Chapter 10 - The Night His Father Died|
Declan had been told for fourteen years that his father died when his car skidded off a rain-slick road and struck a concrete barrier.
The official report had described it as a tragic accident. The driver had been alone. No witnesses had come forward. The family had held a funeral three days later, and Declan had inherited a business full of enemies and unanswered questions.
He had never seriously challenged the report.
His father had been tired. He had worked too much. He had driven too fast.
It had been easier to accept the explanation than to consider the alternative.
Now, with the ledger open on the desk, Declan felt the past shifting beneath his feet.
Sophia sat beside him while Marcus contacted the family's former attorney.
“Don't jump to conclusions,” she said quietly.
Declan gave a bitter laugh.
“That's usually my advice to other people.”
“Then perhaps you should listen to yourself.”
He looked at her.
She continued, “The note proves your father was worried. It doesn't prove he was murdered. We need facts.”
He nodded.
“Facts.”
The attorney agreed to meet them that afternoon. He was an elderly man named Robert Hale who had handled the Moretti family's legal affairs for decades. When he saw the photograph and read the note, his hands began to tremble.
“You knew something,” Declan said.
Hale lowered himself into a chair.
“I knew your father was frightened in the weeks before he died.”
“Of whom?”
“He wouldn't say. He told me he had discovered that money was being moved through accounts he had never authorized. He believed someone close to the family was preparing to take control of the business.”
“Did he name Adrian?”
“No.”
“Did he name Kessler?”
Hale hesitated.
“Yes.”
Declan leaned forward.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Your father asked me to wait until I had proof. After his death, the records disappeared. I had nothing I could take to the authorities without exposing innocent employees to suspicion.”
Sophia frowned.
“But you kept the note?”
Hale nodded.
“Your father gave me a copy. I was supposed to deliver it to you if the ledger ever resurfaced.”
He handed Declan a sealed envelope.
Inside was a letter from his father, dated two days before the crash.
Declan,
If you're reading this, something has happened that I could not prevent. I have made mistakes in the way I raised you. I taught you to be strong, but I failed to teach you that strength without trust becomes a prison.
Someone is using our name to conceal payments and manipulate the company. I suspect Kessler is involved, but I fear he is not working alone.
Do not trust the person who tells you that family is more important than truth. Family should be the first people willing to face it.
The ledger is only part of the evidence. Find the woman who repaired the blue coat.
Declan read the last sentence aloud.
“The woman who repaired the blue coat?”
Hale frowned.
“Your mother had a blue wool coat repaired shortly before your father's death. She told me the tailor found something inside the lining.”
Sophia sat up straighter.
“What did the tailor find?”
“I don't know. Your father said the information had been recorded, but he never told me where.”
Sophia looked at Declan.
“Who repaired the coat?”
Hale searched his memory.
“A small shop on Halsted Street. The owner was a woman named Eleanor Price.”
Declan turned to Marcus.
“Find her.”
Marcus made the call.
The answer came less than an hour later.
Eleanor Price had retired years ago and moved to a care facility outside Chicago. Her health was fragile, but she was still alive.
Declan arranged to visit with her permission.
When they arrived, Eleanor listened carefully as he explained who he was. At the mention of the blue coat, her expression changed.
“I wondered when someone would ask,” she whispered.
She reached into a drawer and produced an old photograph.
It showed a woman in a blue coat standing beside a younger Raymond Kessler.
Sophia felt a chill.
Eleanor pointed to the woman.
“Your mother came to me because she wanted the lining repaired. I found a small envelope sewn inside it. She asked me to keep it safe.”
“Do you still have it?” Declan asked.
Eleanor nodded.
Then she looked at him with sudden fear.
“But before I give it to you, you need to know something. Your mother didn't put that envelope in the coat.”
May you like
She took a trembling breath.
“Someone else did. And I saw who.”
