Thomas did not speak for nearly a minute.<\/p>\n
Then he said, "Play it again."<\/p>\n
David looked at him.<\/p>\n
"The message?"<\/p>\n
"The recording."<\/p>\n
Anna's voice played again.<\/p>\n
Young.<\/p>\n
Ordinary.<\/p>\n
Alive in a way photographs were not.<\/p>\n
Victor? It's Anna Reddick. I found something in Dad's office I think you're supposed to take to Gregory.<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
I don't know what it is, but Dad's name is on some of the papers. Call me back.<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at the speaker until the file ended.<\/p>\n
"She thought she was helping."<\/p>\n
Samuel stood beside him.<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
"She saw company papers and assumed they belonged to Gregory."<\/p>\n
"Did she know you suspected financial misconduct?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Why not?"<\/p>\n
"Because I didn't suspect it yet."<\/p>\n
That changed something.<\/p>\n
The audit materials had been in Thomas's office.<\/p>\n
But perhaps he had not understood what they meant.<\/p>\n
David asked, "Who prepared them?"<\/p>\n
Thomas thought.<\/p>\n
"A junior accountant."<\/p>\n
"Name?"<\/p>\n
"Michael Trent."<\/p>\n
Mark frowned.<\/p>\n
"I know that name."<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"Old CFO."<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
"He eventually became CFO."<\/p>\n
"Still alive?"<\/p>\n
"Retired."<\/p>\n
David immediately noted it.<\/p>\n
"If Trent prepared the materials, he may know what Anna took."<\/p>\n
Thomas sat.<\/p>\n
"I need to call him."<\/p>\n
Alvarez raised a hand.<\/p>\n
"Through us."<\/p>\n
Thomas looked frustrated but nodded.<\/p>\n
Victor's accusation remained on the screen.<\/p>\n
Gregory told me to stop her before she reached the police.<\/p>\n
Samuel read it again.<\/p>\n
"Why would she go to police if she thought she was giving documents to Victor?"<\/p>\n
David answered.<\/p>\n
"Maybe something happened after the voicemail."<\/p>\n
"Victor called her back."<\/p>\n
"Likely."<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at Victor's messages.<\/p>\n
"He may be editing the story."<\/p>\n
Alvarez nodded.<\/p>\n
"He's giving pieces strategically."<\/p>\n
"To what end?"<\/p>\n
"Leverage."<\/p>\n
The same answer.<\/p>\n
Always leverage.<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
"Victor now knows we are reconstructing his role in the crash. He may be trying to frame himself as an unwilling participant."<\/p>\n
Thomas's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
"By accusing Gregory."<\/p>\n
"Possibly truthfully."<\/p>\n
Samuel said, "Both can be guilty."<\/p>\n
"Exactly."<\/p>\n
Michael Trent agreed to speak remotely that afternoon.<\/p>\n
He was seventy-eight and living in Oregon.<\/p>\n
When his face appeared on screen, Thomas visibly aged another year.<\/p>\n
"Tom."<\/p>\n
"Michael."<\/p>\n
Trent looked toward the others.<\/p>\n
"I assume this is about 1997."<\/p>\n
No one expected that.<\/p>\n
Thomas stared.<\/p>\n
"You knew?"<\/p>\n
Trent gave a tired smile.<\/p>\n
"I've been waiting twenty-nine years for someone to ask properly."<\/p>\n
David took over.<\/p>\n
"What were the documents Anna Reddick removed from Thomas's office?"<\/p>\n
Trent's face tightened.<\/p>\n
"Preliminary pension audit schedules."<\/p>\n
"What did they show?"<\/p>\n
"Unauthorized transfers."<\/p>\n
"By whom?"<\/p>\n
"Accounts controlled by Gregory Vale."<\/p>\n
Mark closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
No surprise anymore.<\/p>\n
Only confirmation.<\/p>\n
"Did Thomas know?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Thomas looked toward Trent sharply.<\/p>\n
"You never told me."<\/p>\n
"I intended to."<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"The Monday after Anna died."<\/p>\n
Thomas went still.<\/p>\n
Trent continued.<\/p>\n
"I left the schedules in your office Friday afternoon because I trusted you more than internal management."<\/p>\n
"Anna died Friday night."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Did she see them by accident?"<\/p>\n
"I assume."<\/p>\n
Thomas rubbed his mouth.<\/p>\n
"Why would she take them?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
Samuel said, "She called Victor."<\/p>\n
Trent's expression changed.<\/p>\n
"Victor Harris?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Then she probably recognized his name."<\/p>\n
"From where?"<\/p>\n
Trent leaned back.<\/p>\n
"He appeared in the ledgers."<\/p>\n
Thomas stared.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Red Mesa Consulting."<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
"Victor's company."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Anna may have seen the name in the audit schedules."<\/p>\n
"Likely."<\/p>\n
"And she had met him."<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered, "At the office."<\/p>\n
Trent nodded.<\/p>\n
"She may have assumed he was involved in fixing the problem."<\/p>\n
Samuel laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
"She thought the thief was security."<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
David asked, "Did Gregory know about the audit before Anna died?"<\/p>\n
Trent hesitated.<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Did anyone else?"<\/p>\n
"Two people."<\/p>\n
"Who?"<\/p>\n
"Me and Claire Benton."<\/p>\n
Everyone froze.<\/p>\n
Impossible.<\/p>\n
Claire would have been too young.<\/p>\n
Trent saw our confusion.<\/p>\n
"Not the same Claire Benton."<\/p>\n
Helen spoke from the secure line.<\/p>\n
"Her mother."<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Claire had said Kellerman treated her mother.<\/p>\n
But nobody had asked what her mother did.<\/p>\n
"Claire's mother worked at Vale Holdings?" I asked.<\/p>\n
Helen nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
"Accounting."<\/p>\n
"What was her name?"<\/p>\n
"Claire Benton Senior. Her daughter was named after her."<\/p>\n
Sarah stared.<\/p>\n
"That's why Claire knew the old files."<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered, "Jesus."<\/p>\n
Trent continued.<\/p>\n
"Claire's mother assisted me with the pension schedules."<\/p>\n
"What happened to her?" David asked.<\/p>\n
Trent looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
"She resigned after Anna died."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"She said she didn't want to be involved."<\/p>\n
"Did Gregory pressure her?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
Helen said quietly, "Claire's mother died twelve years ago."<\/p>\n
I thought about Claire finding Red Mesa payments in old archives.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had not discovered the trail accidentally.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had been looking for something her mother left behind.<\/p>\n
David asked Trent, "Did Benton make copies?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Helen inhaled.<\/p>\n
"Claire inherited them."<\/p>\n
That explained her early knowledge.<\/p>\n
Her obsession with succession might have begun with old family papers, not Daniel.<\/p>\n
Love and money had simply fused later.<\/p>\n
Trent continued.<\/p>\n
"The weekend after Anna died, Gregory told me the pension discrepancies were accounting errors."<\/p>\n
"Did you believe him?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"What did you do?"<\/p>\n
"I resigned six months later."<\/p>\n
"Why wait?"<\/p>\n
"To reconstruct the missing funds."<\/p>\n
"Did you?"<\/p>\n
"Partly."<\/p>\n
"How much was missing?"<\/p>\n
"Approximately eleven million dollars at the time."<\/p>\n
Mark stared.<\/p>\n
"What happened to it?"<\/p>\n
"Most returned through a series of shell entities."<\/p>\n
"Most?"<\/p>\n
"About eight million."<\/p>\n
"What happened to the rest?"<\/p>\n
Trent looked toward Thomas.<\/p>\n
"I believed it funded an acquisition Gregory couldn't legally finance through the pension plan."<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered the company name before Trent could.<\/p>\n
"Northstar Freight."<\/p>\n
Trent nodded.<\/p>\n
Samuel frowned.<\/p>\n
"What was Northstar?"<\/p>\n
"A logistics company Vale Holdings bought in 1998."<\/p>\n
David leaned forward.<\/p>\n
"Why does that matter?"<\/p>\n
Thomas looked ill.<\/p>\n
"Because Northstar later became the basis of the distribution division."<\/p>\n
Mark stared.<\/p>\n
"A third of the company."<\/p>\n
"Approximately."<\/p>\n
The implications were enormous.<\/p>\n
Gregory may have built a major part of Vale Holdings using money improperly moved from employee pensions.<\/p>\n
If true, Matthew's trust dispute had uncovered not merely family fraud.<\/p>\n
Potential corporate fraud affecting thousands of workers.<\/p>\n
I felt suddenly small in the room.<\/p>\n
Not unimportant.<\/p>\n
Just aware that the circle of harmed people had expanded far beyond us.<\/p>\n
David asked, "Did Anna plan to go to the police?"<\/p>\n
Trent frowned.<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Victor claims Gregory ordered him to stop her before she reached police."<\/p>\n
Trent stared.<\/p>\n
"I can't verify that."<\/p>\n
"Did Anna call anyone else?"<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered, "Her roommate."<\/p>\n
Alvarez looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Still alive?"<\/p>\n
"Last I knew."<\/p>\n
"Name?"<\/p>\n
"Rachel Moore."<\/p>\n
Within hours, Alvarez located her.<\/p>\n
Rachel remembered the night.<\/p>\n
Her voice shook over the phone.<\/p>\n
"Anna came back to the dorm around six."<\/p>\n
"What was she carrying?"<\/p>\n
"A big envelope."<\/p>\n
"Did she tell you what it was?"<\/p>\n
"She said she'd found something weird in her father's office."<\/p>\n
"What kind of thing?"<\/p>\n
"Money transfers."<\/p>\n
Thomas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
"She thought someone named Victor might explain it."<\/p>\n
"Did she call him?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"What happened after?"<\/p>\n
"She got angry."<\/p>\n
Everyone leaned closer.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know exactly. She said, 'If they're stealing from retirees, somebody has to know.'"<\/p>\n
Thomas covered his mouth.<\/p>\n
"Did she mention police?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
The room went still.<\/p>\n
"She said she was going to ask campus security where to report corporate theft because she didn't trust company people."<\/p>\n
Victor had told the truth about that part.<\/p>\n
"What happened next?"<\/p>\n
"She left."<\/p>\n
"Alone?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Where was she going?"<\/p>\n
"She said she needed to meet someone first."<\/p>\n
"Who?"<\/p>\n
Rachel hesitated.<\/p>\n
"Victor."<\/p>\n
Thomas made a strangled sound.<\/p>\n
So Anna had arranged to meet the man later accused of causing her fatal crash.<\/p>\n
David asked, "Did she seem afraid of him?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
She trusted him enough to meet.<\/p>\n
At least before whatever happened.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
"About twenty minutes after she left, she called me."<\/p>\n
Thomas looked up sharply.<\/p>\n
"What did she say?"<\/p>\n
"She said Victor was acting strange."<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"He kept asking who else she'd told."<\/p>\n
My skin chilled.<\/p>\n
"What did she say?"<\/p>\n
"She told him only me."<\/p>\n
Samuel muttered, "Damn."<\/p>\n
"What happened then?"<\/p>\n
"She said she was leaving."<\/p>\n
"Did she?"<\/p>\n
"I think so."<\/p>\n
"Anything else?"<\/p>\n
Rachel began crying.<\/p>\n
"She said if she wasn't back by ten, I should call her father."<\/p>\n
Thomas turned away.<\/p>\n
"Did you?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"I wasn't home."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"You left a message."<\/p>\n
Rachel whispered, "Yes."<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
"I remember."<\/p>\n
The grief in his voice changed the room.<\/p>\n
For twenty-nine years, that message had probably seemed like nothing.<\/p>\n
Now it belonged to a chain.<\/p>\n
David asked, "Did she say anything about Gregory?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
That contradicted Victor's version slightly.<\/p>\n
If Gregory ordered him directly before Anna reached police, when?<\/p>\n
After Victor learned she had the documents.<\/p>\n
Alvarez's phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
"Forensics just recovered archived call records from a corporate telecom backup."<\/p>\n
Thomas stared.<\/p>\n
"From 1997?"<\/p>\n
"Some metadata."<\/p>\n
"Victor?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
She read.<\/p>\n
"At 7:12 p.m., Victor Harris called Gregory Vale's office for four minutes."<\/p>\n
Rachel had said Anna left around seven.<\/p>\n
"Then?"<\/p>\n
"7:19, Gregory called Victor back."<\/p>\n
Samuel leaned forward.<\/p>\n
"How long?"<\/p>\n
"Twelve minutes."<\/p>\n
"Then?"<\/p>\n
"7:36, Victor's mobile placed a call to Anna."<\/p>\n
Thomas went pale.<\/p>\n
"What time was the crash?"<\/p>\n
"Approximately 8:14."<\/p>\n
Everything tightened.<\/p>\n
David said, "That supports Victor receiving instructions before meeting her."<\/p>\n
Alvarez nodded.<\/p>\n
"But not what the instructions were."<\/p>\n
Victor messaged again almost immediately, as though he knew we were reconstructing the timeline.<\/p>\n
I have the call.<\/p>\n
Thomas stood.<\/p>\n
"What call?"<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
Gregory to me. 7:19 p.m.<\/p>\n
Samuel stared.<\/p>\n
"He's kept it all these years."<\/p>\n
David replied through law enforcement this time.<\/p>\n
Provide it.<\/p>\n
Victor answered.<\/p>\n
For the original codicil.<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
He sent another line.<\/p>\n
Then Anna stays a drunk girl who crashed.<\/p>\n
Thomas nearly lunged at the phone.<\/p>\n
Samuel caught him again.<\/p>\n
"That's what he wants."<\/p>\n
Thomas shook with rage.<\/p>\n
"My daughter\u2014"<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"No, you don't."<\/p>\n
Samuel held his gaze.<\/p>\n
"No. I don't."<\/p>\n
That stopped him.<\/p>\n
Alvarez said, "We need Victor to believe he still has bargaining power."<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered, "He does."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
"He has evidence. That's not the same as power."<\/p>\n
Thomas laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
"Feels similar."<\/p>\n
David asked, "Can we authenticate a digital copy if he sends it?"<\/p>\n
"Potentially."<\/p>\n
"Then we give him something else."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at the real codicil case.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Samuel understood.<\/p>\n
"Tom."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"We don't hand it over."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"We let him see it."<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at him.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued.<\/p>\n
"He wants proof we have the original."<\/p>\n
David frowned.<\/p>\n
"Why would that matter?"<\/p>\n
"Because if he's bargaining with Gregory too, he needs to prove the document still exists."<\/p>\n
That silenced the room.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Victor had been playing multiple sides for decades.<\/p>\n
Maybe he was still doing it.<\/p>\n
Mark said, "My father would pay anything to know whether the codicil is authentic."<\/p>\n
Helen spoke.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"And Victor could be selling him information."<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
David looked toward Thomas.<\/p>\n
"We show Victor the original remotely under controlled conditions. Nothing leaves custody."<\/p>\n
Thomas hated it.<\/p>\n
But after several minutes, he nodded.<\/p>\n
Alvarez arranged the exchange.<\/p>\n
Victor received a live video showing Thomas opening the archival case, displaying the seal, signatures and identifying marks.<\/p>\n
No copies.<\/p>\n
No access.<\/p>\n
Proof only.<\/p>\n
Victor stayed silent for six minutes.<\/p>\n
Then an audio file arrived.<\/p>\n
David authenticated the metadata provisionally.<\/p>\n
Thomas sat before it played.<\/p>\n
Samuel sat beside him.<\/p>\n
Not touching.<\/p>\n
Just there.<\/p>\n
Gregory's younger voice filled the room.<\/p>\n
Victor, listen carefully. She has documents she does not understand.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
She says she's going to the police.<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
Then stop her.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
How?<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
Get the papers. Keep her there until I arrive.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
She's already leaving.<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
Then follow her. Do not let those documents reach anyone.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
What if she calls her father?<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
Thomas cannot know yet.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
And the girl?<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
Then Gregory said the sentence that changed everything.<\/p>\n
Do not hurt her. I mean that.<\/p>\n
The recording continued.<\/p>\n
Get the papers. Keep her from reaching police. I will handle Thomas.<\/p>\n
Victor:<\/p>\n
Fine.<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
And Victor?<\/p>\n
Yeah?<\/p>\n
Gregory:<\/p>\n
If you have been drinking, do not drive.<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at the speaker.<\/p>\n
Samuel whispered, "Gregory ordered him to stop her."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"But not kill her."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Victor had told a partial truth.<\/p>\n
Gregory had instructed him to intercept Anna and recover the documents.<\/p>\n
That was illegal.<\/p>\n
Coercive.<\/p>\n
Possibly kidnapping if carried out.<\/p>\n
But he had explicitly warned Victor not to drive after drinking and not to hurt Anna.<\/p>\n
Thomas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
The distinction did not absolve Gregory.<\/p>\n
But it changed the crash.<\/p>\n
Victor had chosen to drive.<\/p>\n
Victor had chosen to follow her.<\/p>\n
Victor had crossed the center line.<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n
Victor sent one sentence.<\/p>\n
He still started it.<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at the screen.<\/p>\n
Then typed nothing.<\/p>\n
For once, he refused the bait.<\/p>\n
Alvarez's phone rang.<\/p>\n
She listened.<\/p>\n
Her expression sharpened.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
She muted the call.<\/p>\n
"Victor has been spotted."<\/p>\n
Every person stood.<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"Near the old Vale estate."<\/p>\n
Thomas stared.<\/p>\n
"Why there?"<\/p>\n
Alvarez looked toward the codicil.<\/p>\n
"I think he's done bargaining with us."<\/p>\n
Samuel said, "Then he's going to Gregory."<\/p>\n
Thomas did not speak for nearly a minute. Then he said, "Play it again." David looked at him. "The message?" "The recording." Anna's voice played again. Young. Ordinary. Alive in … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16781,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16753\/revisions\/16781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}