Chapter 13 - The Poisoned Truth
The tape recorder Arthur plugged into his laptop whined as the micro-cassette rewound. The sound of magnetic tape hiss filled the small conference room at Arthur's firm.
Then, a voice crackled through the speakers. It was smooth, honeyed, and dripping with venom. Chloe Mercer.
*"Is it done, Robert?"* Chloe’s voice asked on the recording.
A man’s nervous, raspy voice responded: *"The paperwork is signed, Chloe. But this is reckless. If the mother arrives—"*
*"The mother is stuck on Highway 95 in the storm,"* Chloe interrupted, laughing softly. *"Julian had her car’s alternator tampered with by his mechanic this afternoon. She won't make it until dawn. Julian doesn't want another three million dollars drained into experimental surgeries for a defective child. We need the Sovereign Trust clean for the merger with the Sterling Group next month. Julian's mother won't release his inheritance if he's tethered to a chronically ill invalid."*
*"And Julian agreed to this?"* Dr. Hayes’ voice shook. *"He authorized palliative withdrawal?"*
*"He gave me his signet ring and his power of attorney, didn't he?"* Chloe’s voice turned icy. *"The transfer hit your Cayman account two minutes ago. Write up the cause of death as congenital heart failure. No autopsy requested. Julian has already pre-arranged the immediate cremation."*
The recording clicked off.
Silence engulfed the room. It was a suffocating, murderous silence.
Arthur Thorne sat back in his chair, his face grey with rage. For forty years, Arthur had been one of the toughest litigators in the state, a man who had seen human depravity in every legal shade. But listening to that tape, tears of sheer fury brimmed in the old lawyer's eyes.
"Julian told you the hospital insisted on immediate cremation because of biohazard protocols regarding the cardiac medication," Arthur said through clenched teeth. "He rushed the cremation so no medical examiner could ever test Daisy's tissue for the lethal dose of potassium Dr. Hayes likely administered to speed up the process."
"And Julian's mother was behind the merger," I said, staring at the golden signet ring sitting on the glass table. "Evelyn Sterling. The great matriarch of High society. The woman who never once held Daisy because she said our child was 'genetically tainted.'"
"Evelyn Sterling holds the real purse strings of the family trust," Arthur confirmed, bringing up corporate charts on his monitor. "When we stripped Julian of Sovereign Trust, we took what was in his personal name. But the Sterling Ancestral Trust—worth over four hundred million dollars—remains intact under Evelyn's sole control. She is the one who hired the high-powered appellate lawyers currently fighting to overturn Julian's twenty-year prison sentence."
I stood up from the table. Every trace of the broken mother who had cried in the rain was eradicated. In her place stood a woman forged in the fires of betrayal and tempered with absolute vengeance.
"Where is Chloe Mercer right now?" I asked.
"She's out on two million dollars bail," Arthur replied. "Living in a gated penthouse in North River, paid for by Evelyn Sterling's legal defense fund. Her criminal trial for the embezzlement charges was scheduled for next spring."
"Not anymore," I said, picking up the cassette tape and the flash drive. "We aren't waiting for a financial trial, Arthur. Tomorrow morning, we go directly to the Attorney General. We are filing charges of first-degree premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and medical bribery."
"And what about Julian?" Arthur asked. "He’s currently sitting in Green Haven Penitentiary."
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"Julian thinks he's reached the bottom of his hell," I said, cold fury pulsing through every vein in my body. "He thinks losing his money was his punishment. Tomorrow, I am going to visit him. And I am going to make sure he knows that the woman he betrayed his child for is about to put him on death row."
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