Chapter 12 - The Man Behind the Wolf|
The recording was brief, but it changed the direction of the investigation.
Margaret's voice was steady at first. She explained that the money transfers were part of a larger operation involving several business owners and a senior official who had helped protect the scheme. She believed Raymond Kessler was acting as an intermediary rather than the person in charge.
Then Declan's father spoke.
“Who is directing him?”
Margaret hesitated.
“I have a name, but I need proof before I say it.”
“You're running out of time.”
“I know.”
A noise interrupted the conversation. The tape crackled, and Margaret's voice grew distant.
Then she said one final sentence.
“If anything happens to me, don't trust the man who wears the wolf.”
The recording ended.
Declan listened twice, his jaw clenched.
“Kessler has the wolf ring,” Marcus said. “But Margaret may have meant someone else.”
Sophia studied the transcript.
“Or the ring might not identify a person. It could identify a group.”
Declan looked at her.
“What makes you say that?”
“The way she said it. She didn't say, ‘Don't trust Kessler.’ She said, ‘Don't trust the man who wears the wolf.’ It sounds like she knew the symbol could be passed from one person to another.”
Marcus nodded.
“We'll check old photographs and security records.”
The search revealed that the wolf ring had belonged to a private organization formed by several businessmen decades earlier. They called themselves the North Circle. They claimed to support legitimate commerce, but the records suggested that the group had used its influence to secure contracts and silence rivals.
Kessler was one member.
Adrian had attended several meetings.
And the group's original chairman was a man named Victor Sloane, a respected financier who had served on the board of multiple charities.
Victor had also been a close friend of Declan's father.
When Declan saw his photograph, he went silent.
“I trusted him,” he said.
Sophia sat beside him.
“You trusted someone who may have deceived you. That doesn't make you foolish. It means you have to decide what you do with the truth now.”
He looked at her.
“You make it sound simple.”
“It isn't simple. It's just the next step.”
The investigators began examining Victor Sloane's financial records. Within days, they discovered that a company connected to him had received payments from the same accounts listed in the ledger.
But the evidence was circumstantial. The company had legitimate business interests, and investigators needed to determine whether the transfers were lawful or part of the scheme.
Declan agreed to cooperate fully. He provided his own financial records, authorized an independent audit, and gave investigators access to company archives.
Sophia watched him sign the paperwork.
“Are you worried they'll find something you don't want to see?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to stop them?”
“No.”
She nodded.
“That's a good answer.”
He gave her a tired smile.
“I'm trying to collect them.”
That evening, Marcus brought news from the police. Kessler's associate—the man who had threatened Emily—had identified a meeting place where Victor Sloane was expected to appear.
The investigators planned to monitor the location.
Declan was told to stay away.
He agreed.
Sophia thought the matter might finally be moving toward a conclusion. Then she received an anonymous email containing a photograph of herself leaving physical therapy.
The message read:
You are looking in the wrong direction.
A second photograph arrived.
It showed Marcus speaking to a man in a parking garage.
The man wore a silver ring.
A black wolf was engraved on its face.
Sophia forwarded the images to Declan.
He studied the photograph for several seconds.
“That isn't Kessler.”
“Who is it?”
May you like
Declan's face became grim.
“It's Marcus's older brother, Peter.”
