Ethan switched off his flashlight.

He stood perfectly still.

Another sound came from the hallway.

Keys.

Someone was inside.

He slipped the silver key into his pocket.

The den had one window.

Painted shut.

No chance.

Footsteps moved toward the living room.

Ethan looked around for something he could use if Richard entered.

Then a familiar voice called from the hall.

"Ethan?"

He exhaled.

"Rachel?"

She appeared in the doorway holding her phone.

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? Linda called me because you disappeared."

"So you broke into my mother's house?"

"The back door was open."

Ethan stared at her.

"I closed it."

They both went silent.

Rachel's expression changed.

"Then someone else opened it."

A car engine started outside.

Ethan ran to the window.

A dark SUV pulled away from the curb.

"Richard?"

Rachel asked.

"I couldn't see."

They left immediately.

Back at Linda's house, Maggie nearly slapped him.

"I told you about the key because I trusted you."

"I found something."

"I don't care!"

Ethan placed the silver key on the table.

Maggie stopped.

Rachel leaned closer.

"Safe-deposit box."

"How do you know?"

"My father had one."

Maggie picked up the key.

"Thomas never told me."

"He wrote my name on the envelope."

Ethan handed it to her.

Maggie traced her late husband's handwriting.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The next morning Claire arranged access to Thomas's old banking records.

The branch manager confirmed that Thomas Carter had rented box 317 twelve years earlier.

The box had never been closed.

Maggie was listed as successor lessee.

They entered the vault together.

Ethan expected cash.

There was none.

Inside were folders, an old photograph, several bank statements and a sealed letter.

Maggie reached for the letter.

It was addressed to her.

She didn't open it.

Not yet.

Claire examined the folders.

"Property records."

Ethan picked up another file.

"Hale Property Solutions."

Maggie looked at him.

"What?"

The name was printed across several documents.

Claire took them.

"Do you know this company?"

"No."

Ethan did.

Or at least he knew the surname.

"Hale."

Maggie sat down.

"Richard?"

Claire continued reading.

"These are old."

"How old?"

"Nine years."

"Richard didn't meet Mom until four years ago."

Claire nodded.

"Then we shouldn't assume they're his."

One document concerned a proposed purchase of several homes on Maple Street.

Another listed Thomas Carter as a homeowner who had refused an offer.

Ethan felt uneasy.

"My dad never told me developers wanted the house."

Maggie shook her head.

"He told me someone made an offer once. I didn't know who."

Claire flipped to another page.

"Hale Property Solutions was owned by a Douglas Hale."

Maggie's eyes widened.

"Richard's brother."

"You know him?"

"He died years ago."

Ethan looked at the documents again.

"So Richard's family knew about this house before Richard ever met Mom."

Nobody said what they were all thinking.

Claire finally did.

"That doesn't prove he approached your mother because of the property."

"No," Ethan said.

"But it's one hell of a coincidence."

The sealed letter remained in Maggie's lap.

"Open it," Ethan said.

She shook her head.

"Not here."

They took copies of everything.

Claire kept the originals secured.

That afternoon, Detective Reed called them to the station.

He had obtained a warrant for the recording device at Maple Street.

Richard claimed it had malfunctioned.

The original storage card was gone.

"The seven minutes?" Ethan asked.

"Still missing."

"But you know they existed."

"We know the recording session was longer."

Reed looked at Maggie.

"Mrs. Carter, I'm going to ask you something difficult. Has Mr. Hale ever physically restrained or struck you before?"

Maggie's eyes lowered.

Rachel's medical documentation was on the desk.

Ethan said nothing.

This answer had to belong to his mother.

Finally Maggie whispered, "Yes."

Ethan closed his eyes.

"How many times?"

Reed asked.

"I don't know."

"More than five?"

"Yes."

"More than ten?"

Maggie began crying.

"I stopped counting."

Ethan turned toward the wall.

He wanted to break something.

Instead, he put both hands in his pockets.

Reed continued gently.

"Did he ever threaten you regarding the house?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"That if I left him, I'd leave with nothing."

"Anything else?"

Maggie hesitated.

"He said Ethan had already taken enough from me."

Ethan turned around.

"What?"

Reed noticed.

"What did he mean?"

"I don't know."

Maggie looked at her son.

"I thought he was trying to make me angry with Ethan."

Reed wrote something down.

"Mr. Hale appears to know quite a bit about your family."

Too much, Ethan thought.

After the interview, Maggie finally opened Thomas's letter at Linda's kitchen table.

The first page was personal.

Thomas wrote about their marriage.

About Ethan.

About the house.

Then Maggie reached the second page.

Her face changed.

"What?"

Ethan asked.

She kept reading.

"Mom?"

She handed him the letter.

Thomas had written about Hale Property Solutions.

He believed the company was deliberately targeting older homeowners in Riverton whose properties had increased in value.

He had refused three offers.

Then came one sentence Ethan read twice.

If anyone connected to the Hale family ever approaches you about this house, call Martin first.

"Who's Martin?" Ethan asked.

Maggie shook her head.

"I don't know."

Claire searched Thomas's old records.

Martin Cole had been his accountant.

He had died three years earlier.

Another dead end.

Then Maggie's phone rang.

Richard.

Ethan reached for it.

She pulled it away.

"No."

"Don't answer."

"I need to."

She put the call on speaker.

"Richard."

His voice was calm.

Almost friendly.

"Maggie. I heard you've been digging through Thomas's old things."

Nobody moved.

"How did you know?"

Richard ignored the question.

"You should stop."

"Why?"

"Because dead men leave behind half-truths."

Ethan leaned toward the phone.

"Stay away from her."

Richard laughed.

"There he is."

Maggie looked at Ethan.

Richard continued.

"Your son wants to make me the villain because it keeps you from asking questions about him."

"What questions?"

"Richard, stop."

Ethan's voice sharpened.

But Richard kept talking.

"Did Ethan ever tell you why Thomas had almost nothing in his checking account the month he died?"

Maggie's face went blank.

"What are you talking about?"

Ethan stopped breathing.

Richard heard the silence.

"Oh."

His voice softened.

"He didn't tell you."

Maggie slowly turned toward her son.

"Ethan?"

He couldn't answer.

Richard delivered the final blow.

"Ask your son what happened to Thomas's last twenty thousand dollars."

The call ended.

Maggie stared at Ethan.

"Ethan."

He looked at the floor.

"Ethan, look at me."

He did.

Her expression was no longer frightened.

It was betrayed.

"Did you take money from your father?"

Ethan swallowed.

"Mom—"

"Did you?"

He closed his eyes.

"Yes."