Chapter 16 - What The Clock Remembered
Two weeks later, the Golden Clock returned to Blackwood Estate under federal escort.
The mansion was undergoing major security renovations.
Every tunnel entrance had been discovered.
Every employee had been reinvestigated.
Alexander entered his study with Sarah, Marcus, and Edmund.
The clock sat on the desk.
Its polished golden surface looked innocent.
Alexander placed the recovered Blackwood signet ring beside it.
Investigators had found the ring lodged between rocks near the collapsed bridge.
There was still no trace of Victoria.
Edmund stared at his daughter's ring.
Grief had aged him.
Alexander did not blame him for Victoria's crimes.
Edmund already blamed himself enough.
Alexander inserted the signet into the clock.
A hidden mechanism clicked.
The base opened.
Inside lay a tightly folded parchment map.
Another object rested beneath it.
A small ledger.
Alexander carefully opened the pages.
Names appeared beside dates and payments.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Business executives.
Some were dead.
Others still held powerful positions.
Marcus read several names and went pale.
Sarah whispered.
"This isn't just a smuggling network."
Alexander nodded.
"It was an influence network."
The Golden Clock had recorded more than tunnels.
It documented who had purchased protection from the Ouroboros Circle for generations.
Edmund sat heavily in a chair.
"Our family kept this?"
"Our ancestors created parts of it."
Alexander continued reading.
Then he reached the final page.
One recent entry had been written in fresh ink.
V.B.
Victoria Blackwood.
Beneath her initials was another name.
Alexander stared.
Silas and Cole had not been Victoria's superiors.
Victoria herself had reported to someone else.
The final entry read only.
THE ARCHITECT.
Sarah looked at Alexander.
"You said Victoria was the Benefactor."
"She was."
"Then who is the Architect?"
Alexander turned the page.
Nothing.
Marcus examined the binding.
"Maybe another compartment."
Alexander looked at the clock.
Its second hand continued ticking.
For the first time, the sound felt threatening.
The criminal empire had been wounded.
But perhaps it had not been destroyed.
Alexander closed the ledger.
"We give everything to the federal task force."
Edmund looked surprised.
"This could destroy the Blackwood name."
May you like
Alexander looked at Sarah and Lily's photograph on his desk.
"Then the name deserves to survive only if the truth survives with it."
