Chapter 8 - The Ornament That Watched Her Sleep
The camera had been installed recently, but the account used to purchase it belonged to Daniel's father, who had died three years earlier.
Someone was using a dead man's identity.
Daniel wanted to tear every ornament from the tree. Lydia stopped him until investigators finished documenting the scene.
Rosie stayed with Marianne in a small guest cottage on a guarded property. Daniel slept on the sofa outside her bedroom. When she woke from a nightmare, he was there before she called twice.
"Did you sleep here?"
"Yes."
"Was it uncomfortable?"
"Very."
She considered that, then handed him her stuffed rabbit.
"You can borrow Mr. Buttons."
He held the toy as if it were a medal.
The next morning, Lydia traced the purchase to an old corporate procurement account controlled by Gordon. But the delivery had been signed for by Mrs. O'Neill.
Daniel stared at the record.
"No."
Mrs. O'Neill had cared for Rosie since infancy. She had stood beside Evelyn through the divorce. She had made soup after the cemetery.
When questioned, she looked genuinely confused.
"I signed for a box of replacement tree lights. It arrived while the decorators were here."
The shipping label had been altered. Investigators found the decorator's work order and identified an extra contractor who had appeared for only one afternoon.
His name was false.
His photograph matched the man who had broken into Evelyn's apartment.
Gordon's operation was larger than Daniel had imagined.
Lydia obtained additional records showing pension funds diverted through shell companies for decades. Arthur's original complaints had been buried, and Evelyn had spent her final months tracing the money.
The employees affected were not numbers to her. She had interviewed retired warehouse workers, widows, and people who could no longer afford their prescriptions.
Daniel read their letters late into the night.
One man had written: I gave your father thirty-four years. Please tell me where my retirement went.
Daniel called Lydia.
"Prepare a restitution plan. Use my personal holdings if we have to."
"We need to establish liability first."
"Then establish it. But don't let another Christmas pass while we argue over whose signature is on a form."
Lydia was quiet for a moment.
"That's what Evelyn wanted."
Daniel looked at her photograph.
"I know."
Police located Gordon at a hunting lodge in Pennsylvania. He surrendered after a brief standoff, claiming Celeste had acted alone regarding Evelyn.
Celeste's attorney responded with records showing Gordon had arranged the disputed medical service.
Each accused the other.
Brooks cautioned Daniel again: allegations were not findings. The medical review and criminal investigation were ongoing.
Then Gordon offered to cooperate.
He requested a meeting with investigators and Daniel's attorney. He had a final piece of evidence, he said, that would explain why Evelyn had been targeted.
At the meeting, Gordon produced a letter supposedly written by Arthur Vale.
It claimed Arthur had never been framed. Instead, he had voluntarily transferred pension money into an investment venture that failed.
Daniel recognized the handwriting from the ledger.
"It's his signature."
Lydia studied the paper.
"The ink and paper need examination."
Gordon smiled thinly.
"Believe whatever makes you comfortable."
Then he slid forward another document.
It was a beneficiary designation for a substantial insurance policy on Evelyn's life.
The beneficiary was not Daniel.
Not Rosie.
It was Marianne.
Daniel stared at his sister-in-law's name.
Gordon leaned back.
"You've been looking at the wrong woman."
Daniel refused to accuse Marianne on a document supplied by a suspect. He asked Lydia to verify it.
When he returned to the cottage, Marianne was sitting with Rosie, teaching her to knit a red scarf.
Rosie held up a crooked row of stitches.
"It's for Daddy."
Daniel smiled, but Marianne saw his face.
"What happened?"
He asked her privately about the policy.
She looked stunned.
"Evelyn never told me about one."
"Did you sign anything?"
"No."
Daniel believed she was telling the truth.
That night the insurer confirmed the policy existed. The beneficiary change had been submitted electronically from an address associated with Marianne.
But the login had originated from Mercer Properties.
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And the account recovery phone number belonged to Celeste.
The concealed camera discovery changed how Rosie felt about the mansion. She did not want to sleep in a room where someone might have watched her. Daniel resisted the urge to assure her everything was fine before the inspection was complete. Instead, he showed her the temporary cottage, let her choose which room she wanted, and asked what would help her feel comfortable. She chose a night-light shaped like a moon and requested that the bedroom door stay open. Daniel arranged for a security professional to explain the new safeguards to him and Marianne, keeping the technical discussion away from Rosie. When the specialist confirmed that the cottage was clear, Daniel told her simply that the adults had checked and would keep checking. She asked whether Celeste could still find them. He said the authorities knew where they were and were helping protect her. He did not promise that nothing frightening would ever happen again. He promised she could always tell him when she was scared. Later, Marianne found Daniel standing outside Rosie's door listening to her breathe. She told him he needed sleep too. Daniel said he was afraid of missing something. Marianne answered that exhaustion could become another form of absence. He reluctantly lay down on the sofa, set his phone to ring for emergencies, and slept for four hours. Rosie woke him by placing Mr. Buttons on his chest.
