Chapter 48
After a few days, Deborah met Christian again in his office to discuss reopening her mother’s case–she doubted it was an accident. Christian and his friends gathered all existing material on Alexandra Anderson as they took a seat at the table.
The three of them were poring over the files, yet they found nothing useful to reopen
the case.
“Ah…nothing,” Christian’s assistant complained.
“Nothing here either… Hey Deborah, do you remember anything strange or
suspicious from that day?” Christian asked, slightly annoyed at how flawlessly the investigation report labeled it a car accident
[It’s a bit fuzzy, but I know I was with her.
“Hey! Wait, I found something,” Alan exclaimed excitedly after reading a report on his laptop.
[What did you find, Alan?]
“It says here that Miss Alexandra Anderson had this accident because she was drunk, but there’s no evidence to support that claim.” Alan showed them the report. “And here, it shows she had a life insurance policy that was cashed out.”
[Could that be a clue?]
“Yes,” Christian said, moving closer to his assistant to look at the report. “Because any life insurance is invalidated if you die in an accident caused by yourself,
especially under the influence of alcohol.”
“And what an amount…” Alan commented, astonished.
“Hey Alan, that insurance was for $500,000, right?”
“Yes, that’s the amount, and here it says the insurer paid it to the legal
representative two weeks after Miss Anderson’s death once all the paperwork was completed.”
“Wait… legal representative?” Christian asked, reading the copy of the insurance contract. “Oh… God, how despicable.”
[What’s going on, Christian?]
“Deborah, did you know you were the sole beneficiary of that insurance?”
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[What…? No, in fact, Frederick bragged to me that he received the it on his family’s month–long Caribbean vacation, leaving me alone at home without money and spent
food.]
“Oh God… you know, with your ex… Well, let’s just say now I understand why you fell into his clutches. Your supposed father is just as bad or worse than that Peterson idiot,” Alan remarked, frowning.
“But with this, we can start poking around,” Alan added excitedly.
[How?] Deborah asked.
“Because the police said your mom died driving under the influence, but the insurance report stated that she died in a car accident,” Christian explained. “There are even two death certificates for your mom, which is technically illegal.
Deborah looked at the documents she was shown, feeling her anger growing inside. In the end, it was all about the damned money. Fredrick never cared about his daughter and wife. All he wanted was the money to enjoy with his other family.
“Excellent, we’ve got a reason to reopen the investigation. And with current technology, we can uncover clues that were never considered before,” Christian said excitedly.
There came a knock on the door and they turned around to see Caroline walk it. How’s it going?” she asked before approaching her husband and kissing him on the lips.
“We’ve found a reason to reopen the case,” Alan declared excitedly.
“Really? That’s great,” she said, noticing Deborah seemed happy about the
discovery too. “Well, it’s time to leave it for now.”
[And why’s that?]
“Deborah, look at the time,” Caroline chided playfully.
Deborah glanced at the clock, startled by the hour.
“You forgot, didn’t you? Come on, let’s go, you still have time for me to help you get ready, since it’s your first party after the divorce.”
[It wasn’t on purpose.] Deborah apologized.
“Well, Carrie’s right. You should get ready. We’ve done enough for today, so let’s
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take the rest of the day off,” Christian suggested.
“Sounds good to me too. Now I have time to get home for my video game’s special event,” Alan said, packing up the files and shutting down his computer. “Good luck at your party, Deborah. Bye, guys.” Alan grabbed his things and left the office.
They bid Alan farewell and headed to Deborah’s house after locking the office.