Chapter 4 - The Discovery of the Shed
By Tuesday morning, the war had moved from the drawing rooms to the legal briefs.
I sat in the high-ceilinged office of my attorney, Eleanor Vance—no relation to my mother-in-law, though the shared surname was a cosmic irony that gave us both a cold sort of amusement. Eleanor was a sixty-year-old family law specialist with sharp blue eyes and a wardrobe consisting entirely of tailored grey flannel suits.
Across the mahogany desk sat the court-appointed forensic investigator, a retired homicide detective named Miller who had been hired to inspect the Vance family estate under an emergency search order issued by the family court judge.
"We executed the search warrant on the carriage house at the main estate yesterday at 3:00 PM," Miller said, opening a blue paper folder filled with glossy eight-by-ten photographs. "Your husband’s legal team tried to block entry, claiming the outbuildings were protected under corporate asset privileges, but the criminal warrant overrode them."
He slid three photos across the desk toward me.
The first photo showed a small workshop located in the basement of Evelyn’s garden conservatory—a room I had been forbidden to enter during the eight years I lived at the estate. Evelyn had always claimed it was where she stored her prize-winning orchid supplies and vintage porcelain pots.
The photo showed a workbench covered in tools. But there were no flower pots.
Arranged in neat rows along a magnetic tool strip were specialized mechanical implements: torque wrenches, lock-picking sets, metal files, and three different sizes of socket drivers.
"Look at photo number two," Miller said.
I picked up the second photo. It was a close-up of a small, red metal toolbox sitting on the corner of the bench. Inside, nestled in custom foam cutouts, were four distinct metal bolts.
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"We ran the metallurgical composition on those bolts this morning," Miller said flatly. "They match the mounting assembly of the Quick-Care 3000 series wheelchair—the exact model your son was using."
My hand began to shake. "She had parts from his chair in her workshop?"
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