Chapter 12 - What Grant Was Looking For
Police searched the shed again.
This time they removed wall panels.
Beneath Victor’s desk they found a narrow compartment.
Empty.
Scrape marks showed something had recently been removed.
Grant had returned after Laura discovered the office.
But what had he taken?
Mr. Harris remembered Victor carrying a ledger.
“Black cover. He wrote every private loan in it.”
Maya nodded.
“A handwritten ledger could connect Grant to payments not reflected digitally.”
Celeste whispered, “And the medication.”
Laura turned.
“What?”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“I saw Dad write Grant’s name beside pharmacy receipts.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I forgot until now.”
Holt’s patience broke.
“You keep remembering things after evidence appears.”
Celeste flinched.
“I was terrified.”
“That doesn’t make you reliable.”
“No.”
The black ledger became the most important missing object.
Grant probably had it.
Or had destroyed it.
Then Mark found a clue through Caleb.
Caleb had been drawing the red sled for school.
In his picture, he added a small silver disk beneath one runner.
“What’s that?” Mark asked.
“Grandpa’s tracker.”
Laura looked sharply at him.
“What tracker?”
“He said I lose everything.”
Victor had attached a miniature GPS tag to the sled.
Police had recovered the sled.
The tracker was gone.
But its associated account might remain.
Eric Harris, Howard’s grandson, helped access Victor’s old device account with proper consent from the estate.
The tracker history showed movement.
On the night the sled was stolen, it traveled from Harris’s house to the access road where Evan abandoned it.
Then—impossibly—it moved again.
Someone removed the tracker before police recovered the sled.
It traveled uphill.
Toward a private cabin known as Eagle House.
Celeste stared.
“That’s Voss’s place.”
Malcolm Voss owned Eagle House through a company.
Police obtained a warrant.
They found the tracker in a fireplace.
Also found:
Victor’s black ledger.
Grant’s spare passport.
Cash.
And medication identical to the beta blocker found in Victor’s system.
Voss was arrested for obstruction and financial offenses.
He denied involvement in Victor’s death.
“Grant planted it.”
Maybe.
But phone-location records placed Voss at Eagle House during the weeks after Victor died.
Grant had used the property too.
The ledger itself contained handwritten entries.
Blackpine payments.
North Peak transfers.
Celeste compensation.
Voss fees.
Then a page marked:
A.M. — pills requested by G.S. — NOT AUTHORIZED
Laura felt cold.
A.M.
Alan Mercer?
The doctor?
Detective Holt interviewed Mercer again.
He denied giving Grant medication.
Then investigators traced an email.
Grant had asked Mercer’s clinic to replace a “lost” prescription for Victor.
A staff nurse processed the request without realizing Victor had discontinued the drug.
The prescription was collected by resort courier.
Signed:
Evan Cole.
Evan stared when shown the record.
“Grant told me Victor left medication in Denver.”
“Did you give it to Victor?”
“No. I gave the bag to Grant.”
The chain narrowed.
Grant possessed the pills.
Grant met Victor minutes before his collapse.
Grant had a $5 million policy benefiting North Peak.
Grant knew Victor intended to report the fraud.
But one question remained.
How did the medication enter Victor?
The coffee.
Celeste had brought it.
Grant could have accessed it while she was away.
Or Celeste could have administered the drug herself.
Prosecutors were careful.
Laura was not.
She confronted Celeste privately.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I have.”
“No. Tell me whether Grant touched Dad’s coffee.”
Celeste closed her eyes.
Laura knew.
“You saw him.”
“When I left the first time.”
“Where?”
“In the hallway.”
“Did he go into Dad’s room?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“Because then I’d have to admit I went back.”
Laura stared.
“You protected yourself.”
“Yes.”
“And because you stayed silent, Dad’s death remained natural for eleven months.”
Celeste broke.
“I know!”
Laura stood.
“Caleb was locked outside because you were still protecting yourself.”
“No—”
“Yes.”
Laura’s voice shook.
“Every time you had a chance to choose someone else, you chose yourself.”
Celeste whispered:
“You think you’re different?”
Laura stopped.
Celeste wiped her eyes.
“You stayed away from Dad because Snowhaven was inconvenient. You ignored the probate fight until Caleb became frightened. You signed financing papers because reading them was annoying.”
Laura felt each accusation land.
Some were unfair.
Enough were true.
Celeste continued:
“We are both Victor’s daughters.”
Laura answered quietly.
“Then maybe Caleb is exactly why he chose neither of us.”
Before Celeste could respond, Detective Holt entered.
“Grant called.”
Everyone turned.
“He wants to surrender.”
Laura exhaled.
Holt continued:
“But only if Laura comes to Snowhaven’s summit station.”
Celeste’s face changed.
“That station is closed.”
“Why there?”
May you like
Holt looked at Laura.
“Grant says he has proof of who killed Victor.”
