Chapter 8 - Before Julian
Eleanor had been Malcolm’s office administrator.
She omitted it from every family conversation.
She had worked for him for six years.
Including the year Thomas and Rebecca died.
Genevieve confronted her with employment records.
Eleanor’s composure cracked.
“I typed letters.”
“You knew my father was investigating Malcolm.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Malcolm wanted access to me.”
“Years later.”
“Did you introduce Julian to him?”
Eleanor looked away.
“Yes.”
There it was.
The marriage scheme began not with Julian.
With Eleanor.
She had introduced her financially struggling son to Malcolm eleven years earlier.
Malcolm eventually suggested Julian attend Bellamy events.
“Did you tell Julian to marry me?”
“No.”
“Did Malcolm?”
“Not directly.”
“Stop hiding behind wording.”
Eleanor’s voice sharpened.
“He said if Julian became important to you, our family would never worry about money again.”
Genevieve felt disgust.
“And you encouraged him.”
“Yes.”
Sarah asked the question that mattered most.
“What happened before Thomas and Rebecca’s boating accident?”
Eleanor’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
“You were Malcolm’s administrator.”
“I scheduled meetings.”
“Which meetings?”
“One with Thomas.”
“When?”
“Two days before the accident.”
“Where?”
“Malcolm’s office.”
“What happened?”
“I heard shouting.”
“About?”
“Westbridge.”
Genevieve leaned forward.
“What else?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Thomas said he had copied everything.”
“Malcolm?”
“He told Thomas he was destroying Arthur’s company over accounting technicalities.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor’s voice dropped.
“Malcolm said, ‘You won’t get the chance.’”
Genevieve went cold.
The phrase resembled his later behavior around Charles Mercer only in another story; here, it was simply the language of a man who solved threats through intimidation.
“Did you tell police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because two days later Thomas died.”
“That should have made you tell them.”
“It made me afraid.”
Eleanor had remained silent.
Malcolm later helped Julian’s family financially after Julian’s father died.
A reward?
Eleanor denied it.
Genevieve did not believe her.
Detective Reed reopened the boating-accident file.
The original investigation found mechanical failure during severe weather.
But Thomas’s storage boxes contained maintenance invoices showing the boat had been serviced three days earlier.
The steering system was inspected.
No defect found.
Sarah cautioned:
“Seventeen years destroys evidence.”
Genevieve nodded.
“I’m not asking for miracles.”
She wanted what could be proven.
Not what anger wanted to be true.
Meanwhile, Julian’s supervised visit with Clara arrived.
Genevieve watched through glass.
Julian held his daughter.
He cried.
Not performatively.
At least she did not think so.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Clara slept against him.
Genevieve’s chest hurt.
Afterward Julian asked to speak.
Sarah remained present.
“I’ll give you Malcolm.”
“You already have.”
“I can give you more.”
“What do you want?”
“Shared custody.”
Genevieve stared.
“You’re bargaining with our daughter.”
“No.”
“You just offered evidence for custody.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“That came out wrong.”
“No. It came out accurately.”
He looked destroyed.
“I love Clara.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised him.
“I also believe you used her to threaten me.”
His face collapsed.
Genevieve continued.
“Both things are true.”
Julian whispered, “What do you want from me?”
“The truth without payment.”
He sat silently.
Then:
“Malcolm has a safe.”
“Where?”
“His lake house.”
“What’s inside?”
“Original NorthStar agreements. Westbridge ledgers. Recordings.”
“Of whom?”
“Arthur. Thomas. Me. Maybe Eleanor.”
Sarah asked, “How do you know?”
“I put some of them there.”
Genevieve stared.
“Will you give police a statement?”
Julian swallowed.
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
He looked through the glass toward Clara.
“Nothing.”
For the first time, he sounded sincere.
Police obtained a warrant.
The safe existed.
But when they opened it, it was empty.
Someone had arrived first.
Security footage showed a vehicle leaving Malcolm’s lake property six hours earlier.
May you like
Registered owner:
Arthur Bellamy.
