The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 224

Chapter 202: The Information

Caleb POV

He called me two hours later.”I have pieces,” he said. “Not the whole picture.”

“Tell me the pieces.”

“Margaret’s maiden name was Voss,” the investigator said. “She had a younger sister named Elaine, who was quieter and artistic. Elaine went to Geneva on a four-month arts fellowship twenty-nine years ago. Six months after she came back, she gave birth to a baby girl. The father was listed as unknown.”

I wrote this down without speaking.

“The child’s name on that original registration,” he said carefully.

My pen stopped moving. “What is it?”

“I don’t have it yet,” he said. “The original registration was filed in a different borough and later amended. I am tracing it now. I also found a death record for Elaine Voss. She died from an undetected heart defect when the baby was months old, she was only twenty-four.”

I looked at my notepad. Elaine Voss. Geneva. A baby with no listed father. Dead at twenty-four.

“How long does it take to get the amended registration?” I asked.

“Sixteen hours. Maybe less.”

“Call me the moment you have it,” I said.

I sat in the study after the call ended and looked at my notes.

The investigator called back hours later. I took the call in my closed study with a notepad ready.

“I have the background,” he said. “Margaret grew up in Surrey with a younger sister named Elaine.”

“Go on,” I said.

“Thirty years ago, Elaine spent months on an art fellowship in Geneva. A cousin said she came back changed-quieter and happier. A few months later, she gave birth to a daughter.”

“Who was the father?”

“The birth certificate left the father’s name blank,” he said. “And when the baby was six months old, Elaine died suddenly from an undetected heart defect. She was only twenty-four.”

I leaned forward. “What happened to the baby?”

“There was no formal adoption,” the investigator said. “The baby was placed with Richard and Margaret Hart through a private financial deal. A large amount of money changed hands through a London law firm.”

He paused before finishing. “The child was then registered as Isabella Hart.”

I stopped writing.

13

Chapter 202 The information

Clam

The investigator kept talking over the phone, explaining the payment records, the large sum of money, and The name of the solicitor who handled the amendment. I sat in my quiet study with my and felt the weight

of it settle over me.

Margaret had not taken Bella out of love or family duty. It was just a transaction. She had raised Bella knowing the truth every single day, keeping her dead sister’s name a secret.

“There is one more thing,” the investigator said.

“Go ahead,” I said. My voice was calm, which felt like an achievement.

“The Geneva fellowship,” he continued. “I pulled the records from the institution. There were twelve participants that year. I ran the other eleven names, and one of them connects to something you need to

know.”

“What did you find?”

“I think Bella’s biological father is traceable,” he said. “It will take more time, do you want me to keep going?”

I looked down at my notepad and remembered when Bella first left me. Back then, I had hired, incompetent investigators to look for her and they couldn’t do a good job.

I hadn’t even been able to find my own sister, despite giving them clear clues my grandmother handed to

I wouldn’t be that foolish this time around. Thanks to my sister’s recommendation, I had hired the best investigator available, and I was following through. I was going to relieve my wife of this burden and get to the root of it all..

“Yes,” I said. “Keep going.”

I ended the call and sat in the quiet of the study for a long time and then I got up and made fresh coffee and stood at the window and looked at the city.

A few days later.

Days passed, and the investigator did not call. I had given him twelve hours for the Voss search, and he had delivered. But after I told him to find the biological father, the line went quiet. By the second day, I was checking my phone every twenty minutes. By the third day, I almost called him twice but stopped myself.

He was reliable. He was the man who had traced the Malta shell company and mapped Jade’s visitor logs.

I was sitting at the large table in the main boardroom at Black Enterprises, staring at a presentation on the projector screen for minutes without reading a single slide.

James knocked and stepped inside. “The afternoon meetings are set, sir.”

I nodded without looking at him.

“We have the regional directors at two, followed by the finance review,” he added.

I just nodded again, my eyes still fixed on the projector.

3

Chapter 202 The information

“Are you fine, sir?”

t finally looked up to face him. “I’m good,” I said. “You can go, James.”

Claim

“No problem,” he said, turning toward the door, then he paused. “I am always here if you need someone.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

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