Chapter 12 - FOURTEEN UNOPENED LETTERS
The mansion search began under a warrant.
Inside Jason’s office, detectives found the security system manual, replacement lock cables, and a receipt from the private garage that had modified Madeline’s car.
They also found fourteen sealed envelopes inside a locked cabinet.
Each was addressed to Madeline.
Each carried Samuel Bennett’s return address.
At the hospital, Samuel placed the letters beside her bed.
“I sent one every few months,” he said. “Birthdays. Holidays. The anniversary of your mother’s death.”
Madeline touched the oldest envelope.
The seal had never been broken.
“Jason told me you stopped trying.”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“I should have come to the house.”
“You should have told me what you suspected.”
“I tried. You asked me to respect your marriage.”
“You’re the police commissioner.”
“I’m also your father. And I was afraid that pushing harder would make you disappear completely.”
Madeline opened the first letter.
Samuel had apologized for criticizing her choices. He had written that his door would remain open even if they disagreed.
In another letter, he warned that Jason had approached two former Bennett Meridian employees seeking confidential information.
Jason had hidden every warning.
Not because Samuel was controlling.
Because Samuel knew too much.
Madeline began to cry.
“I believed him.”
Samuel moved closer but did not touch her until she reached for his hand.
“You believed the person who promised to love you,” he said. “That is not your crime.”
A detective entered.
She confirmed that Jason had personally delivered the sedan to the garage and requested an external override for the locks.
The mechanic believed it was for an executive security system.
Jason had also asked whether the modification could disable manual door handles.
“He planned the confinement,” the detective said.
“Did Chelsea know?” Madeline asked.
“We recovered messages showing she knew about the remote.”
Madeline closed her eyes.
The affair had broken her heart.
The planning frightened her more.
Then the detective placed another item on the table.
It was a flash drive labeled with Owen Price’s initials.
“He came to the station voluntarily,” she said. “He claims the attack was not Jason’s first plan.”
Madeline looked toward Samuel.
“What was the first plan?”
The detective’s expression darkened.
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“To convince a court that you were mentally incapable of controlling your own inheritance.”
👉 Owen’s files revealed that Jason had spent months manufacturing a version of Madeline that did not exist.
