Chapter 4
A cool draft spilled out from the air-conditioned interior of the house, contrasting sharply with the sweltering heat of the backyard patio. Standing in the darkened threshold of the living room was a figure holding a manila folder against their chest, their face obscured by the shadow of the doorframe.
"Who's there?" Marcus demanded, taking an aggressive step toward the patio door, his fists balling up at his sides.
The figure stepped forward into the sunlight, revealing Sarah, the live-in physical therapist who had cared for Elena's husband during his final months. Her calm, professional demeanor was entirely gone; her eyes were wide with a frantic energy, and her fingers clutched the manila folder so tightly the cardboard edges were crumpled.
"I wasn't supposed to hear your conversation," Sarah said, her voice shaking as she looked between Elena and Marcus. "I was looking for my charting tablet. But you need to stop arguing about the forged signatures and the security logs, because you're both looking in the wrong direction."
Elena let go of the pool vacuum hose entirely, letting it splash heavily into the remaining clear water as she walked slowly toward the patio.
"What are you talking about, Sarah?" Elena asked, her voice deadened by exhaustion. "What could possibly be more important than the will being altered?"
"The will wasn't altered last week," Sarah said, stepping fully onto the flagstones and extending the manila folder toward Elena. "It was altered six months ago. By your husband himself. While he was in full possession of his faculties. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew who was trying to steal from him."
Marcus closed the distance between them in two long strides, snatching the folder from Sarah's hands before Elena could touch it. He flipped open the cover, his eyes scanning the typewritten pages with frantic speed.
"This is an asset freeze notice," Marcus read aloud, his voice hitching on the words. "Issued by the federal prosecutor's office. It's dated six months ago. Dad didn't just change his will... he reported corporate fraud within his own company."
Elena stared at the two of them, the summer heat suddenly feeling suffocating. "Fraud? What kind of fraud?"
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Sarah looked down at the concrete, swallowing hard before she delivered the final blow.
"Your husband wasn't dying of natural kidney failure, Mrs. Vance," Sarah whispered. "The autopsy report that just cleared the coroner's office confirms heavy metal poisoning. Someone in this household has been slowly killing him for over a year."
