Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Margaret refused to answer questions at the police station.
Her attorney claimed she was exhausted and medically unfit for a formal interview. She denied knowing anything about the hidden compartment and insisted Richard had suffered a medical crisis that made him delusional.
But the evidence was beginning to accumulate.
The funeral director admitted that Margaret had ordered a specially reinforced coffin. Dr. Price had been paid through a company registered to one of Margaret’s relatives. Security footage from a nearby pharmacy showed him collecting medication two days before Richard’s collapse.
Most disturbing was a message recovered from Margaret’s phone.
The message had been sent to Peter Caldwell the night before the funeral.
Make sure the lower panel stays locked. No one opens it until the burial is complete.
Daniel read the message in the detective’s office.
“She knew he was alive.”
Naomi nodded. “It appears so.”
“Then why did she risk having him found?”
“She may have believed the sedative would keep him unconscious. Or she may have assumed no one would challenge the death certificate.”
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
“There's something else. My father said she feared Lydia's inheritance.”
Naomi opened a second file.
“Your father’s estate plan was amended four months ago. A new beneficiary was added under the name Lydia Moore. The amendment was prepared by an attorney who has since reported receiving threats.”
Daniel stared.
“Why would Margaret add Lydia if she wanted her gone?”
“Because she may have intended to control the money through her. If Lydia could be found and declared legally incompetent, someone could petition to manage her inheritance.”
“Someone like Margaret.”
“Exactly.”
Naomi explained that the Harrington estate included a substantial trust created by Richard’s first wife’s family. If Lydia was alive, she had a legal claim to a significant portion of it. Margaret had spent years moving assets into accounts she controlled. Finding Lydia could expose the transfers.
Daniel felt a bitter laugh rise in his throat.
“She tried to kill my father to protect money she was already stealing.”
“That's one possibility,” Naomi said. “But we still need to establish where Lydia is and whether she knows any of this.”
The next morning, the adoption agency provided a current address.
Lydia Moore lived in a small apartment in Queens. She worked as a nurse at a rehabilitation center and had no known connection to the Harrington family.
Richard insisted on going to see her.
The doctors objected. His recovery was fragile, and he could barely walk.
“I have waited eighteen years,” he said. “I won't wait another day.”
Daniel agreed to accompany him.
They found Lydia at the end of a long hallway in a modest brick building. She was leaving for work when they approached.
“Ms. Moore?” Daniel asked.
She looked at him cautiously.
“Yes?”
“My name is Daniel Harrington. This is Richard Harrington.”
The moment she heard the name, her expression changed.
“I don't know you.”
Richard stepped forward, tears already in his eyes.
“I think I’m your father.”
Lydia stared at him.
Then she slowly shook her head.
“My parents adopted me. They told me my birth family didn't want me.”
May you like
Richard’s voice broke.
“That was never true.”
