Detective Shah recorded the call.<\/p>\n
Mercer either knew that or did not care.<\/p>\n
His voice remained controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Briggs, I understand you\u2019ve had an extremely difficult few days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou understand because your name is on my husband\u2019s recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
No denial.<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood across the kitchen with his arms folded.<\/p>\n
Richard listened from beside me.<\/p>\n
Detective Shah remained on another line.<\/p>\n
Mercer continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met Harold Briggs twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recording suggests at least once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was the second?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral months after the first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecorded?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you discuss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney laundering?\u201d<\/p>\n
He exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAllegations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband sounded fairly specific.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was an engineer looking at financial structures outside his expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInteresting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is almost exactly what you told him fifteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I had landed something.<\/p>\n
Mercer changed approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold was intelligent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrincipled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd occasionally inflexible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was also true.<\/p>\n
\u201cI respected him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou warned him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI warned him that accusations carry consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor Hale threatened him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot speak for Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Briggs, you\u2019re trying to understand a complicated financial arrangement through fragments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I\u2019m trying to understand why people broke into my garage, threatened my family, attempted to steal money, kidnapped my accountant, and demanded evidence my husband hid.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice lost some smoothness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had nothing to do with those acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know Aaron Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSilas Price?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas Avery?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMelissa Grant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel Price?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel worked with Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel had never mentioned that.<\/p>\n
Another omission waiting for later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want from me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to avoid making a serious mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAssuming the recording means what you think it means.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what do I think it means?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I participated in Victor Hale\u2019s crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clean.<\/p>\n
Immediate.<\/p>\n
Prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you afraid of the recording?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou contacted me within hours of police recovering it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Daniel mouthed:<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
Mercer replied, \u201cI was informed that my name had surfaced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t discuss that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019re finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Briggs\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved to end the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor Hale asked me to protect Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
The room went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter their first confrontation, Victor realized Harold had stumbled into something dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor created the danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were people above Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin chilled.<\/p>\n
The banker.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s warning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what I want to discuss privately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy privately?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause some of them still have influence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least he admitted that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Victor working for the banker?\u201d<\/p>\n
A longer pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you hear that term?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Richard.<\/p>\n
His expression sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not entirely true.<\/p>\n
But close enough.<\/p>\n
Mercer\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Harold identify him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silence was the most revealing thing Mercer had said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know,\u201d I realized.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnow what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know everything Harold kept.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the empty place where the flash drive had been.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer exhaled slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor was never the top of the structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeet me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith your attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill no.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how do you expect to understand?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStart talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not.<\/p>\n
That told me his information had value only if it purchased access.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenator?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Victor Hale ever tell you why Harold kept the evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect his family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you know threatening me is the worst possible way to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not threatening you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Daniel exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like rich Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe hangs up on senators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor Mom would have done that too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Shah\u2019s voice came through the speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say anything useful?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe confirmed Victor answered to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe banker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard looked troubled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
He tapped the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer\u2019s version creates a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he\u2019s innocent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot innocent. Less involved than the recording implies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut involvement has degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
Thomas was guilty and manipulated.<\/p>\n
Samuel was secretive and frightened.<\/p>\n
Victor was criminal and later wanted out.<\/p>\n
People did not fit neatly into boxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer could have been legal or political protection,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr part of the laundering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was learning Richard\u2019s language.<\/p>\n
Detective Shah said federal investigators were reviewing the drive.<\/p>\n
Until then, Mercer was not to be contacted again.<\/p>\n
That instruction lasted forty minutes.<\/p>\n
Not because I ignored it.<\/p>\n
Because Mercer contacted me.<\/p>\n
This time he sent a photograph.<\/p>\n
Victor Hale.<\/p>\n
Recent.<\/p>\n
Hospital bed.<\/p>\n
Thin.<\/p>\n
Oxygen tubing.<\/p>\n
The man looked close to death.<\/p>\n
Beneath it:<\/p>\n
Ask Victor who protected Harold after the first meeting.<\/p>\n
I showed Detective Shah.<\/p>\n
She arranged an interview with Victor.<\/p>\n
He remained under guard after being found restrained at the Vale property.<\/p>\n
His medical condition was worse than police initially understood.<\/p>\n
Doctors believed he had little time.<\/p>\n
By evening, we were allowed a monitored video call.<\/p>\n
Victor appeared on screen.<\/p>\n
He looked smaller than his crimes.<\/p>\n
That unsettled me.<\/p>\n
I had imagined the man who frightened Harold as physically imposing.<\/p>\n
Instead, Victor was a dying old man whose hospital gown hung loosely from his shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret Briggs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like Harold described you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you would ask the uncomfortable question first.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Senator Mercer protect my husband?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told people Harold\u2019s evidence was duplicated and distributed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect Harold?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Jonathan had gotten in deeper than he intended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard leaned toward the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow deep?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Cole. Mrs. Briggs\u2019s attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor laughed weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen bill her well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI intend to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even I smiled.<\/p>\n
Victor coughed.<\/p>\n
Then continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cJonathan helped us secure approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment approvals?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBribes?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cFavors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard said, \u201cThat\u2019s not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only one I\u2019m giving.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was the banker?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s eyes returned to me.<\/p>\n
Fear appeared.<\/p>\n
Actual fear.<\/p>\n
Not performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never knew the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I never told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone else could have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSilas?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor gave a weak laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cSilas barely knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor stared at the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe banker wasn\u2019t one person.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cA role?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin Red Mesa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s breathing became rougher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person changed over time. They controlled access to offshore accounts, correspondent banks, private lenders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho held the role when Harold discovered the project?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cElias Ward.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not know the name.<\/p>\n
Richard did.<\/p>\n
His head lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWard International?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the lawyer knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard turned to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor private banking family. Old money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cElias died years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who replaced him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s eyes shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his mouth.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
The monitor beside his bed began beeping faster.<\/p>\n
A nurse entered.<\/p>\n
Victor raised one hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
She checked something.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned toward the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes found mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice came faint.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Jonathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse ended the connection.<\/p>\n
Richard was already searching his memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWard. Ward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cElias Ward\u2019s daughter married into another banking family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he could answer, Detective Shah\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
She listened.<\/p>\n
Her face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
She ended the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor Hale just went into cardiac arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re working on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard said, \u201cWe need his statement preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Victor\u2019s final words.<\/p>\n
Ask Jonathan.<\/p>\n
Mercer knew Caroline.<\/p>\n
Mercer knew the banker.<\/p>\n
And Mercer had called me before anyone outside the investigation should have known the drive was recovered.<\/p>\n
Then another realization came.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said your firm represented Westbridge Infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer\u2019s brother-in-law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat bank financed Westbridge?\u201d<\/p>\n
He froze.<\/p>\n
I watched recognition move across his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his laptop.<\/p>\n
Records came up.<\/p>\n
He stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWard Continental.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline\u2019s bank?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The network had not merely brushed against Richard\u2019s old case.<\/p>\n
It had financed it.<\/p>\n
And somewhere between Harold\u2019s recording and Richard\u2019s former client was a woman whose name had not appeared once in fifteen years of hidden papers.<\/p>\n
A woman powerful enough that Victor Hale was still afraid to say her name while dying.<\/p>\n
Detective Shah recorded the call. Mercer either knew that or did not care. His voice remained controlled. \u201cMrs. Briggs, I understand you\u2019ve had an extremely difficult few days.\u201d \u201cYou understand … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29617","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\/29617","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=29617"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29652,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29617\/revisions\/29652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}