The Night Robert Bennett Died
Chapter 05 - The Night Robert Bennett Died
The guests were asked to leave.
No one wanted to.
By nightfall, photographs of Claire and the three boys had already appeared online.
But inside the Hawthorne library, six people sat around a table.
Nathan.
Claire.
Madeline.
Victoria.
Madeline’s father, Thomas Prescott.
And Nathan’s uncle, Charles Hale.
The triplets were upstairs with Madeline’s younger sister.
Victoria placed an old folder on the table.
Seven years earlier, Robert Bennett had worked as chief structural engineer on the Hale Grand Hotel project in Chicago.
Weeks before the building opened, Robert discovered serious construction defects.
Cheap materials.
Falsified safety reports.
Missing inspection records.
He threatened to expose everything.
Then he died when his car went over a bridge.
Claire stared at Victoria.
“The police said he fell asleep.”
Victoria said nothing.
Charles interrupted.
“Because that’s what happened.”
Victoria looked at her brother-in-law.
“No.”
Charles’s face tightened.
Nathan noticed.
So did Claire.
Victoria continued.
“Robert called me the night before he died.”
Claire felt the room tilt.
“He said someone had been following him.”
“Who?”
Victoria looked toward Charles.
But Charles was already standing.
“This is insane.”
Nathan blocked the doorway.
“Sit down.”
Charles stared at his nephew.
For the first time, Nathan saw fear in the eyes of the man who had helped raise him.
Victoria opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph of Robert Bennett standing beside a car.
The photograph had been taken the night he died.
May you like
Another man stood beside him.
Charles Hale.
