Marcus considered this. "How many people work on the property?" "Six full-time, the housekeeper who is the boy's mother, the gardener, the cook, two security personnel, one assistant who handles the household scheduling." "There are also contract workers who come and go." "And the boy's mother, does she live on the property?" "Yes, there is a small staff residence behind the south wing. She and her son have lived there for almost 3 years." Marcus picked up his phone and dialed a number.
He spoke quietly for less than a minute, then put the phone down. "Hannah will have someone watching the residence within the hour," he said."Unmarked. They will not interfere unless they need to." "But they will be there." "Thank you." "There is something else you need to think about, Richard." "Yes." "Whoever this man is, whoever Vivian has been planning this with, he is not just a boyfriend. The level of planning, the access to your documents, the manipulation of your driver's schedule, the manufactured signature, the choice of location. This is not a man who fell in love with your wife and got carried away. This is a man with experience, with patience, with a method. He has done something like this before or he has been close enough to people who have. Richard looked at the closed folder on the table. Then find him, he said. Find out who he is, find out where he comes from, and find out who else he has done this to. Marcus nodded. He gathered the folder, stood, and rested one hand briefly on Richard's shoulder before walking out toward the front of the shop. Anthony caught Richard's eye from across the room. Richard signaled him over. Anthony, he said, I need to go back to the house. Not yet, not today, but before this is finished, I will need to go back. And when I do, I need you to be the one driving. Anthony nodded once. I will be ready, sir. Richard looked out the window at the ordinary city continuing its ordinary morning. He had work to do. That afternoon, Richard checked into a small hotel on the north side of the city. The kind of place that catered to traveling consultants and did not ask questions about late check-ins or cash payments. Marcus had chosen it. Marcus had also paid for it under a different name, used a corporate card that did not appear on any of Richard's accounts, and arranged for a single room on the fourth floor with a window facing the parking lot. Richard sat on the edge of the bed for a long time before he did anything else. He looked at the carpet. He looked at the small painting of a sailboat above the desk. He looked at the curtains which were the color of old coffee. He had not stayed in a room like this in 20 years. He found to his own surprise that he did not mind it. His phone buzzed on the nightstand, a message from Marcus. Hannah has a name. Calling you in 5 minutes. Richard nodded to himself even though there was no one in the room to see it. He stood up and walked to the window. The parking lot below was almost empty. A delivery van was idling near the back entrance. A woman was loading groceries into the trunk of a small sedan. The world continued without him. The phone rang. "Marcus, Hannah is on the line with us.
She's going to walk you through what she found. Listen first, questions after." A new voice came through, low, calm, professional."Mr. Callaway, my name is Hannah Reyes. I'm going to keep this brief because we have a lot of ground to cover and not much time. The man you saw on your patio this morning is named Daniel Brennan. That is the name he is currently using. It is not the name he was born with. Richard sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Go on," he said. "He was born Adrian Holst in Wisconsin in 1981. He changed his name legally in 2009 after the death of his first wife. Her name was Margaret Holst. She was 41 years old at the time of her death. She fell from a hiking trail in northern Michigan. There was an investigation. It was ruled accidental. She had a life insurance policy of $3.2 million. He was the sole beneficiary. Richard closed his eyes. "In 2014," Hannah continued, "he was engaged to a woman named Corinne Lynn.
She lived in Seattle. She was a software executive. She broke off the engagement 6 months before the wedding date. Her reasons are not in the public record, but she filed a restraining order 3 weeks after the breakup. The order was granted. He left the state within a month. And then, in 2017, he married a woman named Renee Castle in Phoenix. She was 53. He was 36. She was wealthy. She had no children. They were married for 2 years and 8 months.