“I believe this belongs to the company,” I said.
Andrew’s eyes moved from me to the officers.
“You were supposed to be in Paris.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The investigator stepped forward.
“That is an interesting thing to say.”
Andrew recovered quickly.
“This is a misunderstanding.
My wife has been under enormous emotional strain.”
“There it is again,” I said.
“The unstable-wife story.”
He pointed at my suitcase.
“She disappeared without telling anyone.
She does things like this.”
“I canceled a flight.
You filed documents claiming I surrendered my house and company.”
“I filed nothing.”
My attorney held up a printed confirmation from the county clerk.
“It was submitted from the laptop registered to your home office at 8:07 this morning.”
The pregnant woman set down her coffee cup.
“Andrew?”
He ignored her.
The officers moved toward the office.
Eleanor stepped into their path.
“You cannot search this house without permission.”
The investigator showed her the warrant.
Eleanor read the first page and went pale.
The blue folder was found inside Andrew’s locked desk.
So were blank notary certificates, copies of my passport, drafts of the abandonment affidavit, and several practice sheets containing traced versions of my signature.
In a drawer beneath them, officers discovered a second phone.
Andrew lunged toward the desk.
An officer stopped him before he reached it.
“I use that for business,” he snapped.
The investigator placed the phone into an evidence bag.
“Then your business records will explain everything.”
The pregnant woman began crying.
She insisted Andrew had told her I wanted a quiet divorce and had accepted the money as a settlement.
She said she believed the house would become his only after legal proceedings were complete.
Eleanor turned on her instantly.
“Stop talking.”
The woman stared at her.
“You said Valerie would be gone permanently.”
The foyer became silent.
Andrew stepped toward her.
“Do not say another word.”
She backed away and pulled out her phone.
“I have messages.”
Those messages became the first crack in their alliance.
Andrew had promised the woman that the house would belong to their child within three weeks.
In another exchange, she had asked whether Valerie could contest the transfer.
Andrew responded that Valerie would soon be in no condition to contest anything.
Eleanor had sent a separate message instructing the woman to repeat that Valerie had left with a lover if anyone asked questions.
The woman had known about the false abandonment story.
She claimed she had not known about the arranged accident.
The second phone told the rest.
Investigators recovered messages between Andrew and the operator of the consulting company that received payment for the Paris driver.
