Chapter 7: What Dorian Marsh Knew
Gerald came back that afternoon instead of the next morning.
He sat across from me on the cabin floor — we had given up pretending the broken chair was usable — and he spread three printed pages between us.
"Dorian Marsh," he said.
"Fifty-three.
Property developer based in the city.
He's been acquiring mountain land for a resort project — lodges, private cabins, high-end retreats.
He made an offer on the house and the surrounding acreage six months ago.
Four point eight million."
"Thaddeus turned it down."
"Thaddeus turned it down and told Vivienne the property wasn't for sale at any price.
She apparently disagreed." Gerald tapped the second page.
"Three weeks after Thaddeus rejected the offer, Vivienne met privately with Marsh.
We don't know what was said.
But two weeks after that meeting, Thaddeus came to me and asked me to accelerate the will revision."
I looked at the page.
"He found out about the meeting."
"He suspected it.
He couldn't prove what was discussed.
But he told me — his exact words — 'She's already decided what happens after I'm gone.
I need to make sure she's wrong.'"
"So Marsh is still waiting."
"He's been patient.
The offer is still open." Gerald paused.
"Here's what concerns me.
The house is currently in probate.
Vivienne cannot legally sell it.
But if she wins the capacity challenge — if a court rules that Thaddeus lacked the judgment to revise his will — the original will stands.
She inherits outright.
And the first thing she does is call Dorian Marsh."
"What does she get from Marsh directly?
Beyond the sale price?"
Gerald hesitated.
"That's the part I'm still working on.
But Petra sent the text messages this morning, and there's one exchange that's relevant." He produced his phone and read aloud.
"'D says the timeline moves once the old woman is out of the picture.
Make sure she stays out.' Vivienne's reply: 'Already handled.
She's in the mountains.
She won't be a problem.'"
The cabin was very quiet.
"D," I said.
"Dorian Marsh."
"She told him about me.
She told him I was in the mountains and wouldn't be a problem." I looked at the altar.
"She reported to him.
Like he was managing the timeline."
"It appears that way."
"So this isn't just about the money she moved.
This is about the sale."
"Four point eight million dollars," Gerald said.
"Split between them, after the estate clears — yes.
That's what she's been working toward.
Thaddeus's d*ath wasn't an interruption to her plan.
It was the beginning of it."
I stood up.
I walked to the window and stood there for a moment.
"Can we use those messages?" I asked.
"Petra has agreed to provide them as evidence.
They're admissible.
They establish that Vivienne was coordinating with a third party regarding the estate before Thaddeus was even gone." Gerald stood as well.
"But Marsh is going to be a problem.
He has resources.
He has attorneys.
And right now, he has no legal exposure — he made a legitimate property offer.
Everything else is text messages between two women."
"Then we need more."
"Yes."
I turned around.
"Thaddeus recorded two phone calls with Vivienne.
Are there others?
Did he record anything with Marsh?
Any communication between them?"
Gerald opened his briefcase again.
"That's what I came back to tell you." He produced a small USB drive.
"Thaddeus gave me this eighteen months ago and told me not to open it unless you asked me to." He set it on the floor between us.
"He said you'd know when the time was right."
I looked at the drive.
"He gave you something he told you not to open," I said slowly, "and he trusted that I would eventually ask."
"Yes."
"He trusted that I'd get this far."
"He did."
I picked up the drive.
It was lighter than I expected.
Small enough to close my fist around.
"Do you have a laptop?" I asked.
"In the car."
"Get it," I said.
Gerald went to the door.
He stopped with his hand on the frame and looked back at me.
"Mrs.
Honora.
Whatever is on that drive — Thaddeus put it there for a reason.
He believed it was enough."
"Then let's find out if he was right."
Gerald went to get the laptop.
May you like
I stood in the center of the cabin holding the drive, and outside the window the pine trees stood perfectly still in the cold afternoon light, and somewhere down the mountain, in a four-million-dollar house that did not belong to her, Vivienne was waiting for a phone call from a man named Dorian Marsh.
She was still so certain she was winning.
