tell them everything."
"You already admitted pushing her."
"Not everything."
She looked at Margaret.
"I'm going to tell them I came into your life because of Harbor House."
Then she looked at Grant.
"And that I married you without telling you why I first met you."
Grant swallowed.
Savannah stood.
"If Daniel is going to use my lies to hide his, I'm done helping him."
She walked with the detective toward the elevator.
Margaret still held the necklace.
Lena looked at the tiny fragment of blue paper.
One answer had escaped the envelope.
But most of Robert's confession was still missing.
Then Margaret whispered something.
"I made another envelope."
Grant turned.
"What?"
Margaret looked older than she had that morning.
"Robert left two letters about Harbor House."
"Who was the second one for?"
May you like
Margaret met his eyes.
"Daniel Cross."
