Chapter 6 - The Man Who Arrived Before the Ambulance
Paris police met the aircraft at the gate.
So did two representatives from the United States Embassy.
And three men Julian immediately recognized.
Federal investigators.
Clara knew because his posture changed when he saw them through the aircraft window.
Serena whispered, “They came here?”
Julian did not answer.
Passengers disembarked slowly.
Several looked at Clara with sympathy.
One elderly woman squeezed her hand.
“You handled yourself beautifully.”
Clara thanked her.
It felt strange.
There was nothing beautiful about discovering your marriage might be attached to murder and financial crime.
Once the cabin cleared, authorities separated Clara, Julian, and Serena.
Captain Grant insisted on remaining nearby.
Clara gave her statement first.
The investigators already knew about Crescent Aeronautics.
That frightened her.
Special Agent Nathan Cole placed a document on the table.
“Have you ever seen this?”
It was Crescent’s incorporation record.
Clara studied the signature.
“It resembles mine.”
“Is it yours?”
“No.”
“Your passport number appears here.”
“My husband had access to my passport.”
Julian’s attorney immediately objected from across the room.
Clara looked at him.
“Good morning, Patrick.”
Patrick Shaw looked miserable.
He had attended Clara and Julian’s Christmas dinner four months earlier.
Now he was representing Julian in an international financial investigation.
Clara almost admired the efficiency of rich men.
Agent Cole continued.
“Mrs. Mercer, eighty million dollars passed through Crescent-associated accounts over four years.”
“I learned that today.”
“You understand how difficult that may be to believe.”
“Yes.”
“Can you explain these authorizations?”
He showed electronic approvals.
Clara studied the timestamps.
One was from a date she remembered clearly.
Her thirty-third birthday.
She had been flying Boston to Madrid.
“Check my crew records.”
Cole looked up.
“Excuse me?”
“That authorization occurred at 3:14 p.m. Eastern time.”
“Yes.”
“I was over the Atlantic.”
Cole studied her.
“Could you have approved remotely?”
“Not through the corporate authentication device.”
“Why?”
“Because the device Julian insisted I use was in our home safe.”
Patrick shifted.
Clara noticed.
Agent Cole did too.
“Who knew the combination?”
“Julian.”
“Anyone else?”
“His assistant, Marcus Reed.”
Cole wrote something down.
“Where is Mr. Reed now?”
Clara frowned.
“I don’t know.”
“You haven’t heard?”
“No.”
Agent Cole leaned back.
“Marcus Reed disappeared this morning.”
That was unexpected.
Julian’s assistant had worked for him nearly a decade.
Precise.
Quiet.
Invisible.
Clara liked him.
He remembered the names of drivers and security guards.
Sent flowers when staff members had children.
Apologized for Julian more often than Julian ever did.
“Disappeared how?”
“He failed to arrive at headquarters. His apartment is empty.”
“Empty?”
“Closets cleared. Electronics removed.”
Clara thought of the raid.
Someone had known it was coming.
“Do you think Marcus moved the money?”
“We’re considering possibilities.”
“My attorney says the transfers are being reversed into Crescent.”
“We know.”
“You think it’s me.”
Agent Cole did not answer directly.
“We think someone wants us to look at you.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
“Because it’s too obvious.”
Clara almost smiled.
“So I’m either innocent or an extremely stupid criminal.”
“Essentially.”
“Comforting.”
Cole slid another document across.
Raymond Pike.
The former officer’s photograph.
“We are arranging his surrender.”
“He admitted staging the crash?”
“Your attorney told you?”
“Yes.”
Cole hesitated.
“Pike says your father was alive after the vehicle left the road.”
Clara stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He claims the crash itself did not kill Thomas Ellison.”
The room went silent.
Clara’s voice came out barely above a whisper.
“Then what did?”
“Pike says he doesn’t know.”
“You just said he helped stage it.”
“He claims he was paid to falsify timing and evidence after arriving.”
“By whom?”
“That’s what we’re trying to establish.”
“Was Julian there?”
Cole glanced toward the partition separating interrogation rooms.
“Pike says no.”
Clara closed her eyes.
The manipulated audio.
Someone had inserted Julian’s voice.
Someone wanted Clara to believe Julian killed her father.
Why?
To separate them?
To provoke Julian?
To hide the actual killer?
“Who was there?”
“Pike says one other vehicle arrived before him.”
“Whose?”
“He refuses to identify the driver until immunity terms are finalized.”
Clara’s anger erupted.
“My father has been dead twelve years. He does not get to bargain with me.”
Cole’s expression softened slightly.
“He’s not bargaining with you.”
“Then tell him I’ll testify against every deal that protects him.”
“Mrs. Mercer.”
“My father died alone on a road while that man helped lie about it.”
“I understand.”
“No. You understand a case. I understand twelve Christmases without him.”
Cole became quiet.
Clara looked away.
She hated crying in public.
Especially now.
Michael placed a cup of water beside her without speaking.
She thanked him.
Agent Cole waited.
Then said:
“There’s another reason we’re interested in Pike.”
Clara wiped her eyes.
“What?”
“Two hours after your father died, Pike entered a storage facility twelve miles from the crash.”
“What storage facility?”
“Records were incomplete. The unit was rented under a false name.”
“What did he remove?”
“We don’t know.”
Clara thought of her father’s black leather case.
“Was there surveillance?”
“Old system. Most footage destroyed.”
“Most?”
Cole placed a grainy photograph on the table.
A still frame.
Raymond Pike carrying something.
Black leather.
Rectangular.
Clara’s stomach dropped.
“My father’s case.”
“You recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
Cole leaned forward.
“Mrs. Mercer, Pike says he never opened it.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“He claims he delivered it.”
“To whom?”
Cole was about to answer when another agent entered.
She whispered into his ear.
Cole’s expression changed.
“What happened?” Clara asked.
He looked at her.
“Raymond Pike’s vehicle just crashed.”
Clara stood.
“What?”
“He was being followed by our surveillance team.”
“Is he alive?”
“We don’t know.”
“Who hit him?”
“It wasn’t another vehicle.”
May you like
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“His car exploded.”
