Chapter 10 - THE RED LEDGER
Charles Hayes had written everything by hand.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Names.
Amounts.
Initials.
The entries began eleven years earlier.
The missing sums started small.
Sixty thousand.
One hundred twenty thousand.
Then millions.
Julian sat in his father's former study while Clara read beside him.
Detective Bishop photographed every page.
Sienna remained across the room.
Eleanor had refused to join them.
Julian turned another page.
There.
JH AUTHORIZATION.
Five transfers.
Total: 8.4 million.
Sienna whispered, "I told you."
Julian examined the dates.
"I was in Tokyo."
"That doesn't matter."
"It does. I didn't access the system remotely during that trip."
Bishop asked, "Can you prove it?"
"Probably."
Clara touched another entry.
"Look."
SH APPROVAL.
Sienna stared.
"What?"
Several transfers bore her initials.
"That's impossible."
Julian looked at her.
"Now you understand."
Sienna's face drained.
"They used both of us."
Clara continued turning pages.
EH.
Eleanor Hayes.
LH.
Lawrence Hayes.
NH.
Nathan Hayes.
Even Charles himself.
CH.
Julian frowned.
"Everyone."
Clara shook her head.
"That's the point."
"What?"
"If every senior family member appears in the records, the ledger doesn't tell us who stole the money."
Sienna stared at the pages.
"It destroys all of us."
"Exactly."
Bishop leaned closer.
"Someone created transactions that could implicate the entire family."
Julian thought aloud.
"So if the theft was discovered, everyone would suspect everyone."
Clara looked at him.
"And nobody could go to police without exposing themselves."
Julian remembered years of quiet tension.
His father's sudden paranoia near the end of his life.
Eleanor's obsession with controlling information.
Lawrence's loyalty to nobody.
Sienna's resentment.
Nathan's desperation to join the company board.
The family had been poisoned slowly.
Precisely.
On the final written page, Charles had underlined one sentence.
THE MONEY IS NOT THE PURPOSE.
Julian read it again.
Beneath it:
FIND PROJECT HAVEN.
Clara whispered, "What is Project Haven?"
Nobody knew.
Marcus entered.
"Sir."
Julian looked up.
"Lawrence was located."
"Where?"
"His car was found near a private airfield."
"Was he there?"
"No."
"The notebook?"
"No."
Marcus hesitated.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The aircraft log shows a charter departed forty minutes after he left the estate."
"Destination?"
"Toronto."
Sienna exhaled.
Julian stood.
"Can we stop it?"
"Already landed."
Bishop immediately began making calls.
Clara remained focused on the ledger.
"Julian."
He turned.
She pointed to the inside back cover.
A faint indentation marked the leather.
Something had once been attached there.
A small rectangle.
Perhaps a photograph.
Perhaps a card.
Clara held the page toward the light.
Writing had transferred faintly from whatever had been removed.
Four words could still be seen.
HAVEN BEGINS WITH CLARA.
Julian stared at his wife.
She stared back.
"I don't know what that means."
May you like
For the first time, Julian believed her completely.
And that frightened him more than if she had lied.
