Chapter 5 - The Ghost in the Ledger
Over the next week, we worked in absolute secrecy. Arthur connected us with Detective Marcus Vance, a sharp, no-nonsense investigator with the state police's financial crimes and homicide division.
Detective Vance met us at my home, analyzing the contents of the flash drive Ethan had provided. The digital ledger was a meticulous roadmap of Claudia and Mark’s crimes. It detailed every single dose of poison administered to Ethan, logged alongside his daily symptoms. It was a chilling testament to their sociopathy.
"They were treating your grandson like a science experiment," Detective Vance said, his voice tight with suppressed anger. "They had a timeline. According to these notes, the 'final event' was scheduled for early January. They were going to stage a tragic slip-and-fall in the snow due to Ethan's 'weakened state.'"
Ethan sat beside me, his hand gripping mine tightly. Hearing the cold, calculated reality of his father’s betrayal was heartbreaking, but he didn't cry. He was done being a victim.
"We need to execute a search warrant on the house to recover the physical poison and the laptop used to create these files," Vance explained. "But we have to do it carefully. If Claudia suspects anything, she’ll destroy the physical evidence and purge the offshore accounts."
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"What do you need us to do?" I asked.
"We need them to believe they’re still winning," Vance replied. "Arthur, you need to serve the eviction notice we discussed. It will panic them. When people like Claudia panic, they make mistakes. They’ll try to move the money or access the physical evidence. That’s when we strike."
