Chapter 9 - The Ledger No One Could Find|
Declan stared at the folder as if the paper itself had insulted him.
“My father kept dozens of ledgers.”
“This one is different,” Marcus said. “It records payments made through private accounts over fifteen years. Kessler believes it contains proof that several powerful people were involved in crimes they thought had been buried.”
Sophia sat at the kitchen table, listening.
“Does the ledger exist?”
Declan nodded slowly.
“My father mentioned it once. He said it was insurance against people who thought they could betray him without consequences.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus placed a second photograph on the table. It showed a leather-bound book resting on a desk. The cover bore a small gold emblem: a hawk with its wings spread.
Declan recognized it immediately.
“My father's study.”
Sophia leaned closer.
“Was it in your house?”
“Yes. Until the year he died.”
“Who had access?”
“My father, me, Adrian, and two senior employees.”
Marcus added, “Kessler believes Adrian removed it.”
Declan looked at him.
“Then why hasn't he handed it over?”
“Because the ledger may incriminate Adrian, too.”
Sophia considered the photograph.
“There's something strange about the cover.”
Declan glanced at her.
“What?”
“The gold emblem. It looks slightly raised around the edges. Is it decorative?”
“I don't know.”
Sophia enlarged the image on her phone.
“My grandmother used to hide sewing needles inside the wooden handles of her tools. She said people only look for what they expect to find.”
Declan studied the photograph again.
“You think the cover has a compartment?”
“I think someone who wanted to hide a book would make the hiding place part of the book.”
They returned to the estate's old study the following morning. Declan had kept most of his father's furniture, though the room was rarely used. Dust lay along the shelves, and a large desk stood before the windows overlooking the garden.
Sophia inspected the desk while Declan searched the cabinets.
Behind a row of old account books, she found a shallow drawer with a hidden latch. Inside was a brass key and a note in Declan's father's handwriting.
Trust the person who notices what everyone else overlooks.
Sophia turned the key between her fingers.
“Your father sounds dramatic.”
“He was.”
“Were you close?”
Declan's face tightened.
“We loved each other. We were not always good at showing it.”
The key opened a narrow compartment beneath the desk. Inside lay a leather-bound ledger with the gold hawk emblem.
Declan lifted it carefully.
For a moment, he looked almost sick.
“He kept it here the whole time.”
Sophia watched him open the cover.
The first pages contained names, dates, and amounts. Several entries referred to shipping contracts. Others listed payments to companies that no longer existed.
Then Declan reached a page marked with a red line.
His own name appeared beside a transfer made two years before his father's death.
Sophia saw the change in his face.
“What is it?”
“This payment was made to a company connected to Kessler.”
“Did you authorize it?”
“No.”
“Could someone have used your name?”
“Yes.”
He turned the page.
A second transfer carried the same authorization code.
Then a third.
Sophia looked at him.
“Someone was building a record that makes it appear you funded Kessler.”
Declan closed the ledger.
“Or someone wanted me to believe that.”
Marcus photographed the pages and contacted the attorney overseeing the investigation. They agreed that the ledger should be examined by independent specialists before anyone drew conclusions.
But as they prepared to leave the study, Sophia noticed a small envelope tucked inside the back cover.
It contained a photograph of Declan's mother.
On the reverse, his father had written:
If anything happens to me, ask who benefited from the silence.
Declan read the words twice.
May you like
Then he looked at Sophia.
“My father didn't die in an accident, did he?”
