Chapter 7
The first recovered messages from Corinne's old phone were dated shortly after Evelyn's funeral.
Nathan wrote:
The Montelli files may still be at the estate.
Corinne replied:
Then request them through counsel.
Nathan:
We tried. They refused.
Corinne:
What exactly are you afraid she'll prove?
Nathan:
That Westbridge signed off on inspections nobody completed.
Corinne:
Did you know?
Nathan:
I knew the reports were inconsistent. I didn't know how bad it was until Evelyn started digging.
The messages did not show Corinne plotting Evelyn's death.
They showed that she understood the dispute.
And that her brother feared exposure.
Three months later, another exchange appeared.
Nathan:
The widower is still handling everything through the estate lawyers.
Corinne:
He barely attends public events.
Nathan:
Leave it alone.
Corinne:
You asked me to help once. Don't tell me what I can do now.
Rebecca read that sentence carefully.
It suggested Corinne had already become personally involved in Nathan's effort to manage the dispute.
The next message was more disturbing.
Corinne:
If the old papers surface, they'll ruin more than Westbridge.
Nathan:
I know.
Corinne:
Then someone needs to know where they are.
Alistair looked at the screen.
He remembered meeting Corinne at a fundraiser eighteen months after Evelyn died.
She had approached him gently.
Asked about Sadie.
Spoken warmly about grief.
Never pushed too hard.
He had thought she understood him.
Now he wondered whether she had studied him.
Rebecca found one more document.
A letter from Evelyn's attorney, written shortly before the accident, warned Westbridge and Vale Risk Advisory to preserve all inspection records.
The letter referenced possible claims involving negligent maintenance, inaccurate certifications, and concealment of safety defects.
A follow-up meeting was scheduled for the week after Evelyn died.
She never attended.
Alistair looked at Rebecca.
“Did you know about this?”
“I knew Evelyn had concerns about the fleet contract. I didn't know Corinne was connected to Nathan.”
“Why didn't the accident investigators get these records?”
“Because they were reviewing the crash, not the fleet contract. The connection wasn't established.”
Alistair sat back.
The questions were multiplying.
The answers were becoming more dangerous.
May you like
And Corinne had spent nearly two years inside his home, close to the one person who still possessed Evelyn's private papers.
Sadie.
