Chapter 14 - The Black DeviceCorinne’s attorney called Ortiz before Ortiz could call her.
That told Adrian one thing.
Corinne knew the garage footage existed.
Vanessa arranged a formal interview.
This time Adrian was not allowed inside.
He waited with Elise across the street in a coffee shop.
“You’re wearing a path in the floor,” Elise said.
“I’m walking.”
“You’re stalking furniture.”
Adrian sat.
For twelve seconds.
Then stood again.
His phone rang.
Ortiz.
“She’s talking.”
“What did Reese give her?”
“A remote access fob.”
“For the yacht?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“According to Corinne, Marcus said it would temporarily disable the bow camera so she could have a private argument with you without guests recording it.”
Adrian stared through the window.
“That’s insane.”
“Criminal plans often become stupid when translated into normal sentences.”
“Did she use it?”
“She says no.”
“But camera went down.”
“Yes.”
“Then Reese did it remotely.”
“Possibly.”
“Does she admit meeting him?”
“Yes.”
“Does she admit knowing the footage would disappear?”
“She admits she knew the bow camera might be offline.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“So she knew there might be no recording.”
“Yes.”
“And then she pushed Junie.”
“Yes.”
He heard Ortiz inhale.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The device wasn’t just a camera fob.”
Adrian felt the now-familiar dread.
“What was it?”
“A credential token that could authenticate into Brooks Marine systems.”
“Why give that to Corinne?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
Adrian sat.
Elise watched his face.
“What?”
He put Ortiz on speaker.
The detective continued.
“Corinne says Marcus asked her to plug it into a laptop in your home office later that evening.”
Adrian frowned.
“My home laptop?”
“Corporate machine.”
“What did he want?”
“She says he told her it would copy documents related to the Northstar negotiations.”
Elise muttered, “Industrial espionage.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No. Marcus already has board access.”
“Not to everything,” Elise said.
Adrian understood.
Naomi’s trust files.
His personal voting instructions.
Maybe private legal correspondence.
“Did Corinne ever use it?”
Ortiz said, “She says she used a similar device twice before.”
Adrian’s skin went cold.
“When?”
“Once three months ago. Once six weeks ago.”
Around the same times Corinne requested Junie’s trust summary.
Adrian looked at Elise.
“Someone wasn’t just studying the trust.”
Elise nodded.
“They were looking for something.”
After the call, Adrian drove directly to Brooks Marine.
The company’s digital forensics team—now reporting to independent outside counsel—examined his old laptop.
Four hours later, they found unauthorized file access.
Not Northstar documents.
Not his email.
A folder Naomi had created years earlier:
JUNIE TRUST — SUPPORTING RECORDS
Someone had opened it six weeks ago.
Inside were references to a sealed schedule held by the independent trustee.
Schedule C.
Adrian called Elise.
“What is Schedule C?”
Silence.
“Elise?”
“A contingency memorandum.”
“For what?”
“Naomi’s trust.”
“What does it contain?”
“I can’t discuss all of it by phone.”
“That answer is getting old.”
“Come to my office.”
He arrived forty minutes later.
Elise locked the door.
Then removed a sealed envelope from a safe.
“Naomi created this because she feared Marcus might attempt to influence company governance after her death.”
Adrian stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew she had concerns. I did not know the extent until we began decrypting her records.”
“What does Schedule C do?”
“If credible evidence shows that a Brooks Marine executive attempted to manipulate Junie’s trust for personal gain, the trust’s voting rights transfer temporarily to an independent fiduciary.”
“Meaning?”
“You lose your voting authority too.”
Adrian blinked.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Naomi did not want anyone using Junie through you.”
He stared at his dead wife’s signature.
Smart.
Paranoid.
Protective.
Right.
“What happens to Northstar?”
“The independent fiduciary can freeze any sale until an investigation is complete.”
Adrian finally understood.
Marcus did not need Junie’s shares.
He needed the trust neutralized before Schedule C could activate.
“How would Junie dying affect it?”
Elise frowned.
“It wouldn’t.”
“Then the forged document…”
“Was bait.”
“For Corinne.”
“Yes.”
Adrian stood slowly.
Marcus had given Corinne a false motive.
Made her believe Junie’s death would shift wealth toward Adrian and indirectly toward herself.
But Marcus’s real goal had never required Junie to die.
He needed chaos.
A family catastrophe.
An unstable CEO.
A compromised trust.
Maybe a rushed company sale before anyone opened Naomi’s old files.
Junie had been useful to him because Corinne already hated what she represented.
Adrian whispered, “He knew Corinne might hurt her.”
Elise did not answer.
“He shut the camera off before the trip.”
“Yes.”
“He gave her a story about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“He put her beside my daughter and removed the witness.”
Elise’s face hardened.
“That does not make Marcus responsible for Corinne’s hands.”
“No.”
May you like
Adrian stared at Schedule C.
“But it may make him responsible for building the room where she decided to use them.”
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