"Kristen, what exactly did Malcolm tell you?"
"I shouldn't have said that."
"Too late."
She began crying harder.
"He said you'd never involve the police. That you cared too much about the family name."
I stared at the wall.
"How long have you been meeting with him?"
A long silence followed.
Then she whispered, "Almost a year."
My stomach tightened.
A year.
Twelve months of secret meetings.
While I invited them to Sunday dinner.
While I paid the property taxes on the River Oaks house.
While I bought birthday gifts for their children.
"What were you planning?"
She didn't answer.
I waited.
Finally, she whispered something that chilled me.
"Malcolm said Cedarline was supposed to belong to Trevor."
***
The following morning, Daniel obtained preliminary company records from Ashcroft Development Group.
The business had been formed fourteen months earlier.
Its registered office was a modest building outside the city.
The listed manager was a woman named Evelyn Price.
