Chapter 15 - MARTIN'S LAST SECRET
Martin sat behind glass in county jail.
Grant took the phone.
"You wanted me."
"You're angry at the wrong dead man."
"Thomas isn't dead."
"Not him."
"Vivian's mother."
Grant frowned.
She had died twelve years earlier.
Cancer.
Martin continued.
"She created the Mercer Medical Foundation."
"I know."
"She also created a private trust."
Grant said nothing.
"Vivian was supposed to inherit it at forty."
"How much?"
"Thirty-six million."
"Thomas controlled it?"
"Until Vivian's birthday."
Grant understood.
Thomas had a second motive.
The moment Vivian demanded the trust records, she would see years of theft.
Martin had drafted false amendments claiming Vivian voluntarily extended Thomas's control.
"She refused to sign."
"So you drugged her."
"I didn't touch her."
"You planned it."
Martin's smile faded.
"I planned paperwork."
"That woman almost got buried alive."
"Because everyone followed orders."
Martin added, "Including you."
"I was in Chicago."
"You authorized the funeral."
He had.
In shock.
Over the phone.
Elise told him Vivian had died.
Adrian confirmed it.
Martin sent electronic forms.
Grant signed without reading.
He had approved the coffin.
The burial.
The entire machinery that nearly killed his wife a second time.
"That's why Thomas chose you as trustee. You sign when you're grieving."
Grant hung up.
At the hospital, Vivian could finally speak in full sentences.
Her voice was weak.
Grant sat beside her.
"I signed the funeral papers."
"I know."
"I didn't ask for another exam."
"You trusted them."
"I should have trusted you enough to question impossible things."
"You thought I was dead."
"I'm sorry."
She squeezed his hand.
Then she said, "There is one more person."
"Who?"
"The one who warned me."
"About Thomas?"
"Colin Webb."
The funeral director.
"The man who tried to leave?"
"He knew before Rosa broke the coffin."
May you like
Grant felt the case shift again.
"Then why didn't he open it himself?"
