Chapter 7 - Samuel’s Father Did Not DrownSamuel denied everything.
Too smoothly.
He had heard of the Blue Ledger as a child.
His father mentioned it.
That was all.
Marcus didn’t believe him.
Richard wanted proof.
They finally had some.
Paul found security footage showing Samuel entering Victor’s office forty minutes before the gala.
He remained six minutes.
Victor later approached Emily.
Coincidence?
Possible.
Then the financial team discovered Victor had received $120,000 over eighteen months from a consulting company.
Owner hidden.
Marcus expected Samuel.
It wasn’t.
The company belonged to Evelyn Shaw.
Hale Group’s COO.
Richard stared at the report.
“Evelyn?”
She had worked beside him nineteen years.
Marcus remembered Anna’s warning.
Someone standing beside him.
Evelyn literally stood beside Richard at nearly every corporate event.
But the payments were labeled event consulting.
Victor managed luxury galas.
Could be legitimate.
Everything had two explanations.
That was how good conspiracies survived.
Marcus hated the word conspiracy.
Anna used it once.
He told her she was spiraling.
That memory had been punishing him for nine years.
Emily sat in Richard’s private suite eating pancakes at one in the morning.
“You all look sad when you talk about Mom.”
Marcus looked at her.
“We made mistakes.”
“What mistakes?”
Richard answered from across the room.
“I didn’t believe her.”
Emily stopped eating.
He continued.
“Not about everything.”
“What didn’t you believe?”
Richard looked toward Marcus.
Marcus did not rescue him.
Richard owed the answer.
“After my brother Thomas died, your mother said his death wasn’t an accident.”
Emily’s fork lowered.
“How did he die?”
“Boat fire.”
Everyone believed Thomas was alone on a yacht off Catalina.
Fire started below deck.
Explosion.
Body recovered later.
Investigation blamed faulty fuel equipment.
Anna disagreed.
Why?
Because Thomas called her forty-eight hours earlier.
Terrified.
He said he had discovered somebody using his old debts to move money through Hale properties.
Someone made it look like Thomas was still authorizing deals.
Thomas promised to bring Anna evidence.
He never did.
“She told me somebody killed him,” Richard said.
“What did you say?”
“That she was grieving.”
Emily’s eyes hardened.
“You didn’t believe her.”
“No.”
“Did Marcus?”
Marcus looked down.
“No.”
Emily pushed her plate away.
“That’s why Mom didn’t trust either of you.”
The truth hit.
Richard closed his eyes.
Marcus said:
“Yes.”
No defense.
Emily looked at the violin.
“My mom said grown-ups call children dramatic when they don’t want to answer them.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“She said similar things to me.”
A knock interrupted.
Paul entered carrying a file.
The California investigators reopened Thomas’s boating records at Richard’s request.
One overlooked detail emerged.
Thomas did not own the boat involved.
A holding company did.
That company was later dissolved.
Original director—
Grant Vale.
Hale Group CFO.
Richard’s face changed.
“Grant handled insurance.”
Paul nodded.
“He also certified the boat’s maintenance records.”
Marcus frowned.
“Where is Grant?”
“At home.”
“Call him.”
Grant answered immediately.
Sounded confused.
Agreed to come in.
Too cooperative?
Marcus didn’t know anymore.
Twenty minutes later, Grant arrived.
Before questioning began, Emily stared at his tie.
“What?”
Everyone turned.
Emily pointed.
“Mom had that symbol.”
Grant’s tie pin was a small silver compass.
Not the golden hawk.
Richard frowned.
“Where did Anna have it?”
“On a box.”
Marcus’s pulse changed.
“Blue box?”
Emily nodded.
“The lid had a compass.”
Grant slowly removed his pin.
“This belonged to Thomas.”
Silence.
“My father?”
Samuel stood in the doorway.
Nobody had invited him.
Grant looked at Samuel.
“Yes.”
Samuel’s face tightened.
Marcus asked:
“How did you get it?”
Grant swallowed.
“Thomas gave it to me the night before he died.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Why?”
Grant looked at everyone.
Then at Emily.
“He told me if anything happened to him, I was supposed to give it to Anna.”
Richard’s anger sharpened.
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Grant’s voice broke.
“Because the next morning someone sent me photographs of my daughter.”
Silence.
“What kind of photographs?”
“Outside her school.”
Emily stared.
Even at nine, she understood.
Threat.
Grant continued.
“The message said if Anna received anything from Thomas, my daughter would disappear.”
Marcus felt sick.
“Who sent it?”
“I never knew.”
“Why keep the pin?”
Grant looked toward Thomas’s son.
“Because it was the only thing I had left that proved Thomas trusted me.”
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“My father trusted everyone except his own family.”
Grant stared at him.
“Your father was trying to protect you.”
Samuel froze.
“What?”
Grant’s eyes filled.
“The night he died, Thomas told me he had discovered somebody using accounts in your name.”
Samuel stepped backward.
“I was nineteen.”
“Exactly.”
May you like
Grant’s voice lowered.
“Someone was setting you up.”
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