Chapter 2 - WHAT LINDA BURNEDDaniel did not drive back to the party.
That surprised everyone.
Especially Robert.
Instead, Melissa contacted the county sheriff’s office because the alleged assault involved a child and potential destruction of evidence.
Daniel gave a statement.
Then waited.
He hated waiting.
But anger was no longer useful.
By midnight, the party had ended.
The fire pit was secured.
Investigators recovered partially burned paper.
Not enough to read immediately.
But some fragments survived.
One contained a bank name.
Another:
LILY MERCER TRUST.
Daniel stared when Melissa showed him the photograph.
“What trust?”
She looked at him.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Anna had created one.
Apparently without Daniel serving as sole trustee.
That was unusual.
Maybe intentional.
They requested records.
The trust was established eighteen months before Anna died.
Primary beneficiary:
Lily.
Independent trustee:
Samuel Hart.
Daniel knew Samuel.
Anna's college friend.
A tax attorney.
Daniel had always assumed they handled simple estate work.
They hadn't.
The trust held Anna's investment interests and a 22 percent stake in Mercer Property Group.
Daniel's family company.
He went silent.
“Anna owned twenty-two percent?”
“Through a settlement with her father and later acquisitions.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
Melissa looked at him carefully.
“Maybe she tried to tell you.”
That hurt.
Because she probably had.
Daniel remembered folders.
Conversations postponed.
Anna saying:
“Your father is moving money in ways I don’t like.”
Daniel answering:
“Let me handle Dad.”
He never did.
Anna handled it herself.
Now Robert had motive.
But motive for what?
Not hurting Lily.
For finding the papers.
The trust had a mandatory review approaching.
Lily turned six in nine months.
At that point, Samuel would conduct a full accounting of any family entity involving her beneficial assets.
Robert had apparently been managing distributions from Mercer Property Group.
If money was missing, the review would expose it.
Rebecca might know.
Linda definitely knew enough to burn documents.
Daniel felt sick.
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His daughter hadn’t been hurt because she was difficult.
She had been hurt because she walked into a room while adults were afraid of paper.
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