Chapter 4 - THE LAST TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES
Elaine’s fingerprint did not prove she killed Dad.
She worked in his office often.
The paperweight sat on his desk for years.
But blood changed it.
Someone used it after Dad was injured.
Or during.
Elaine insisted she left at 8:30 p.m.
Security showed her badge exiting at 8:22.
Could she return?
Yes.
No badge required through parking stairwell if someone opened door.
Michael entered at 9:08.
Thomas at 9:19.
Dad died around 9:50.
Three possible visitors.
One missing section of security footage.
Deleted manually from inside network.
Elaine had administrator access.
So did Dad.
So did IT director Paul Mendes.
Finally, someone outside the family.
We interviewed Paul.
He said Dad ordered him to create an independent backup two months earlier.
Why?
“Mr. Carter thought someone was deleting records.”
“Who?”
“He never told me.”
“Did you delete footage the night he died?”
“No.”
“Who could?”
“Elaine.”
Only Elaine.
That looked terrible.
Then Paul added:
“And Michael.”
I stared.
“How?”
Elaine had given Michael remote vendor access.
Supposedly for Meridian due-diligence review.
That access remained active.
Michael could delete logs.
He could create false entries.
He could even duplicate keycard IDs.
Thomas’s keycard might have been cloned.
Now everything reopened.
Detective Hayes searched Michael’s apartment.
Found:
Company access credentials.
A burner phone.
Copies of Dad’s health records.
A draft document transferring control from Dad to Amanda in case of incapacity.
Not me.
Amanda.
I confronted her.
“Did you know about this?”
“No.”
“Your name is on it.”
She read.
Her face changed.
“It says I become acting chair if Dad is medically incapacitated.”
“Yes.”
“And then Michael’s shares gain voting control.”
Exactly.
Michael never needed Dad dead.
He needed Dad incapable.
Maybe the confrontation went wrong.
Then we found another text.
From Michael to Elaine, three days before Dad died:
If William won’t sign, we move to medical incapacity.
Elaine replied:
No. I’m done.
Michael:
You stopped being done when you took the first payment.
There.
Blackmail.
But what happened that night?
Detective Hayes reconstructed the timeline.
8:41 — Dad enters.
9:08 — Michael enters.
9:17 — argument begins according to smart speaker timestamps.
9:19 — Thomas’s keycard used.
9:24 — Michael calls Amanda. No answer.
9:31 — Dad calls David Shaw. Call lasts eleven seconds.
David remembered:
“He said, ‘If this goes wrong, play the video.’”
9:32 — executive elevator moves.
9:35 — security footage blanks.
9:47 — Michael leaves.
9:50 approximately — Dad suffers fatal fall or injury.
10:14 — security finds him.
Problem.
Michael left before estimated fatal injury.
Could estimate be off?
Yes.
But likely range 9:46–10:02.
Then who remained?
Possibly Thomas.
Possibly Elaine.
Possibly someone hidden.
Police analyzed stairwell camera from lower floor.
At 9:49, a person descended wearing a maintenance jacket and cap.
Face hidden.
Height approximately five foot six.
Elaine was five six.
Amanda five five.
Michael six one.
Thomas six two.
Could be woman.
Amanda went pale.
“That’s not me.”
I believed nothing automatically anymore.
Then David received a package Dad mailed on day of death.
Delayed because office staff held personal mail.
Inside:
A flash drive.
One note:
Ryan will know what to do if I am wrong.
Video.
Dad again.
But this one was different.
He looked frightened.
“I believe Michael is trying to take the company.”
Pause.
“But I am more afraid of the person helping him.”
He held up a bank statement.
Payments from Meridian to:
A.R. Consulting.
Amanda Reed?
She had kept ex-husband surname? Wait Amanda Carter perhaps. Michael Reed is cousin. Better not. A.R. could be someone else.
Dad continued:
“I initially believed A.R. meant Amanda.”
My sister stopped breathing.
Then:
“I was wrong.”
Dad lifted a photograph.
A woman.
We all recognized her.
Aunt Rachel.
Dad’s younger sister.
Michael’s mother.
Of course.
Rachel Reed.
A.R. Consulting was Alexandra/Rachel? Initial mismatch. Better company "R. Advisory". Let's fix: payments to R. Advisory Group. Dad thought Reed? Hmm.
Let's make Rachel Reed Consulting.
Dad said:
“Rachel has been funding Michael for years.”
The room changed.
Michael’s mother.
Our aunt.
The woman who organized Dad’s memorial flowers.
The woman who hugged Amanda before the dinner.
She had left early.
Before the video played.
I suddenly remembered.
She was not in the room when Dad said the secret buyer was in the room.
Michael was.
Dad identified buyer, not mastermind.
Rachel could still be above him.
David whispered:
“My God.”
Then Dad’s video continued.
“Rachel believes our father cheated her out of half the company forty years ago.”
I knew the family story.
Grandpa left Carter Industrial to Dad because Rachel received property and investments.
She always claimed the company should have been split.
Nobody took it seriously.
Apparently she did.
Dad continued:
“She used Michael to buy what she believes was stolen from her.”
Then his expression hardened.
“If anything happens to me, do not assume Michael acted alone.”
Amanda covered her mouth.
I asked:
“Where is Aunt Rachel?”
No one knew.
Then Detective Hayes called.
They found Elaine’s abandoned car.
Inside was a note.
May you like
Rachel knows what happened after Michael left.
Suddenly, the woman who had barely been mentioned at the memorial became the most important person in Dad’s death.
