Thomas Whitmore Finally Spoke
Chapter 06 - Thomas Whitmore Finally Spoke
Thomas was sitting in the back of an ambulance when we reached him.
His tuxedo jacket was torn at the shoulder, but he was not seriously injured. He refused to name the man who had confronted him until Margaret was escorted away from the parking garage.
Daniel sat beside his father.
“Dad, what happened?”
Thomas looked toward me instead.
“I am sorry, Emily.”
“For what?”
“For being silent every time your mother deserved a witness.”
Margaret had sent the Whitmore company’s security director to find him. The man had followed Thomas to the garage and demanded that he sign a statement claiming Nora’s ownership document had been fabricated.
Thomas refused.
“He wasn’t supposed to hurt me,” Thomas said. “Margaret told him to frighten me.”
Daniel stood so quickly the ambulance rocked.
“My mother ordered this?”
Thomas nodded.
“Why would she risk everything over a hotel?” I asked.
“Because it was never only about the hotel.”
He told us what happened the night of the fire.
A faulty electrical renovation had started the blaze. Margaret, then a young executive, had approved cheaper wiring despite multiple warnings from contractors.
When the fire spread, she altered the inspection reports to protect herself.
Nora discovered the changes.
Franklin Whitmore planned to report his daughter and remove her from the company. Before he could act, he suffered a heart attack inside Room 614.
My mother found him.
She could not save him, but she carried his briefcase out of the burning room.
Inside were the original inspection reports, board records and a signed agreement giving Nora controlling ownership of the Bellmore Grand.
“Why would he give my mother the hotel?” I asked.
“Because she had invested in it,” Thomas said. “Not just labor. Money.”
My mother had inherited a small farm from her parents and sold it. She used the money to help Franklin keep the Bellmore Grand from bankruptcy.
Margaret had spent twenty-six years telling people Nora was a grateful employee.
In reality, Nora had rescued the Whitmore family twice.
“Where are the documents now?” Henry asked.
Thomas looked toward the top floor of the hotel.
“Room 614.”
“Margaret sealed it.”
“She could not open the safe without Nora’s key.”
I remembered the small brass key my mother had worn on a chain beneath her blouse.
After her death, I had placed it inside a box in my apartment.
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’ve seen that key.”
I turned toward him.
“When?”
“The night your mother died.”
His voice became unsteady.
“She gave it to me.”
The air left my lungs.
“You told me she said nothing before she died.”
Daniel reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket.
May you like
He pulled out the brass key.
“I lied.”
