She died in 2020. A house fire. The fire department ruled it accidental. He was not home at the time. The insurance payout was $4.8 million. Richard did not move. "And now," Hannah said, "he is here with a new name, with your wife, with a $35 million policy and a stretch of road outside Hartwick." For a moment, no one on the line said anything. "Hannah," Richard said finally, "does Vivian know any of this?" There was a small pause on the other end of the line.
"I cannot answer that with certainty," Hannah said, "but based on what I have seen so far, I would say no. The information about Adrian Holst was not easy to find. The name change was clean. The records are scattered across three states." "The only reason I found it as quickly as I did was that the notary in Greenwich, the one who is now in Arizona, had handled paperwork for Daniel Brennan once before in a real estate transaction 2 years ago. That gave me a thread to pull. Without that, it would have taken much longer."
"Then she is also a victim," Marcus said quietly. "She is also a participant," Richard replied. "Yes, both things can be true." Richard rubbed his hand slowly across his face. The cold and distant feeling that had been holding him together since the morning was beginning to crack along its edges. He could feel it, the way a man feels the first small movement of a wall that has been about to fall for a long time. "What do we do?"
he said. "We have several options," Marcus said. "We can go to the police now. We have the recording, the insurance documents, the false signature, the witness, the history on Brennan. It is enough to open an investigation." "They will arrest him within 24 hours, possibly sooner. Vivian will be questioned. She will hire a lawyer. The case will move slowly, but it will move." "What is the other option?" "The other option is more difficult and more dangerous. We give Brennan another chance to act. We let him believe the plan can be salvaged. We watch where he goes. We listen to what he says. We catch him not just on intent, but on action."
"We catch him in a way that closes every door he might try to walk through." Richard looked at the small sailboat painting above the desk. "He has done this twice before," he said, "at least twice, and both times he walked away." "Yes, then we do it the second way," Richard said. "I do not want him to walk away again." Marcus was silent for a long moment. "All right," he said, "then we begin tonight." That evening Richard returned to the house.