Chapter 6 - The Man Nobody Mentioned)
Richard Mercer had not spoken his brother's name in almost eleven years.
Caroline knew she had an uncle.
Technically.
Thomas Mercer had appeared in old photographs and one memory from Caroline's childhood.
A tall man laughing beside a lake.
A red canoe.
Her mother carrying sandwiches.
Richard and Thomas arguing later that evening behind a cabin.
Then Thomas disappeared from family stories.
Whenever Caroline asked, Richard said they had gone separate ways.
Now Malcolm held the unsigned envelope as if it might explode.
Caroline looked at her father.
"Uncle Thomas wrote that?"
Richard's mouth tightened.
"Apparently."
"Why would his letter be with Mom's things?"
"I don't know."
Evelyn watched him.
"That's not the only thing you don't know."
Richard turned sharply.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Turn this into something it isn't."
"What is it?"
Richard looked toward Caroline.
"A family dispute."
Caroline laughed.
"Family dispute? Mom apparently built a secret trust with Evelyn, Uncle Thomas left a letter after she died, Derek forged my signature, and someone used your corporate credentials."
Richard's voice hardened.
"Thomas has nothing to do with Derek."
"How do you know?"
"Because Thomas is dead."
Silence.
Caroline stared.
"What?"
Richard looked away.
"He died six years ago."
"You never told me?"
"You hadn't seen him in years."
"He's my uncle."
"He wasn't part of our lives."
Caroline stepped closer.
"Why?"
Richard did not answer.
Malcolm did.
"Because Thomas and Richard were business partners."
Richard turned.
"Malcolm."
"He is a beneficiary. She has a right to understand any conflict affecting the trust."
Richard glared at him.
Then he sat.
For the first time that morning, Richard Mercer looked defeated.
"Our father founded Mercer Development," he said. "Thomas and I inherited equal shares."
Caroline knew the public version.
Two brothers.
One left.
Richard built the company.
What she had never heard was why.
"Thomas wanted to sell during the recession. I refused. We fought. He claimed I manipulated company valuations to force him out cheaply."
"Did you?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Evelyn noticed.
Richard noticed her noticing.
"It was complicated."
Caroline folded her arms.
"That sounds like yes."
"It means the company was nearly insolvent."
"And?"
"And Thomas needed cash."
"So you bought him out."
"Eventually."
"For fair value?"
Richard exhaled.
"At the value the company could support."
Caroline looked toward Evelyn.
"Where were you?"
"Not in Richard's life."
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"The buyout happened sixteen years ago."
Five years before he met Evelyn at the museum fundraiser.
Caroline looked at the red-wax envelope.
"And Mom knew?"
Richard nodded.
"Anne knew everything."
"Did she agree with you?"
Richard did not answer.
Caroline whispered, "Dad."
"No."
The word seemed difficult for him.
"She thought I took advantage of Thomas."
Caroline looked at the envelope again.
"Open it."
Richard shook his head.
"It isn't addressed to anyone."
"Exactly."
Malcolm carefully broke the wax.
Inside were six pages.
The first was not a letter.
It was a photocopy of a corporate ownership ledger.
Malcolm scanned it.
His expression tightened.
Richard reached for it.
"What?"
Malcolm handed it over.
Richard read.
Then stood so fast his chair struck the wall.
"This is wrong."
Evelyn moved closer.
"What is it?"
Richard pointed at an entry.
A transfer of Mercer Development shares.
Thirty-one percent.
Transferred from Thomas Mercer to an entity called Harbor Nine Holdings.
The transfer date was six months before Richard bought what he believed were Thomas's remaining shares.
Caroline frowned.
"So?"
Richard stared at the page.
"If this is real, Thomas didn't own half the company when I bought him out."
"Who owned Harbor Nine?"
Malcolm turned to the next page.
The registered ownership was concealed through a Delaware structure.
But someone had handwritten a note at the bottom.
Ask Anne who funded Harbor Nine.
Richard went still.
Caroline whispered, "Mom?"
Evelyn's mind moved faster.
"If Thomas transferred thirty-one percent before your agreement, then what exactly did you purchase?"
"His disclosed holdings."
"Which would mean you never acquired this thirty-one percent."
Richard looked at Malcolm.
"Who owns it now?"
"I don't know."
"Find out."
Malcolm shook his head.
"This structure may have changed multiple times."
"Then start."
Caroline looked at her father.
"Could someone own almost a third of your company and you not know?"
Richard's face had become gray.
"Not under the ownership records we've been using."
Evelyn understood first.
"Unless someone buried it."
Richard looked at her.
"Or unless the document is fake."
Malcolm studied the paper.
"It carries an auditor stamp from the old firm."
"Firms can make mistakes."
"Yes."
"But?"
Malcolm turned over the final page.
A notarized signature appeared at the bottom.
Thomas Mercer.
A witness signature sat beside it.
Anne Mercer.
Caroline whispered, "Mom helped him."
Richard did not move.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
For thirteen years Richard had believed his wife disagreed with the Thomas buyout.
Now he was staring at evidence she may have actively helped Thomas move a huge part of the company beyond Richard's reach.
Caroline watched him.
"Why would Mom do that?"
Richard's voice was almost inaudible.
"To stop me."
"From what?"
No one answered.
Evelyn picked up the final sheet.
On its reverse side was one sentence in Thomas's handwriting.
If Richard ever learns the truth about Harbor Nine, tell him the company survived because the woman he blamed was willing to lose everything.
Caroline looked toward Evelyn.
"The woman he blamed?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"That doesn't mean me."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"Who else?"
Evelyn looked at Anne's photograph on the table.
"Your wife."
Richard turned pale.
Then Malcolm's phone rang.
He checked the screen.
"Mercer security."
He answered.
Everyone watched him.
"Hayes."
A pause.
"Yes."
Another pause.
Malcolm's expression changed.
"What time?"
Richard stepped closer.
"What?"
Malcolm raised one finger.
"Send me the logs immediately."
He ended the call.
"Derek's employee credentials were used to access the estate portal."
Caroline closed her eyes.
"When?"
Malcolm looked at her.
"Last night."
Richard frowned.
"He was here."
"Yes."
"At what time?"
"11:36 p.m."
Evelyn remembered.
At 11:36 she had been downstairs calling Malcolm.
Derek had been upstairs.
Caroline whispered, "So he did it."
Malcolm did not answer.
Caroline looked at him.
"What?"
"The login came from the Mercer home network."
Richard's face hardened.
"That proves Derek accessed it from here."
"No."
Malcolm placed the phone on the table.
"The credentials used were Derek's."
"Yes."
"But the device wasn't."
"Whose was it?"
May you like
Malcolm looked at Richard.
"Yours."
