Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO THOUGHT EVERYONE HAD A PRICE
Charles Hartwell smiled from the back seat of the black sedan.
In his hand was the cassette Katherine had hidden twenty years earlier.
Dominic stepped into the street.
Marco moved beside him.
“Sir, stay back.”
Dominic ignored him.
Charles rolled the window farther down.
“Dominic. I see you've found Katherine.”
Katherine appeared in the workshop doorway.
Her face turned white.
Charles looked at her.
“Still collecting old things, I see.”
Dominic stopped beside the car.
“Give me the tape.”
Charles laughed softly.
“Always so direct. Your father was the same way.”
“Then you should remember what happened when you underestimated him.”
Charles's smile faded.
“He lost.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Did he?”
For the first time, Charles looked uncertain.
Dominic continued.
“My father kept records. Katherine kept records. Arthur kept the watch. You spent twenty years trying to silence them, and you still haven't destroyed the evidence.”
Charles glanced toward Helen Price standing beside the workshop.
“Your attorney should explain what happens to evidence obtained improperly.”
Helen approached.
“She can also explain obstruction, forgery, and witness intimidation, Mr. Hartwell.”
Charles waved dismissively.
“You have accusations. I have contracts.”
Dominic leaned closer.
“Contracts bearing a signature I never knowingly gave.”
Charles's jaw tightened.
“You're making a mistake.”
“No. I made a mistake when I trusted your daughter without asking why your family was so interested in my property.”
Charles's expression changed.
“Leave Vivian out of this.”
Dominic paused.
It was the first time he'd heard genuine concern in the older man's voice.
“Then stop using her.”
Charles looked away.
For a moment, he seemed older than his sixty-eight years.
Then he recovered.
“You think Katherine is innocent? Ask her what she signed.”
Dominic turned.
Katherine stood frozen.
Charles smiled.
“She hasn't told you everything.”
Dominic looked back.
“What did she sign?”
Charles tapped the cassette against his palm.
“A settlement. A very expensive one.”
Katherine stepped into the street.
“I signed because you threatened Dominic.”
Charles shrugged.
“You signed because your father owed money.”
Katherine flinched.
Dominic frowned.
“Her father?”
Charles looked at him with satisfaction.
“Your mother's family owned part of that waterfront property. They were deeply in debt. I arranged the financing.”
Katherine shook her head.
“You falsified the loan balance.”
“Prove it.”
Helen spoke.
“We intend to examine the records.”
Charles smiled.
“Then examine them carefully.”
He turned toward Dominic.
“If you challenge the transfers, the waterfront project will lose its financing. Construction stops. Investors pull out. Workers lose jobs.”
Dominic's expression remained steady.
“You keep using other people's livelihoods to defend your crimes.”
Charles's smile disappeared.
“Everything your father built depended on people like me.”
“No,” Dominic replied. “It depended on people like Arthur Bennett.”
Charles laughed.
“Arthur? The man who started the fire?”
Katherine stepped forward.
“Stop lying.”
Charles looked at her.
“Careful, Katherine.”
She didn't retreat.
“You've frightened us long enough.”
Dominic glanced at her.
For the first time, she looked less like a frightened woman and more like the stubborn architect Arthur had described.
Charles leaned forward.
“You want the tape? Fine.”
He held it up.
“Transfer the waterfront redevelopment rights to my company. Drop the challenge to the marriage agreement. And I'll give you the tape.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Charles's eyes narrowed.
“Think carefully.”
“I have.”
“You could lose everything.”
Dominic looked at Katherine.
Then at Helen.
Then back at Charles.
“I almost lost my life because of your greed. My father spent years trying to protect me from you. Arthur carries the scars of what happened.”
He paused.
“And you still think this is about money.”
Charles lowered the cassette.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he leaned toward his driver.
The sedan pulled away.
Marco recorded the license plate.
Dominic watched it disappear.
Katherine touched his arm.
“He'll destroy the tape.”
“Maybe.”
Helen shook her head.
“We already know Elaine has another recording. And we have the documents.”
Dominic looked toward the workshop.
“Then we need to find out what my father actually recorded.”
That evening, everyone returned to the Boston mansion.
Arthur was waiting in the library.
When Katherine entered, the old man stood.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Then Katherine approached and embraced him.
“You saved my boy.”
Arthur began crying.
“I tried, Miss Katherine.”
“You did more than try.”
She held his scarred hands.
“You brought him home.”
Dominic watched them.
Something softened in his expression.
But the investigation was moving faster now.
Helen had obtained a court order preserving the records associated with the disputed waterfront agreements.
Elaine Mercer, through her attorney, agreed to provide the cassette she'd removed from the deposit box.
It arrived that night in a sealed evidence container, accompanied by a copy made by an independent technician.
Dominic gathered Arthur, Katherine, Helen, Marco, and me in the library.
Vivian had also been asked to attend.
She arrived quietly.
Dominic didn't embrace her.
But he didn't ask her to leave.
Helen placed the cassette player on the desk.
“This recording appears to have been made twenty years ago,” she explained. “We still need formal authentication. For now, listen carefully.”
She pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Dominic's father.
“Charles, the inspection report is clear. The shoreline land isn't safe for redevelopment until the contamination is addressed.”
Charles Hartwell answered.
“You're exaggerating.”
“No. I'm telling you that families could be hurt.”
A pause.
Then another voice.
Katherine.
“You falsified the test results.”
Charles laughed.
“You can't prove that.”
Dominic leaned forward.
The recording continued.
His father spoke again.
“I've already copied the documents. If anything happens to me, they'll be released.”
Charles's voice turned cold.
“You're making a very expensive mistake.”
Then footsteps.
A door opening.
And a fourth voice.
Dominic recognized it immediately.
Elaine Mercer.
“Charles, the boy is still in the car.”
Arthur covered his mouth.
The recording crackled.
Then Charles said:
“Get him out of there.”
A heavy silence followed.
Dominic stared at the player.
Charles had ordered someone to remove him from the car.
That didn't sound like a man trying to murder a child.
Then his father's voice rose sharply.
“Charles, what have you done?”
A metallic crash.
Someone shouted.
The recording ended.
Dominic looked at Helen.
“Play it again.”
She did.
The same voices.
The same warning.
The same crash.
Arthur stared at the carpet.
“I always thought Charles wanted you dead.”
Katherine shook her head.
“He wanted the documents. He thought if your father believed you were in danger, he'd surrender them.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“But the fire spread.”
“Yes,” Katherine whispered.
Vivian stood near the doorway, listening.
For the first time, she seemed to understand how much damage her father had done.
Then Helen spoke.
“Dominic, there's something else.”
She placed another document on the desk.
“A preliminary review of your father's medical records found that his death six years ago may warrant further investigation.”
Dominic looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“The physician who signed the death certificate worked for a medical group receiving payments from a Hartwell company.”
Arthur's face went pale.
Dominic stared at Helen.
“Are you saying Charles killed my father?”
“No. I'm saying we need answers before making that accusation.”
Dominic looked at the watch in Arthur's hand.
The old butler opened it.
Something tiny fell from beneath the inner lining.
A folded piece of paper.
Arthur stared.
“I never knew that was there.”
Dominic unfolded it.
His father's handwriting covered one side.
SON, IF I DIE BEFORE I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, DO NOT BLAME ARTHUR. HE TRIED TO STOP ME.
Dominic turned the paper over.
There was one final sentence.
THE PERSON WHO HELPED CHARLES THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE WAS SOMEONE I TRUSTED ENOUGH TO LET INTO MY HOME.
Dominic slowly looked around the library.
Then his gaze stopped on Elaine Mercer's name in the transcript.
May you like
And he whispered:
“My father knew the traitor was inside this house.”
