Chapter 6 - The First Lie
By sunrise, nobody had slept.
Grant obtained archived records from the old Carter investigation.
The documents arrived in boxes from an off-site storage facility.
Emily sat at the dining table surrounded by yellowing statements and faded photocopies.
Her father’s name appeared everywhere.
ROBERT CARTER.
SUSPECTED EMBEZZLEMENT.
TERMINATED FOR CAUSE.
Emily had never seen the documents before.
Each page felt like an insult.
Daniel sat across from her.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily kept reading.
“You didn’t write these.”
“My family did.”
“Your father did.”
Daniel nodded.
“My father believed Victor.”
Emily looked up.
“Why?”
“Victor had worked for him for twenty years.”
“And my father?”
“Seven.”
Emily returned to the documents.
“So loyalty mattered more than truth.”
Daniel had no defense.
Grant entered carrying another folder.
“I found something.”
Everyone looked up.
He placed two transaction records on the table.
“One from seventeen years ago.”
Another beside it.
“One from six months ago.”
Daniel studied them.
Emily saw no connection.
Grant pointed toward the authorization codes.
“They’re structured almost identically.”
Daniel frowned.
“That system was replaced twelve years ago.”
“Exactly.”
Grant tapped the recent transaction.
“Whoever designed this fraud copied the old method.”
Margaret entered.
“Why would anyone do that?”
Grant looked at her.
“To make it look familiar.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Or because the same person taught them.”
Emily thought about Victor Vale.
“Is he alive?”
Grant’s expression answered before his words did.
“No.”
“When did he die?”
“Four years ago.”
Emily felt disappointed.
Dead men did not confess.
Grant continued.
“But he left behind extensive business records.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Where?”
“Most were inherited by Adrian.”
The room went quiet.
Daniel stood.
“We need those records.”
Grant nodded.
“I’ve already contacted investigators.”
Emily closed the file.
“I want to see my father’s statement.”
Margaret hesitated.
“Emily.”
“I want to read exactly what he said.”
Grant handed her a document.
Emily unfolded it.
The statement was handwritten.
Her father’s familiar signature appeared at the bottom.
She read slowly.
I DID NOT TAKE THE MONEY.
VICTOR KNOWS I DID NOT TAKE IT.
I SAW HIM ENTER MR. HAWTHORNE’S OFFICE THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TRANSFER.
I REPORTED WHAT I SAW.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE MONEY WAS MISSING.
Emily’s hands began trembling.
She continued.
IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME, CHECK THE OLD SECURITY ARCHIVE.
Daniel leaned closer.
“What?”
Emily read the sentence aloud.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Grant immediately stood.
“What old security archive?”
Daniel looked confused.
“This mansion has had three surveillance systems.”
Grant turned to Margaret.
“Where were the original tapes stored?”
Margaret thought for several seconds.
“The basement security vault.”
“They were digitized years ago.”
“Not all of them.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
Margaret slowly stood.
“Your father refused to destroy the original recordings.”
“Where are they?”
Margaret pointed toward the floor.
“Still beneath this house.”
They rushed downstairs.
Behind the wine cellar stood an old steel door.
Daniel found the key in his father’s archived belongings.
The lock opened reluctantly.
Dust filled the air.
Shelves stretched across the room.
Hundreds of labeled tapes sat inside plastic containers.
Grant ran his flashlight over the dates.
Emily’s pulse raced.
Then she saw it.
The date her father had been accused.
May you like
She reached for the tape.
But the plastic case was empty.
