“He was at your house two weeks ago?” Samuel asked, turning his head toward Valerie.

Martha looked at the senior business partner.

“You did not know he visited me?”

“Christopher told our board members that he was out of town visiting an important regional client,” Samuel admitted.

“He spent the afternoon fixing my broken barn door,” Martha said clearly.

Samuel and Valerie exchanged a quick, intense look that lasted far too long.

Martha’s internal fear transformed into something cold and sharp.

Her son had not died in a random workplace accident, and she had suspected that truth from the moment her neighbor played the audio message over the phone late last night.