Chapter 6 - THE $250,000 LIEThe evidence Owen described was supposed to be hidden inside a private security server beneath Mercer House.
It wasn’t there.
Someone had removed the hard drives.
Hart stared at the empty rack.
“When?”
A technician checked logs.
“Approximately six hours ago.”
Grant looked at Peter’s last known location.
According to attorneys, Peter was home.
According to his phone, he had never left Boston.
According to Grant’s instincts, neither meant anything.
Then Detective Hart received another call.
She listened.
Her face changed.
“Sofia.”
Sofia looked up.
“We need to talk.”
They moved into the library.
Hart placed a bank statement on the table.
Sofia stared.
“What is that?”
“Your account.”
“No.”
“It has your name.”
The statement showed three deposits.
$100,000.
$75,000.
$75,000.
Total:
$250,000.
All made during the month before Eli’s poisoning.
Sofia went pale.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Hart watched closely.
“You expect me to believe someone deposited a quarter-million dollars into your account without you knowing?”
“That isn’t my account.”
“Same name. Same Social Security number.”
Sofia looked at Grant.
“This is fake.”
Grant wanted to believe her.
But he remembered Katherine’s warning.
Do not trust Peter.
The problem was, Peter had taught him something too.
Trust nobody when money appeared.
Sofia saw the hesitation.
Her face changed.
“You think I took it.”
“I don’t know.”
“After everything?”
“I said I don’t know.”
She stood.
“Then maybe I shouldn’t be here.”
“Sofia.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“I had people tell me all my life that money explains everything. Poor people steal. Employees lie. Maids are invisible until someone needs a suspect.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“You didn’t need to.”
She walked out.
Grant didn’t stop her.
He regretted that within ten seconds.
Sofia left Mercer House before sunset.
Peter’s attorneys learned about the bank account less than an hour later.
By morning, reporters had the story.
MAID QUESTIONED IN MERCER BABY POISONING CASE
MYSTERIOUS PAYMENTS LINK HOUSEKEEPER TO ESTATE SABOTAGE
Grant threw the newspaper across his office.
“How did they get this?”
His communications director looked frightened.
“Someone leaked it.”
“Find out who.”
The public story changed instantly.
Sofia went from hero to suspect.
Comment sections called her a gold digger.
News panels questioned her background.
One television host asked why a maid knew so much about ventilation systems.
Grant switched it off.
At noon, he received a package.
No return address.
Inside was Sofia’s employee badge.
And a handwritten note.
I FOUND WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM. DON’T TRUST YOUR SECURITY NETWORK.
Grant called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Hart traced the shell company behind the deposits.
North Harbor Consulting.
Registered in Delaware.
Owned by another corporation.
Then another.
Then another.
The chain ended with a vendor.
A company supplying surveillance equipment to Mercer Global.
The vendor contract had been approved by Peter Voss.
Grant sat back.
“He planted the money.”
Hart nodded.
“Looks that way.”
Grant felt ashamed.
“Where is Sofia?”
“We’re trying to find her.”
That evening, Dr. Shah called from the hospital.
“I need you here.”
Grant arrived twenty minutes later.
Eli was awake, gripping a stuffed elephant.
Grant kissed him.
“What happened?”
Dr. Shah held a folder.
“I requested older blood samples.”
“Why?”
“Eli had routine testing eight weeks ago.”
Grant frowned.
“Sofia didn’t work for me eight weeks ago.”
“Exactly.”
Dr. Shah placed laboratory results in front of him.
“Stored blood showed evidence consistent with lower-level carbon monoxide exposure.”
Grant stared.
“Before Sofia was hired?”
“Three weeks before.”
Everything clicked.
The deposits.
The badge.
The media leak.
Peter wasn’t merely creating a suspect.
He had created a complete story.
Poor maid gets hired.
Receives secret money.
Uses specialized knowledge to sabotage the estate.
Then dramatically “discovers” the poisoning.
Perfect.
Except Eli had been exposed before she ever entered Mercer House.
Grant called Hart.
Before she could answer, another call interrupted.
Unknown number.
Grant picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Sofia whispered.
“Grant?”
He stood.
“Where are you?”
“I found the missing server drives.”
His pulse jumped.
“How?”
“My father used to say thieves hide expensive things where rich people never look.”
Despite everything, Grant almost smiled.
“Sofia, where are you?”
“The old service laundry beneath the guest wing.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
Her voice became urgent.
“Someone else is here.”
Grant’s blood ran cold.
“Get out.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
A sound came through the phone.
A door closing.
Sofia breathed quickly.
Then a man’s voice sounded in the background.
“Sofia?”
Grant recognized it.
Peter.
Sofia whispered one final sentence.
“He found me.”
May you like
The call ended.
Grant ran.
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