Ethan photographed everything Vanessa allowed him to see.

Names.

Dates.

Property addresses.

One woman was Carol Meyers, sixty-two, from Dayton.

The other was Susan Bell, fifty-six, from a suburb outside Cincinnati.

"How do you know them?" Ethan asked.

Vanessa looked toward the locked door.

"I met them."

"While your father was dating them?"

"Yes."

"And you watched him take their houses?"

Her expression hardened.

"I didn't know that's what he was doing."

"What did you think was happening?"

"I thought he was helping them."

"By putting their property into his company's name?"

"I was twenty-three when I met Carol."

Ethan said nothing.

Vanessa crossed her arms.

"My uncle Douglas ran Hale Property Solutions. Dad did the people part."

"The people part?"

"He found homeowners."

"Women."

"Not always."

"But these were."

"Yes."

Ethan looked at the photographs again.

"Why haven't you gone to the police?"

"Because I don't have proof of what you're accusing him of."

"You have records."

"I have suspicions."

"Two women lost their homes."

"One sold hers voluntarily."

"And the other?"

Vanessa looked away.

"Susan signed a transfer."

"Voluntarily?"

"I don't know."

Ethan placed the phone on the desk.

"What does any of this have to do with my mother?"

Vanessa's face tightened.

"Your father's house was worth almost nothing to Hale Property Solutions nine years ago."

"Then why did they want it?"

"The house wasn't the point."

"What was?"

"The land."

Ethan frowned.

Vanessa explained that several properties around Maple Street had been targeted for assembly into a larger parcel.

Thomas had refused every offer.

Most neighbors eventually sold.

Thomas didn't.

"So they abandoned the project?"

"My uncle did."

"And Richard?"

Vanessa shook her head.

"My father doesn't forget being told no."

Ethan felt his stomach tighten.

"You're saying he dated my mother because my father wouldn't sell him a house?"

"I'm saying you should ask him."

"That's not good enough."

"It's all I'm giving you."

Ethan stood.

Vanessa stopped him before he reached the door.

"There's something else."

He turned.

"The document with your mother's signature."

"You know about it."

Vanessa nodded.

"I processed part of the file."

Ethan took one step toward her.

"You forged it?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"I don't know."

"That's a lie."

"I didn't see her sign it."

"But you processed it."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because my father told me it was legitimate."

Ethan laughed in disbelief.

"And you believed him?"

"I wanted to."

She looked ashamed.

"That's different."

Before Ethan could answer, his phone rang.

Maggie.

"Where are you?"

"Talking to Vanessa."

Silence.

Then, "Come back."

"What's wrong?"

"I found something."

He returned to Linda's house forty minutes later.

Maggie had spread old bank statements across the kitchen table.

Thomas's statements.

"Mom?"

She pointed to one.

"The twenty thousand."

Ethan sat down.

"What about it?"

"Thomas didn't take it from checking."

"I know."

"He withdrew it from an investment account."

"Okay."

"That account was supposed to pay off the remaining medical bills from his surgery."

Ethan looked at her.

"I didn't know that."

"I believe you."

That surprised him.

Maggie sat opposite him.

"But I need you to tell me everything now."

"I have."

"No."

She shook her head.

"You've told me what Richard forced into the open."

The accusation landed.

Ethan looked down.

"What else do you want to know?"

"Did your father blame you?"

"No."

"Did you argue about the money?"

"Once."

"How bad?"

Ethan remembered the garage.

His father's face.

The smell of oil.

Thomas saying words Ethan had spent six years trying to forget.

"He told me I had to stop expecting someone to save me every time I failed."

Maggie looked hurt.

"He said that?"

"He was angry."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I never wanted his help again."

"And then?"

"He left."

"That was your last argument?"

Ethan nodded.

"Three days later he went into the hospital."

Maggie's eyes filled.

"You never told me."

"I was ashamed."

"You thought he died angry with you."

Ethan looked away.

"I know he did."

"You don't know that."

"I know what he said."

Maggie reached across the table.

"Thomas could be angry at someone at breakfast and drive across town to fix their sink by lunch."

Ethan almost smiled.

That was true.

"He loved you."

"I know."

"No."

She squeezed his hand.

"You know it in your head. I'm not sure you've believed it."

For a moment, the Richard investigation disappeared.

Ethan was simply a son sitting across from his mother.

Then Maggie's phone buzzed.

Another message.

This time from Richard.

YOU THINK YOUR SON IS TELLING YOU EVERYTHING?

A second message followed.

ASK HIM WHY THOMAS CHANGED HIS WILL.

Maggie stared at the screen.

Ethan did too.

"My father changed his will?"

Maggie whispered.

"Not that I knew."

Claire confirmed it an hour later.

Thomas had drafted an amendment four months before his death.

But it had never been executed.

The draft would have placed the Maple Street property in a family trust rather than leaving it directly to Maggie.

"Why?" Ethan asked.

Claire couldn't answer.

But the attorney who prepared the draft had written one handwritten note in the file.

CLIENT CONCERNED ABOUT OUTSIDE PRESSURE ON SPOUSE.

Maggie read it twice.

"What outside pressure?"

Nobody knew.

Then Ethan remembered Vanessa.

He called her.

No answer.

He called again.

Voicemail.

Twenty minutes later she finally returned the call.

"Ethan."

"You said your father didn't start with my mother."

"He didn't."

"My dad was worried about someone pressuring Mom before he died."

Vanessa went silent.

"Did Richard know my father?"

"I don't know."

"Vanessa."

"I said I don't know."

"Who else was involved?"

Her breathing changed.

"My uncle."

"Douglas?"

"Yes."

"What about him?"

"He knew Thomas Carter."

Ethan stood.

"How?"

"I don't know the whole story."

"Then tell me the part you do know."

Vanessa whispered, "My uncle offered your father money."

"For the house?"

"At first."

"And after that?"

Another silence.

"Vanessa?"

"My uncle paid someone to get close to your family."

Ethan felt cold.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Was it Richard?"

"No."

"Then who?"

Vanessa's voice dropped.

"Someone your mother already trusted."

The call ended.

Ethan looked toward Maggie.

For the second time in three days, suspicion entered the room.

And this time, it wasn't pointing at Richard.