Chapter 3 - Grandma’s Will
Claire’s grandmother, Evelyn Whitman, died the previous spring.
She left Claire a small investment account, a collection of antique jewelry, and a quarter interest in a rental property near Salem.
Miles received the same percentage.
Margaret expected to control all of it.
She insisted Evelyn had only divided the estate for tax reasons and that the children should immediately sign their shares over to her.
Miles agreed.
Claire refused.
She had spent years watching her parents rescue Miles from gambling debts, failed businesses, and unpaid taxes.
Money given to Margaret would eventually reach him.
The disagreement became ugly.
Margaret accused Claire of stealing from the family.
Her father said Grandma never intended Claire to “keep everything for herself,” even though the will divided the assets clearly.
Then Margaret asked to see Claire’s apartment key.
She claimed she needed to retrieve several pieces of Evelyn’s jewelry that did not belong to Claire.
Claire refused.
Two days later, Margaret appeared at the apartment while Claire was at work.
Mrs. Alvarez saw her trying the door.
That night, Claire demanded the spare key back.
Margaret tossed it across the kitchen table.
“There,” she said. “Now you can stop acting like I’m a criminal.”
Claire took it home.
She never noticed it was not the original.
The old purple tag looked the same.
The handwriting looked the same.
Margaret had returned a different key and kept one that still opened the apartment.
Or she had made another copy.
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The evidence tag in Reyes’s hand proved exactly when.
Six days before the fire.
