Chapter 7 - The Witness
The death of Dr. Thorne sent shockwaves through the District Attorney's office. Julian Miller was systematically dismantling the prosecution’s witness list before the grand jury could even convene.
Sitting alone in the safe house, I realized that as long as Julian remained free, no piece of evidence was safe, no witness was secure, and my freedom was a ticking clock.
I opened my laptop—a secure, non-network device given to me by Vance—and began digging into my own memory.
I remembered conversations Daniel had on the back patio when he thought I was asleep. I remembered names, dates, and locations. Daniel had always believed I was too stupid, too broken, and too terrified to understand his business affairs.
One name kept flashing in my mind: Claire's Flowers.
Every month, Daniel sent a wire transfer of five thousand dollars to a small florist shop in downtown Boston. It was a line item buried under "corporate events" in his business expenses. But we never had fresh flowers in the house—Daniel hated the smell of pollen.
I called Detective Vance immediately.
"Vance," I said rapidly. "Look up 'Claire's Flowers' in Boston. Daniel has been wiring money there every month for six years."
Two hours later, Vance called me back, her voice breathless with excitement. "Clara, you hit the jackpot. 'Claire's Flowers' isn't a florist shop. It’s a front company registered to a woman named Evelyn Montgomery."
"Montgomery?" I gasped. "Hannah's mother?"
"Evelyn Montgomery is alive, living in a nursing facility in Massachusetts," Vance revealed. "Daniel wasn't just paying off Dr. Thorne. He was paying off Hannah’s mother to keep her from asking the Boston District Attorney to reopen her daughter's murder investigation! He set up a revocable trust that paid for her full medical care, on the condition that she signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding Hannah's death."
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"If Julian made those wire transfers through his law firm's escrow account," I said, my heart hammering, "then Julian wasn't just representing Daniel—he was actively managing the hush money for a homicide!"
"That’s extortion and obstruction of justice," Vance declared. "And it destroys Julian's attorney-client privilege. I’m serving a federal search warrant on Julian’s law firm right now!"
