Chapter 10 - the key in wendy's safe)
Wendy's Manhattan apartment occupied the entire thirty-third floor of a building overlooking Central Park.
Jessica had visited only twice.
Wendy preferred neutral spaces where she could dismiss people without allowing them to feel comfortable.
Her apartment was perfect for that.
Glass.
Stone.
White furniture.
No family photographs.
Detective Cole obtained a warrant by late afternoon.
Wendy opened the door wearing a cream silk blouse and black trousers.
She looked offended rather than frightened.
"You again."
Cole showed the warrant.
"We're searching for Luke's personal effects."
Wendy looked at Jessica.
"My son trusted me with them."
Jessica walked past her.
"He was unconscious."
"He was dead."
The words came too quickly.
Jessica stopped.
"Were you disappointed when that changed?"
Wendy's eyes hardened.
"You have always mistaken insolence for intelligence."
"And you have always mistaken money for immunity."
Cole sent investigators through the apartment.
Wendy poured herself water.
Her hand remained steady.
Jessica watched her.
"Why did you want me to sign the waiver?"
"To protect Sterling Holdings."
"From me?"
"Yes."
"You knew Luke was alive."
"No."
"Then why did you say impossible when he moved?"
Wendy's expression flickered.
Only slightly.
Jessica continued.
"A mother sees her dead son move and says his name. You said impossible."
Wendy set down the glass.
"You were hysterical."
"I was silent."
"You have no proof."
Jessica stepped closer.
"Not yet."
An investigator called from the bedroom.
They found Luke's wallet inside a locked drawer.
Credit cards.
Driver's license.
A photograph of Jessica.
No brass key.
Cole looked at Wendy.
"Where is it?"
"Where is what?"
"A key that was inside this wallet."
Wendy smiled.
"I don't catalog my son's pocket trash."
Jessica saw it.
The tiny satisfaction.
She knew.
Cole ordered a full search.
Twenty minutes later, investigators found a wall safe behind a painting.
Wendy refused to provide the code.
A locksmith opened it.
Inside were jewelry boxes, property deeds, cash and a small envelope.
The brass key lay inside.
Jessica looked at Wendy.
"You didn't catalog it, but you locked it in a safe."
Wendy said nothing.
The envelope beside it contained an address.
17 Harbor Street.
Stamford, Connecticut.
Luke joined by phone.
"I don't recognize it."
Cole searched the address.
An old bank building.
Closed six years earlier.
Purchased through a Sterling subsidiary.
Jessica felt excitement.
"Arthur."
They drove there before sunset.
The building stood near the waterfront between converted warehouses.
The front doors were chained.
Cole's warrant allowed entry.
Inside, dust covered the marble lobby.
Old teller windows stretched beneath a faded ceiling.
A row of private safe deposit rooms remained in the basement.
The brass key fit box 2719.
July nineteenth again.
Luke and Jessica's anniversary.
Inside was a single sealed folder.
Arthur Sterling had written one sentence on the front.
For Luke, when loyalty becomes more dangerous than truth.
Jessica opened it.
Bank statements.
Trust agreements.
Original Crown Protocol documents.
And a handwritten list of names.
Wendy Sterling.
Frank Vance.
Harold Pike.
Martin Keller.
Charles Denton.
Daniel Rusk.
Next to some names Arthur had written notes.
Wendy: knows of diversions but not full amount.
Frank: architect.
Pike: legal concealment.
Denton: financial gatekeeper.
Keller: unknown relevance.
Rusk: not involved at time of writing.
Then one final name.
Michael Sterling.
Beside it, Arthur had written:
Protect him from Wendy. He is more useful to her frightened than free.
Jessica's chest tightened.
Luke had always assumed his father considered Michael irresponsible.
Arthur had been protecting him.
Cole turned another page.
At the bottom was a diagram showing fund transfers.
The missing eighty-seven million was only part of the story.
Over nineteen years, more than three hundred and forty million dollars had moved through hidden structures.
The destination account was labeled VANCE CROWN TRUST.
Frank.
But beneath it was another account.
STERLING PRIVATE RESERVE.
Beneficiary initials:
W.V.S.
Wendy.
Jessica looked at Cole.
"They were both stealing."
"Yes."
"But who poisoned Luke?"
Cole turned to the final page.
Arthur had written a warning years earlier.
If Frank gains access to Crown authority, he will eventually attempt succession by force. Wendy believes she can control him. She cannot.
Jessica felt the answer narrowing.
Frank designed the scheme.
Wendy enabled it.
Pike hid it.
Denton moved the money.
Keller made death possible.
But who had decided Tuesday was the day?
Cole's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"What happened?"
He ended the call.
"Dr. Keller has been found."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Philadelphia."
Jessica waited.
Cole's expression remained grim.
"He walked into a federal building carrying a recording."
Luke's voice came through the phone.
"Recording of what?"
May you like
Cole looked at Jessica.
"Frank ordering Keller to make sure you never woke up."
