Chapter 14 - THE NIGHT AT THE HARBOR|
The attorney's discovery concerned an accident recorded in an old shipping archive.
Thirty years earlier, a warehouse worker named Thomas Bennett had died during a nighttime fire near the Chicago harbor. The official report described the incident as an electrical failure.
Thomas was Eleanor Bennett's younger brother.
Victoria had heard his name only once or twice as a child. Her grandmother never discussed him, and the family had always described his death as a tragedy that occurred before Victoria was born.
The new records suggested that Thomas had been involved in the original commercial partnership between Eleanor Bennett and Dominic Moretti.
A day after the fire, the partnership's ownership structure changed.
Several assets were transferred to a company controlled by Dominic.
The timing raised serious questions, but it did not prove that anyone had caused the fire or deliberately concealed its circumstances.
Nathan emphasized that point.
“We cannot turn an old tragedy into an accusation without evidence. We need the original reports, witness statements, and records showing why the ownership changed.”
Victoria agreed.
She wanted the truth, not a convenient villain.
The retired attorney helped locate a former bookkeeper who had worked for the partnership during its final years. The woman, Margaret Lewis, was now in her eighties and living quietly outside the city.
Victoria and Nathan arranged a meeting with her through her attorney.
Margaret received them in a modest living room filled with family photographs.
“I wondered when someone would ask about Eleanor's papers,” she said.
Victoria leaned forward.
“You knew my grandmother?”
“For almost forty years. She was a careful woman. She never signed anything without reading it.”
“Do you know why the partnership changed after my great-uncle died?”
Margaret folded her hands.
“Thomas believed Dominic was moving money without telling the other partners. He threatened to demand an audit.”
Victoria felt a chill.
“What happened next?”
“He died in the warehouse fire. I never knew whether the fire was an accident. Neither did Eleanor, at least not officially.”
“Did she suspect Dominic?”
Margaret looked away.
“She suspected someone had taken advantage of the tragedy. She spent years trying to recover the partnership's records.”
“Did she succeed?”
“Some of them.”
Margaret rose slowly and returned with a small box.
Inside were copies of invoices, a list of company names, and a letter addressed to Eleanor.
The letter was from Dominic Moretti.
Its language was formal, but one paragraph stood out.
The family arrangement must remain undisturbed. If the question of ownership is reopened, all parties may suffer consequences that cannot be reversed.
Victoria read it twice.
“Did my grandmother ever confront him?”
“Yes. She went to see him shortly before she became ill.”
“What happened?”
Margaret shook her head.
“She returned angry. She told me that Dominic had promised to settle the matter, but she no longer trusted him.”
Nathan examined the documents.
One invoice referred to a payment made to a private investigator. Another listed an insurance settlement that had been issued after the warehouse fire.
The amount was unusually large.
They copied the records and arranged for experts to evaluate them.
As they prepared to leave, Margaret touched Victoria's arm.
“Your grandmother loved you very much. She wanted you to have a peaceful life.”
Victoria's throat tightened.
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Perhaps she thought the danger had passed. Perhaps she was protecting you. I can't say.”
Back in the car, Nathan reviewed the list of company names.
One appeared on several documents from the modern Northbridge investigation.
Richard Cole's company.
The same corporate name had existed in the records of the old partnership, although its ownership had changed several times.
Nathan looked at Victoria.
“If this connection is genuine, Richard may have inherited access to information that should have remained private.”
“And he used it to control Alexander.”
“Possibly.”
Victoria stared through the rain-streaked window.
The story had begun with an unfaithful husband and a pregnant mistress.
Now it stretched across generations, involving a dead relative, disputed ownership, and financial records that someone had tried to bury.
Her phone vibrated.
A message arrived from an unknown number.
Stop looking into the harbor. Your grandmother wasn't the only person who died because of that partnership.
A second message appeared.
Ask Margaret what she saw the night Thomas died.
Victoria immediately called Nathan.
He read the messages and contacted the appropriate authorities.
Then he turned back to her.
“We need to find out whether Margaret is in immediate danger.”
May you like
Victoria looked at the old photograph of Eleanor and Dominic.
For the first time, she wondered whether the anniversary gift had awakened something far more dangerous than her husband's guilt.
