“He wasn’t dead then.”
“You changed reports. You paid Graham for seventeen years.”
“To keep quiet about the classified work and protect you from Samuel.”
Daniel spoke. “Why did Claire have to give you an alibi?”
“Because Samuel had already told the board I was embezzling research funds. If police focused on me, he would gain time to destroy the evidence.”
“You let your daughter lie.”
“I made a terrible choice.”
“You let her believe her mother died in an accident.”
“I believed the truth would destroy both girls.”
I picked up Rosie’s letter.
“She says you murdered Mom.”
“Rosie saw fragments and formed a conclusion.”
There it was.
The same dismissal.
The same polished contempt.
“Rosie does not ‘form conclusions’ because she’s confused,” I said. “She investigates. She remembers. She understands.”
My father’s expression hardened.
“She also trusts Ben Carter, which may cost her everything.”
