Chapter 5 - THE MISSING SEVEN MINUTES
Gideon claimed someone had given him the engineering key.
He could not remember who.
Arthur almost laughed.
“You remember every clause I signed for thirty years.”
Gideon straightened his jacket.
“Be careful, Arthur.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is loyalty.”
Naomi showed him Ethan’s photograph.
“Then prove your loyalty. Tell me where he is.”
Gideon stared at the image.
“That was not taken today.”
“The newspaper date is visible.”
“It was added digitally.”
Evelyn examined the picture.
“The date appears on the front.”
Gideon’s eyes dropped toward its lower corner.
He had known what was visible in a photograph he claimed never to have seen.
Evelyn’s radio crackled.
“Director Hart, seven minutes are missing from the eighth-floor recordings.”
“Which seven?”
“The seven immediately before you opened Room 814.”
Everyone looked at Gideon’s engineering key.
Chicago police arrived.
Detective Rafael Ortiz separated the family.
Gideon was questioned but not arrested.
The key was suspicious.
It was not enough.
Before leaving, he stopped beside Naomi.
“Your husband found something he did not understand.”
“You mean something you didn’t want him to understand.”
Gideon looked toward Lila.
“Children often inherit the consequences of their parents’ mistakes.”
Naomi stepped between them.
“If you look at my daughter again, make certain there is a camera watching.”
For the first time, Gideon appeared uncertain.
He left without answering.
Ortiz’s technicians examined the titanium phone.
It had been wiped.
Every message, photograph and contact was gone.
But when the back plate was removed, they found a hidden memory card.
One encrypted folder appeared.
Its name was LILA.
Naomi woke her daughter gently.
“Do you know why Daddy would use your name?”
Lila rubbed her eyes.
“My birthday was his treasure-hunt password.”
She gave Ortiz six numbers.
The folder opened.
Bank statements filled the screen.
For four years, money had been transferred from the Caldwell Children’s Trust into false charities.
The total exceeded sixty-four million dollars.
Every transfer carried Ethan’s electronic approval.
“He discovered the theft,” Naomi said. “Then they used his identity to blame him.”
Ortiz opened the newest document.
A final transfer had been scheduled.
One hundred and eighty million dollars.
The entire remaining trust.
It would be completed at midnight.
The approval signature belonged to Naomi.
According to the bank, she had authorized it six minutes earlier.
Chương Tiêu đề chương Số từ dự kiến
1 The Phone in Her Pocket 720
2 The Second Pocket 690
3 Room 814 740
4 The Voice on the Line 700
5 The Missing Seven Minutes 730
6 Arthur’s Empty Safe 720
7 The Doctor Who Vanished 740
8 The False Transfer 760
9 Before Midnight 730
10 Vault 71 800
11 The Woman Behind Lila 740
12 Warren’s Choice 720
13 The White Bow 700
14 The Empty Ballroom 780
15 The Sealed Coffin 820
16 The Borrowed Face 730
17 The Groom’s Real Name 760
18 Saint Alden 800
19 Behind the Glass 780
20 Arthur’s Signature 740
21 Caldwell Tower 820
22 The Lullaby Code 760
23 The Red Light Was Still Blinking 740
24 Warren Takes the Stand 700
25 The Last Transfer 820
26 The Camera Goes Live 760
27 Gideon Price Falls 720
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28 The Truth About Ethan 780
29 The Two-Hundredth Guest 700
