Chapter 12 - What Survived the Fire
Fire crews arrived at the original Mercer Crown within minutes, but the third floor had already collapsed.
Evelyn watched from behind the police barrier as flames consumed the windows of room 314.
The cabinet, the service passage, and anything Adrian might have hidden inside were disappearing.
Sophie stood wrapped in Damon’s coat.
“Did we take everything?”
“We took what we found,” Evelyn said.
The answer did not satisfy either of them.
Investigators discovered traces of accelerant near the loading dock. The fire had been set deliberately.
Grant Bell was taken into custody for questioning, but he refused to explain Northstar. His attorney arrived before noon and demanded his release.
Preston began cooperating more fully when he learned about the fire.
Ortiz questioned him in an interview room at the federal building while Evelyn watched through the observation glass.
“Marianne called the plan Northstar,” Preston said. “I thought it referred to the acquisition.”
“What acquisition?”
“Mercer Crown.”
“Why would the account activate if Grant was compromised?”
“I do not know.”
Ortiz placed a photograph of the bird-shaped ring on the table.
“Have you seen this symbol?”
Preston stared at it too long.
“On Marianne’s private documents.”
“What documents?”
“A list of payments.”
“To whom?”
“Judges, accountants, inspectors, trustees. I never saw full names.”
“Did Adrian appear on the list?”
“No.”
“Did Clara?”
Preston’s face changed.
Evelyn stepped closer to the glass.
Ortiz noticed.
“What did Clara Mercer have to do with it?”
Preston looked toward the observation window even though he could not see through it.
“Marianne said Clara created the account.”
Sophie was not in the building. Mara had taken her home under security protection.
Evelyn entered the interview room.
Ortiz did not stop her.
“Clara was a children’s book illustrator,” Evelyn said. “She did not create a six-hundred-million-dollar account.”
Preston shook his head.
“That was not her real work.”
“What was?”
“She helped Adrian trace money through international charities.”
“Why?”
“Because her family had been connected to the account before she met him.”
Evelyn sat across from Preston.
“Why did you marry me?”
His eyes filled with something that might have been shame.
“At first, because Marianne told me to get close to you.”
“At first?”
“Then I loved you.”
“You framed my child.”
“I believed she would be returned after you signed the merger.”
“You believed what was convenient.”
Preston lowered his head.
“Marianne promised me control of Hale Capital if I helped her.”
“And your mother?”
“She knew about the financial plan. She did not know Marianne was connected to Adrian’s accident.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
It was the first honest answer he had given.
Ortiz pushed a legal pad toward him.
“Write every location where Marianne stored documents.”
Preston listed three offices, a private vault, and an apartment registered to an assistant.
Then he stopped.
“There was another place.”
“Where?”
“A house on Hawthorne Island.”
Evelyn recognized the name.
Clara had inherited a small house there from her grandmother. After the accident, Marianne told Evelyn the property had been sold to pay estate taxes.
Preston continued.
“Marianne visited the island every year on Sophie’s birthday.”
Evelyn’s phone rang.
It was Mara.
“Someone entered Mercer House.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“With me. We are safe.”
“What did they take?”
“Nothing obvious.”
Mara’s voice changed.
“They left something in Sophie’s room.”
“What?”
“A red envelope.”
Evelyn stopped breathing.
May you like
Adrian had asked Preston whether Sophie received a red envelope.
Someone had finally delivered it.
