Chapter 2 - The Missing Ledger
Emma did not mention the chain to Daniel until they were driving home.
“It’s part of the old safety system,” he said. “My father used to secure underwater equipment to it.”
“What kind of equipment?”
“I don’t know. Lights, cleaning machines, maybe decorations for parties.”
“There was a cuff attached to it.”
Daniel glanced at her.
“A cuff?”
“Something shaped like one.”
“You think my mother keeps restraints in the pool?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds unreasonable.”
“It sounded unreasonable before I said it.”
Emma looked through the window.
She wanted to laugh. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have. Daniel’s ability to soften her darkest thoughts had been one of the reasons she loved him.
But the image of the chain remained in her mind.
So did Margaret’s words.
Some documents are more complicated than they appear.
Two days later, a package arrived at Emma’s office.
There was no return address. Inside was a slim leather ledger and a folded note.
Richard wanted you to see this.
Emma closed the office door before opening the ledger.
The first pages contained ordinary property expenses from the renovation of Bellweather Villa. Stone imported from Italy. Glass panels from Germany. Architectural fees. Pool construction. Electrical systems.
Halfway through the ledger, the entries changed.
Large sums had been transferred to companies Emma did not recognize.
North Coast Environmental Planning.
Alder Ridge Consulting.
Hale Maritime Strategies.
Each payment had been approved under a different project code, but the final authorization initials were the same.
MW.
Margaret Whitmore.
Emma entered the company names into a private database. North Coast had been dissolved three years earlier. Alder Ridge shared an address with a mailbox rental store. Hale Maritime did not appear in any public corporate registry.
Together, the payments exceeded fourteen million dollars.
At the back of the ledger, Richard had written a single sentence in blue ink.
The villa is where she hid the first account.
Emma read it several times.
She knew Richard’s handwriting. She had seen it on birthday cards, business notes and the letter he had written to her and Daniel on their wedding day.
The writing was his.
Her phone rang.
The number was blocked.
Emma answered without speaking.
A man’s voice said, “Did you receive the book?”
“Who is this?”
“You should not keep it in your office.”
“Were you the person who sent it?”
“Richard asked me to protect certain records if anything happened to him.”
Emma stood.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who waited too long.”
The call ended.
Emma tried to call back, but the number could not be reached.
That evening, she showed Daniel the ledger.
He sat at their kitchen table, turning the pages slowly. His expression changed when he recognized his father’s handwriting.
“This could be copied,” he said.
“You don’t believe it’s real?”
“I believe someone wants us to think it’s real.”
“The payments are real. I checked.”
Daniel closed the book.
“My mother controlled dozens of projects. Initials are not proof of theft.”
“No, but fourteen million dollars transferred into companies with no visible employees is a reason to investigate.”
“You already investigated.”
“I confirmed that the companies are suspicious.”
“Without telling me.”
Emma leaned back.
“I received the package this morning.”
“And you spent the day searching private financial records.”
“Public corporate records.”
“You know what I mean.”
Daniel walked to the window.
Emma understood his reaction. Margaret was not merely his mother. After Richard’s death, she had become the last unbroken piece of his childhood. Questioning her meant questioning every family memory she controlled.
“I’m not accusing her of anything yet,” Emma said.
“You think she stole millions from my father.”
“I think your father believed something was wrong.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“My father was under enormous pressure before the accident. He was taking medication. He wrote things down and forgot them. Sometimes he repeated conversations.”
“Did your mother tell you that?”
“My father told me.”
“Did he tell you before or after she began managing his medication?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Emma immediately regretted the question.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That was unfair.”
“Yes.”
He picked up his jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“For a walk.”
“Daniel.”
“I need time to think without feeling like I’m being examined.”
After he left, Emma placed the ledger inside a locked drawer.
She stood alone in the kitchen, one hand resting on her stomach.
The baby moved.
It was a small sensation, barely more than a flutter, but it reminded her that the danger was no longer limited to her and Daniel.
At midnight, Daniel returned.
He did not apologize. Neither did Emma.
Instead, he placed a key on the table.
It belonged to Richard’s old study at Bellweather Villa.
“My mother ordered the room sealed after the funeral,” he said. “She told everyone there was nothing important inside.”
Emma looked at him.
“You don’t believe her anymore?”
“I believe my father deserved to be heard.”
May you like
He pushed the key toward her.
“We go together.”
