Chapter 10 - The Ledger of a Dead Man
By evening, the villa had become a crime scene.
Investigators photographed the library, copied the security footage, and collected every device belonging to Julian and Daniel.
Julian was taken into custody for questioning.
Daniel escaped through the river tunnel, but police recovered his abandoned vehicle near the docks.
Karen remained inside the library with the black ledger.
Arthur’s handwriting covered most of the pages.
The entries began six years before his death.
Payments had been made to shell companies, private investigators, foreign consultants, and an organization identified only as Northstar.
Some payments were legitimate company expenses.
Others were not.
Elena entered carrying two cups of tea.
“Lily is asleep.”
Karen closed the ledger.
“How is her wrist?”
“The doctor said it will heal.”
Karen looked down.
“I should have protected both of you.”
“You trusted my husband.”
“I trusted Daniel.”
“You also trusted Julian with company authority.”
Karen accepted the words.
“I believed giving him responsibility would make him loyal.”
“You believed money could reveal character.”
“It did.”
Elena sat across from her.
“Why did Dad write in that ledger after he died?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could the date be wrong?”
“Arthur never made clerical errors.”
Karen opened the ledger again.
The final entry read:
Northstar protocol extended. D. remains useful. Karen must not know until the breach is confirmed.
Below it was Arthur’s signature.
The date was fourteen days after his funeral.
Elena read the sentence.
“What breach?”
Karen shook her head.
“And who is D.?”
“Daniel?”
“Perhaps.”
Margaret entered.
“The board has accepted your emergency order. Julian and Daniel have been suspended from every position.”
“What about the accounts?”
“Twenty-nine million dollars has been frozen. Eleven million remains missing.”
“Graybridge?”
“Partially recovered. The numbered account was emptied this afternoon.”
Karen looked toward the ledger.
“Before or after we confronted Julian?”
“Six minutes before you entered the living room.”
Elena frowned.
“Someone knew Karen was coming.”
Margaret nodded.
“Someone outside the villa.”
Karen stood.
“Or someone inside my team.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“You think we have another traitor?”
“I think Daniel was too frightened to be the person controlling everything.”
Elena looked toward the window.
“What happens to Julian?”
“The district attorney will decide the charges. Fraud, conspiracy, unlawful financial transfers, falsification of medical documents, and coercive control are all supported by the evidence.”
Elena’s shoulders lowered slightly.
For months, she had believed Julian was untouchable.
Now he sat inside an interview room without his phone, his accounts, or his name on the company door.
“Will he come back here?” she asked.
“No,” Karen said. “This house belongs to the trust. I have issued a permanent exclusion order.”
Elena looked at her mother.
“Lily asked whether we are safe.”
Karen hesitated.
The immediate threat was gone.
The man who had controlled their lives was behind locked doors.
But Daniel remained missing.
The unexplained account had been emptied.
And Arthur’s ledger suggested the theft was connected to something older than Julian’s ambition.
“We are safer,” Karen answered.
“That isn’t what she asked.”
“No.”
Elena stood.
“I won’t lie to her anymore.”
Karen watched her leave.
Margaret remained.
“You could have told Elena the danger was over.”
“It would have comforted her.”
“It would also have been false.”
Karen opened the ledger to the first page.
A small symbol had been drawn beside several transactions.
It looked like a compass divided by a vertical line.
Margaret leaned closer.
“I’ve seen that before.”
“Where?”
“On Arthur’s private stationery.”
Karen shook her head.
“Arthur’s stationery carried the Westbrook crest.”
“Not the stationery he kept in the lake house.”
Karen looked up.
The lake house had been locked since Arthur’s death.
May you like
No one had entered it in five years.
At least, no one was supposed to have entered it.
