Chapter 14 - The Voice That Wasn't Adrian's
David replayed the recording.
"Deepfake."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"But seven months ago?"
"Voice cloning existed long before that."
Mercer examined the file.
"Someone sent Thomas an artificial recording in Adrian's voice."
Evelyn looked devastated.
"He thought you wanted him to open the wine."
Adrian remembered his father.
Thomas never drank expensive bottles alone unless there was an occasion.
An audio message from Adrian would have been enough.
"Who could reproduce my voice?"
David gave him a grim look.
"Your company has interviews, investor calls, conference videos."
"Anyone."
"Exactly."
But Adrian knew it was not anyone.
The attacker had known Thomas's habits.
Known the wine cellar.
Known his favorite bottle.
Known how to make a message persuasive.
Roman.
Or Helena.
Or someone even closer.
The laboratory confirmed aconitine residue inside the bottle.
Thomas Vale had been poisoned before Celeste ever entered his study.
Celeste's digitalis had accelerated the collapse.
Mara's sedative had weakened him.
Mercer had tried unsuccessfully to save him.
Three separate acts had converged on one death.
But the original poisoner remained unknown.
Detective Reed eventually began cooperating with federal investigators.
His story confirmed much of Thomas's secret history.
Roman was alive.
Orchard existed.
Officials in law enforcement, finance, intelligence, and shipping had accepted payments.
Reed had never met Roman face-to-face.
Instructions came through intermediaries.
Encrypted phones.
One name surfaced repeatedly.
Gardener.
Adrian thought it was a codename for Roman.
Reed disagreed.
"Roman is Orchard."
"Then who's Gardener?"
"Someone above him."
Adrian stared.
"Above Roman?"
Reed nodded.
"Roman controls operations."
"And Gardener?"
"Controls Roman."
That possibility changed the entire investigation.
Federal agents began examining Thomas's ledger.
Adrian did not give them the original.
He gave them selected copies.
For once, he listened to his father's warning.
Celeste accepted a deal.
She confessed to poisoning Thomas with digitalis, kidnapping Evelyn, drugging her medication, and participating in Orchard operations.
But she also provided names.
Accounts.
Locations.
Her testimony led to eleven arrests within two weeks.
Dr. Mercer received limited immunity for cooperating.
Mara was not charged with murder after investigators confirmed the sedative dosage was non-lethal, though she carried a guilt no court could have imposed more severely.
Evelyn began recovering.
Without the excessive medication, her mind became clearer each day.
Adrian visited her one evening on the terrace of Vale House.
The damaged windows had been replaced.
The ropes were gone.
But the carved chair remained.
Evelyn refused to remove it.
"Why keep it?"
Adrian asked.
"Because forgetting dangerous things is how this family got here."
He sat beside her.
For a while they watched the river.
"Do you hate me?" Evelyn asked.
Adrian looked at her.
"No."
"You should."
"I don't have enough energy left to hate everyone who lied to me."
She smiled sadly.
"Your father would have appreciated that sentence."
"He'd probably argue with it."
"He'd definitely argue."
Adrian looked toward Thomas's study.
"I don't know who he was anymore."
Evelyn followed his gaze.
"Yes, you do."
"No."
"You know more now."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
Adrian thought about the man who helped create Orchard.
The father who lied about Roman.
The husband who hid a first wife and son.
The man who spent his final years trying to dismantle what he created.
"Was he good?"
Evelyn considered the question.
"No."
Adrian looked at her.
She continued.
"He did good things. He did terrible things. He regretted some. Justified others. He loved badly sometimes."
"That's not comforting."
"Truth rarely is."
Adrian smiled faintly.
Evelyn reached for his hand.
"He loved you."
"I know."
"And Daniel."
"David."
"He was Daniel first."
Adrian looked down.
David had returned to Boston.
They spoke almost every day now.
Not like brothers.
Not yet.
But something had begun.
A bridge.
Fragile.
Real.
Celeste remained in federal custody.
Adrian visited her once more.
She sat across the glass.
"You look tired."
"So do you."
She smiled.
"Prison skincare is disappointing."
He almost laughed.
Almost.
"Reed says someone called Gardener controls Roman."
Celeste's expression changed.
"I've heard the name."
"Who is it?"
"No one knows."
"Helena?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Helena hates Roman."
"That doesn't mean she isn't controlling him."
Celeste shook her head.
"Roman is afraid of Gardener."
Adrian leaned closer.
"Have you ever seen Roman afraid?"
"Once."
"When?"
"The night your father died."
Adrian froze.
"You saw Roman that night?"
Celeste realized what she had admitted.
"Where?"
"Outside the villa."
"What time?"
"After I left."
"You told me you didn't see who entered the study."
"I didn't."
"But you saw Roman."
"Near the north gate."
"So Roman couldn't have been in the study."
"Not at 10:23."
Adrian felt the timeline rearrange again.
"Did Roman know Thomas was poisoned?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because he told me not to interfere."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Then who put aconitine in the wine?"
Celeste looked at him.
"Roman didn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because he wanted Thomas alive."
"Why?"
"Thomas had the shutdown protocol."
Adrian frowned.
"I thought I had it."
"You are the biometric key."
"Then what did Dad have?"
"The activation phrase."
"What phrase?"
Celeste shook her head.
"I don't know."
Adrian stood.
Celeste called after him.
"There is one person who might."
He turned.
"Who?"
"Helena."
He stared.
Celeste lowered her voice.
"But if Helena tells you the phrase, don't use it."
"Why?"
"Because Thomas didn't build Orchard's shutdown protocol to destroy Orchard."
Adrian waited.
Celeste's face became serious.
"He built it to expose everyone connected to it."
"That's the point."
"No."
She leaned closer to the glass.
"Not expose them to the authorities."
"Then to whom?"
May you like
Celeste whispered.
"To each other."
