Chapter 13 - The Second Set of Books
The next morning Daniel called federal and state investigators.
Not dramatically.
Not with sirens rushing up the driveway.
Miriam made the referrals through attorneys who specialized in financial crimes and corporate misconduct. Evidence had to be preserved properly. Allegations had to be separated.
The child-endangerment issue went to local authorities.
The financial records went elsewhere.
Daniel hated the patience required.
Part of him wanted Harrison removed from his office in handcuffs before lunch.
Reality moved slower.
At Keller Living headquarters, Daniel and Leah called an emergency meeting with the independent directors.
Harrison was not invited.
Outside counsel presented enough information to suspend his firm pending review.
Not enough to declare anyone guilty.
The distinction frustrated employees and protected the company.
By afternoon rumors had already leaked.
Daniel’s phone filled with messages.
Journalists.
Shareholders.
Managers.
Friends who suddenly remembered how close they had always been.
He ignored all of them.
Miriam and a forensic accounting team took over a conference room on the twelfth floor.
Rebecca’s spreadsheets became the map.
Company ledgers became the terrain.
By evening they found the first confirmed discrepancy.
Project Harbor consulting payments had been recorded twice.
Once in the ordinary books as transaction expenses.
Again in a property subsidiary as renovation costs.
Two sets of descriptions.
One stream of money.
Leah stared at the screen.
“Dad approved these.”
“Some,” the forensic accountant said.
“Not all?”
“No.”
Several payments continued after Robert’s death.
Those could not be explained as his decisions.
“And who approved them?” Daniel asked.
The accountant opened authorization records.
Harrison’s firm submitted invoices.
Keller’s former controller approved payments.
That controller had retired two years earlier.
Daniel remembered him.
Martin Voss.
Quiet, careful, terrified of Robert.
“Call him,” Daniel said.
Miriam shook her head.
“Investigators may want first contact.”
Daniel hated that answer too.
Then the accountant found something else.
Ashby Holdings.
The company that had paid Vanessa’s debt.
It received money from the same network.
Daniel sat back.
“So Harrison used Harbor funds to buy leverage over Vanessa.”
“Potentially.”
Leah crossed her arms.
“He was building pieces.”
Miriam nodded.
“People, signatures, votes.”
Daniel looked through Rebecca’s notes.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Cynthia Lowell.
Harrison’s paralegal.
The notary whose stamp appeared on the forged amendment.
“Where is Cynthia?”
Miriam checked.
“She resigned from Harrison’s firm six weeks ago.”
“Convenient.”
“Maybe.”
“Do we know why?”
“Family reasons.”
Daniel looked skeptical.
Miriam smiled slightly.
“Not every fact is sinister.”
“Recently, most of them are.”
At seven, Daniel finally returned home.
Nora ran toward him wearing mismatched pajamas.
“Daddy!”
He lifted her.
For several minutes he allowed himself to exist inside the simple weight of his daughter.
She showed him a drawing.
Three stick figures.
One small.
One tall.
One wearing what looked like an enormous hat.
“Who’s that?”
“Teo.”
Mateo.
Daniel smiled.
“And this?”
“Daddy.”
He pointed to a fourth figure separated from the others.
“Who’s that?”
Nora’s face changed.
“Nessa.”
Daniel sat down.
“Do you miss Vanessa?”
Nora shrugged.
Three-year-old grief had no adult vocabulary.
“She sad.”
“How do you know?”
“She cry.”
“When?”
“Pool.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Nora, did Vanessa ever tell you to do things that scared you?”
Rosa, standing nearby, looked alarmed.
Daniel immediately realized he was questioning too directly.
He changed approach.
“Never mind, peanut.”
Nora touched his nose.
“Floatie go far.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Vanessa push.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Daniel held Nora tighter.
Children forgot details.
They also remembered astonishing ones.
Later, after Nora slept, Daniel found Mateo near the equipment shed.
“You saved her.”
Mateo shook his head.
“I was close.”
“No. You saved her.”
The gardener looked uncomfortable.
“Anyone would.”
“Vanessa didn’t.”
Mateo had no answer.
Daniel leaned against the shed.
“How long have you worked for my family?”
“Seventeen years.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“What did you think of him?”
Mateo laughed nervously.
“Sir.”
“That bad?”
“No.”
“Tell me.”
Mateo removed his cap.
“Mr. Robert could be generous.”
“That is what people say before describing someone difficult.”
“He believed every problem could be solved if people obeyed quickly.”
Daniel smiled despite himself.
“That’s accurate.”
Mateo looked toward the mansion.
“He loved this place.”
“Too much.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Did you ever see Harrison with him privately?”
“Many times.”
“Anything strange?”
Mateo thought.
“There was one night.”
“When?”
“Before Mr. Robert died. Maybe three years.”
“What happened?”
“Mr. Crane came late. They argued near the pool house.”
“About?”
“I could not hear much.”
“One word?”
Mateo frowned.
“Rebecca.”
Daniel straightened.
“What about her?”
“Mr. Robert said, ‘She copied everything.’”
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“What did Harrison say?”
“I only remember because Mr. Robert shouted.”
“What?”
Mateo looked at him.
“He said, ‘You told me you could control her.’”
Daniel felt cold.
Before he could respond, his phone rang.
Miriam.
“We found Cynthia Lowell.”
“Where?”
“She contacted investigators herself.”
Daniel’s heart beat faster.
“Why?”
“Because she kept copies.”
“Of what?”
“The forged amendment?”
“More.”
Miriam paused.
“Daniel, Cynthia says Harrison instructed her to notarize your signature even though she never saw you sign.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then Miriam added:
“And she says Vanessa did not forge your name.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“What?”
“She says Harrison already had a page carrying your signature.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Miriam’s voice hardened.
“She says he took it from another document and had someone reproduce it.”
Daniel looked toward the mansion.
“Who?”
“According to Cynthia, someone inside Keller Living.”
“Who?”
May you like
Miriam answered.
“Your sister’s husband.”
