Chapter 2 - The Call Before the Crime
Daniel spent the next four hours beneath fluorescent lights at the Westchester County Public Safety Building.
Not arrested.
Not free, either.
His attorney, Rachel Kim, arrived shortly after eleven.
She entered the interview room wearing jeans under a camel coat, her black hair still damp from rain.
“What were you thinking?”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“I wasn’t.”
“That is the problem.”
“She hit Sophie.”
“I know.”
Rachel sat across from him.
Daniel had known her since law school, before he dropped out to save his father’s failing construction company and she became one of New York’s most feared commercial litigators.
“You admitted striking Victoria twice.”
“I did strike her twice.”
“Daniel, accuracy is admirable. Self-destruction is not.”
He looked through the glass wall toward the corridor.
“Where is Sophie?”
“With June. The pediatrician examined her. No serious injury.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Victoria?”
“Still being interviewed.”
“And Nathan?”
“Gone.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“Police had no basis to hold him. Possessing a folder in his brother’s house is suspicious, not criminal.”
“He was taking my audit.”
“He claims Victoria asked him to retrieve documents concerning the gala.”
“That folder was inside my locked office.”
Rachel paused.
“Was your office locked tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Who had a key?”
“Me.”
She stared at him.
Daniel understood.
“And Victoria.”
Rachel nodded.
“Now we are getting somewhere.”
The door opened.
Sergeant Ruiz entered carrying a tablet.
“Mr. Ashford, your daughter corroborated that Mrs. Ashford threw orange juice at her and struck her once.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Multiple witnesses corroborated that.”
“And me?”
“Multiple witnesses corroborated that you struck your wife twice.”
“I told you that.”
Ruiz sat.
“We are forwarding both matters to the district attorney’s office. Given the circumstances, lack of ongoing threat, and available video evidence, nobody is being booked tonight.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Sergeant, the earlier 911 call.”
Ruiz’s expression tightened.
“Still investigating.”
“What exactly did the caller say?”
Ruiz hesitated, then read from her notes.
“Male voice. Said, ‘Daniel Ashford is drunk, he has a gun, he’s threatening to kill his wife. Ashford Manor. Hurry.’”
Daniel felt cold.
“I had one glass of wine with dinner.”
“Several guests confirm that.”
“I never went near the safe.”
“We checked. Firearms were secured.”
Rachel asked, “Time of call?”
“Nine thirty-one and eighteen seconds.”
Daniel looked at the clock.
The confrontation had begun around 9:43.
Twelve minutes later.
Ruiz continued.
“The number was activated yesterday.”
“Location?”
“Cell-tower information is broad. We will need legal process for more.”
Daniel leaned back.
Someone had predicted violence.
Or planned it.
When Ruiz left, Rachel closed the door.
“Start from the beginning.”
Daniel stared at the scratched tabletop.
“Three days ago, I ordered a forensic audit.”
“Why?”
“We’re refinancing two hotel projects. Treasury flagged vendor payments that didn’t match completion reports.”
“How much?”
“Initially? Four million.”
“And now?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Closer to eighteen.”
Rachel went still.
“Million?”
“Yes.”
“Who knew?”
“My CFO, Nathan, and our internal general counsel.”
“And Victoria?”
“No.”
“Apparently she did.”
Daniel thought about the folder.
“Half the pages were missing.”
Rachel studied him.
“What was in the missing half?”
“Vendor identities. Approval chains. Digital authorizations.”
“Whose authorizations?”
“Some of them were mine.”
Rachel’s eyes sharpened.
“Were they genuine?”
“I don’t know yet.”
A knock interrupted them.
June Patel entered carrying Sophie’s folded cream-white dress inside a clear garment bag.
Orange stains spread across the front.
“Sophie is sleeping,” June said softly.
Daniel stood.
“Thank you for staying with her.”
June looked frightened.
“Mr. Ashford, I need to tell you something.”
Rachel closed the door.
June placed the dress on the table.
“Mrs. Ashford had been following Sophie around with that orange juice for almost twenty minutes.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“I thought she was trying to get Sophie to drink something because the child hadn’t eaten much.”
“She hates orange juice.”
“I know.”
Daniel frowned.
“Victoria knows too.”
June nodded.
“That is why I noticed.”
Rachel asked, “Did Sophie drink any?”
“No.”
June swallowed.
“She kept refusing.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What happened before Victoria threw it?”
“Sophie smelled it.”
Daniel looked at her.
June continued.
“She asked Mrs. Ashford why it smelled like medicine.”
Silence.
Rachel looked at the stained dress.
“Did you preserve the glass?”
“It shattered after everything began. A server almost threw away the napkins and broken pieces.”
“Almost?”
June reached into her handbag.
She removed a sealed catering evidence pouch.
Inside was a folded white cocktail napkin stained bright orange.
“I told him not to touch it.”
Rachel stared at her.
“Why?”
June looked toward Daniel.
“Because Victoria has been giving Sophie ‘sleepy tea’ when you travel.”
Daniel’s face emptied.
“What did you say?”
“Sophie told me twice that Victoria gave her special tea before bed. She said it made her feel heavy.”
Daniel pushed back from the table so hard his chair struck the wall.
Rachel stood.
“Daniel.”
He was already reaching for the door.
Rachel grabbed his sleeve.
“You cannot go near Victoria right now.”
“She drugged my daughter?”
“We do not know that.”
June said quietly, “There is more.”
Daniel stopped.
June’s hands trembled.
“Last week, I heard Mrs. Ashford arguing with Nathan in the wine cellar.”
Daniel slowly turned.
“What were they saying?”
“I only heard part.”
June swallowed again.
“Nathan said, ‘Once Daniel is removed, we have forty-eight hours before the bank freezes everything.’”
Rachel’s expression changed.
Daniel felt a pressure in his chest that had nothing to do with anger.
“Removed from what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Victoria say?”
June looked at him.
“She said, ‘Then make sure the police do their part.’”
Daniel stared at the orange-stained dress.
A party humiliation.
A slap.
A false emergency call.
A stolen audit.
None of them were separate anymore.
Rachel carefully picked up the garment bag.
“We need a toxicology lab.”
Daniel nodded.
His phone buzzed.
A message from the chairman of Ashford Development Group.
EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING. 8:00 A.M.
Then another message appeared.
This one from Nathan.
You should resign before they make you.
Daniel showed Rachel.
She read it twice.
“What exactly happens if the board removes you?”
Daniel looked at her.
“My brother becomes acting CEO.”
“And Victoria?”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
“If I’m charged with a violent felony or declared legally incapacitated, my voting proxy over Sophie’s Ashford trust shares passes temporarily to the designated successor trustee.”
Rachel already knew the answer.
But she asked anyway.
“Who is the successor?”
May you like
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
“Nathan.”
