Chapter 13 - The Trial Before the Trial
Conrad agreed to speak after learning that Daniel had begun cooperating.
He requested one condition.
Julian had to be present.
The interview took place in a secure room without cameras visible, though every word was recorded.
Conrad sat on one side of the table in a dark detention uniform. Without his tailored suit, polished shoes, and circle of assistants, he appeared smaller.
Not weaker.
Power had never come from his clothing.
It came from his certainty that every person could be reduced to a need, fear, or price.
Julian sat opposite him beside Agent Monroe.
Evelyn watched through the observation glass with Miriam.
Conrad looked at his son.
“You stopped the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed the foundation.”
“I exposed what you did to it.”
“They are the same thing in the public mind.”
“Then perhaps you should have protected it before protecting yourself.”
Conrad almost smiled.
“You sound like your mother.”
“Is she alive?”
The question erased the smile.
Conrad folded his hands.
“Daniel has filled your head with stories.”
“Is she alive?”
“Your mother entered a boat during a storm. The boat was found damaged. She was not.”
“That was not my question.”
Conrad looked toward the observation glass.
He knew Evelyn and Miriam were there.
“Helena discovered people more dangerous than I was.”
“Northstar?”
“Northstar is a name. Names change.”
“What does the star mean?”
“Eight founders.”
“Who are they?”
“Most are dead.”
“Who is alive?”
Conrad did not answer.
Julian placed the Swiss photograph on the table.
“Who is this woman?”
Conrad studied it.
“Not Helena.”
“Daniel said she was the woman you saved from the boat.”
“Daniel believes fragments make him powerful.”
“Who did you save?”
Conrad looked at his son for a long time.
“Clara Cross.”
Behind the glass, Evelyn stopped breathing.
Conrad continued.
“Helena and Clara planned to expose the founders. They arranged to leave by boat with the original trustee records. I followed them.”
“Why?”
“To stop them.”
“What happened?”
“The weather changed. The boat struck debris. Helena was injured. Clara fell overboard.”
“You saved Clara instead of your wife?”
“I could only reach one.”
Julian’s face went white.
“Where was my mother?”
“Inside the cabin.”
“You left her there?”
“The boat was sinking.”
“You left her.”
“I chose the person who could lead me to the records.”
Miriam turned away from the glass.
Evelyn remained frozen.
“Clara survived,” Conrad said. “But she did not remember everything. Helena had hidden part of the trustee list before the accident.”
“What did you do with Clara?” Julian asked.
“I placed her in a private clinic.”
“For seventeen years?”
“No. She escaped.”
“When?”
“Two years before Evelyn married Daniel.”
Evelyn’s thoughts collided.
If Clara escaped before Daniel entered her life, she may have tried to return.
“Why did she not contact her daughter?” Agent Monroe asked.
Conrad looked toward the glass again.
“She did.”
Evelyn entered the room.
Monroe began to object, then allowed her to stand beside Julian.
“When?” Evelyn asked.
Conrad met her eyes.
“The year before your wedding.”
“My wedding to Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She sent letters.”
“I never received them.”
“Daniel did.”
Evelyn gripped the back of the empty chair.
“What did the letters say?”
“That she was alive. That you were being watched. That you should not marry him.”
Daniel had proposed after Evelyn began planning the wedding.
He had insisted on handling the mail when she moved apartments.
“What did he do with the letters?”
“Burned most of them.”
“Most?”
Conrad’s gaze shifted toward Julian.
“One survived.”
“Where?”
“In Helena’s music box.”
The music box delivered after the wedding.
The one containing the warning about the woman in red.
Evelyn remembered the paper beneath the mechanism.
Agent Monroe had removed the visible note, but no one had dismantled the base.
The music box was brought from evidence storage.
A technician removed the velvet lining.
Beneath it was a second compartment.
Inside lay a folded letter.
The handwriting belonged to Clara.
My dearest Evelyn,
If this reaches you, the man beside you has already learned too much about our family. Do not confront him alone. Do not believe any doctor he chooses. Do not trust any accident. Find Helena’s son. The protection passes through both of you.
Julian read the final sentence twice.
“What protection?”
Conrad looked at them.
“The original trust requires two heirs to activate it.”
“Which heirs?” Evelyn asked.
“Helena’s blood heir and Clara’s blood heir.”
Julian and Evelyn.
Their families had designed the protection together.
Northstar had placed Daniel beside Evelyn and Lila beside Julian to control both heirs before either understood the connection.
Agent Monroe leaned forward.
“Who controls Northstar now?”
Conrad gave a tired smile.
“You still think control belongs to one person.”
“Give us a name.”
“I can give you the name of the person who ordered the wedding operation.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You said she tried to expose Northstar.”
“She did.”
“Then why would she order the operation?”
“Because after seventeen years inside the system, Clara no longer wanted to destroy it.”
May you like
Conrad looked at Julian.
“She wanted to inherit it.”
