Chapter 13 - What Susan Signed
Susan read the email printout twice before she spoke.
They had moved her from county intake to an interview room at the state police barracks. She had a public defender beside her and Quinn across from her.
Marcus stood against the wall.
Peter Vale had escaped the River Annex through an old drainage tunnel that opened near the river. Search dogs lost his trail at Route 9.
The red ledger had been pulled from the fire.
Half the cover was burned. Most of the pages were wet but readable.
The sentence Vincent mentioned was there.
Any ninety-percent consent obtained by fraud, duress, coercion, or materially false representation automatically voided the transfer and suspended all proxy rights pending independent review.
Peter had needed the charter destroyed because it killed his deal the moment Arthur was found.
Susan put the email down.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your box under the floor,” Quinn said.
Susan looked at Marcus.
“You found it.”
“Vincent told us.”
Her face moved once.
“He’s alive?”
“For now.”
Susan looked at the table.
Marcus wanted her to ask about Arthur.
She did not.
Quinn pushed another page toward her.
“This is Peter’s contingency schedule.”
Susan did not touch it.
Marcus read the headings over her shoulder.
A — CLOSE WITH MARCUS.
B — CLOSE WITHOUT MARCUS.
C — REMOVE ARTHUR.
D — CONTAIN CHILD.
His eyes stopped.
Susan’s did too.
“What is that?” she said.
“You tell us.”
“I have never seen it.”
“Peter had Eli’s school photograph.”
Susan looked at Marcus so fast the chair moved.
“No.”
Marcus said nothing.
“No,” she said again. “That was not part of anything.”
“You locked Dad in a shaft.”
“I know.”
“You helped forge medical records.”
“I signed care affidavits. Peter wrote them.”
“You gave Harlan access.”
“Yes.”
“You gave Peter Dad’s medication list.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want a line?”
Susan’s mouth trembled.
“I had one.”
Marcus leaned toward her.
“You crossed it eleven days ago.”
Her public defender put a hand on her arm.
Susan shook it off.
“Peter said the sale would force Dad out. He said Red Oak would keep the company running. He said Vincent and I would get enough to leave. He said you would get paid for your twelve.”
“He stole retirement money.”
“I did not know.”
“He put my son’s name on the buyer.”
“I did not know.”
“He sent a woman to kill Dad.”
Susan closed her eyes.
“I did not know.”
Marcus hit the table with both palms.
“You knew enough.”
Nobody spoke.
Susan opened her eyes.
“Yes.”
It was the first clean answer she had given.
Quinn slid a legal pad toward her.
“Then give us everything.”
Susan wrote one password.
Then another.
Then an email address Marcus had never seen.
A hidden mailbox Peter had made them use for deal instructions.
The digital team opened it twelve minutes later.
Most messages were deleted.
The server still held metadata.
One draft had been saved at 6:32 that morning.
TO: M. HARLAN
SUBJECT: BOY
Body:
If C fails, use hospital extraction route. Do not use force unless necessary. Child will follow uniform.
Marcus stopped reading.
Quinn was already on her feet.
He called DeRosier.
No answer.
He called again.
The line rang until voicemail.
Marcus ran into the hall.
His work phone rang before he reached the door.
Hospital administration.
He answered.
A woman said, “Mr. Carrow, we need to confirm whether you authorized your son to leave with state police.”
Marcus stopped dead.
“What?”
“At 9:46, an officer signed him out of the family security room.”
“No.”
The woman went quiet.
Marcus could hear keys clicking.
“What was the officer’s name?”
Another pause.
“DeRosier.”
Marcus looked through the glass at Quinn.
She was already listening on speaker.
The real DeRosier walked into the barracks behind them carrying coffee.
He saw their faces.
“What?”
Marcus’s phone buzzed.
A photo message.
Eli sat inside the old service elevator at Calder House.
Tape across his mouth.
Hands bound in front of him.
Below the photograph were five words.
May you like
BRING THE ORIGINAL CHARTER HOME.
