Chapter 6 - Behind the Walnut DoorAt seven the next morning, Marcus returned to Alder House.
The wedding flowers were still there.
Some had already begun to wilt.
A white silk ribbon lay across the staircase where guests had gathered for photographs that would never be taken.
Marcus walked past it without looking down.
He had called his attorney, Claire Whitcomb, shortly after midnight. She advised him to preserve messages, stop accessing the company's accounting records casually, and avoid confronting potential witnesses without counsel.
He had agreed.
Then he came to see the one woman who might explain how seventy-eight letters disappeared.
Ruth Alvarez.
For eleven years, Ruth had managed correspondence for the Bennett family office.
She was fifty-four, meticulous, and known for remembering details other people forgot.
Her desk stood outside Evelyn's private office behind a pair of polished walnut doors.
Marcus found her sorting unopened mail.
She looked startled when he entered.
"Mr. Bennett."
"Ruth."
Her eyes dropped to his bare ring finger.
"I heard about yesterday."
"I'm not here to discuss the wedding."
He placed the certified-mail receipt on her desk.
"Is that your signature?"
Ruth examined it.
Her hands became still.
"Yes."
"What happened to the letter?"
She looked toward Evelyn's closed office door.
Marcus noticed.
"She's not here."
"How do you know?"
"Because Daniel took her to headquarters twenty minutes ago."
Ruth pressed her lips together.
"Mr. Bennett, I have a family to support."
The statement chilled him.
He had asked about a letter.
She was already talking about her livelihood.
"Nobody is asking you to risk your family," he said.
Ruth looked at him sadly.
"That's easy to say when you've never had to choose."
Marcus pulled out a chair.
"Please sit."
She remained standing for a moment, then slowly lowered herself.
"Did you receive any letters from Naomi?" he asked.
Ruth's eyes filled.
"Not directly."
"What does that mean?"
"They came through the mailroom. Sometimes here. Sometimes to the house."
"And?"
Ruth twisted her wedding ring.
"Mrs. Bennett instructed us to separate correspondence from Ms. Carter and place it in a private file."
"Why?"
"She said there were ongoing legal concerns."
Marcus felt his jaw tighten.
"Did you ask whether I had authorized that?"
"No."
"Did anyone?"
Ruth shook her head.
Marcus stood and walked toward the walnut doors.
"Where's the file?"
"Mr. Bennett—"
"Where?"
Ruth rose quickly.
"Please don't force the door. The office is alarmed."
Marcus turned toward her.
"Then tell me how to access it properly."
She hesitated.
"Evelyn took the active file yesterday afternoon."
"After the wedding?"
Ruth nodded.
Marcus felt something tighten inside him.
His mother had heard Eli's accusation and immediately moved the evidence.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Ruth."
"I truly don't."
He believed her.
He had never seen Ruth look so frightened.
"Did you ever read them?" he asked.
She looked away.
"Some envelopes were opened before filing."
"By whom?"
"Mrs. Bennett."
"Did you?"
Ruth's shoulders sagged.
"I read one."
Marcus waited.
"It was from Eli."
The words hurt more than he expected.
Ruth reached into the bottom drawer of her desk.
She removed a small yellow sticky note.
There was a date written on it.
And one sentence.
Please tell Daddy I still have his flashlight.
Marcus stared.
He remembered the flashlight.
A red camping flashlight he had bought Eli during their last vacation together.
They had spent three nights in a cabin near Shenandoah National Park.
Eli had insisted on sleeping with the flashlight beside his pillow.
Marcus looked at Ruth.
"Why did you keep this?"
She wiped her eyes.
"Because I couldn't forget it."
"Was there a letter attached?"
"Yes."
"What did Evelyn do with it?"
"She told me to file it."
"And you did?"
Ruth nodded.
Marcus looked down at the note.
He wanted to shout.
Instead, he asked the question that mattered most.
"How many letters passed through this office?"
Ruth hesitated.
"I counted sixty-one."
"Sixty-one?"
"Some arrived at Alder House directly. Those didn't always come through me."
Marcus gripped the edge of the desk.
"Did my mother ever tell you to destroy any?"
Ruth's expression changed.
"Once."
He went cold.
"When?"
"The first few months. Before the new filing procedure."
"Did you?"
Ruth shook her head.
"I refused."
"What happened?"
"Mrs. Bennett told someone else to handle them."
"Who?"
Ruth looked toward the framed photograph of Bennett Development's executive team hanging on the wall.
Her eyes settled on Simon Vale.
Marcus followed her gaze.
"Simon?"
Ruth nodded.
"I saw him carry a box to the records room."
Marcus remained silent.
Then Ruth said something unexpected.
"I started keeping a record after that."
He turned.
"What kind of record?"
"Incoming mail logs. Delivery dates. Scanned envelope fronts."
"Where are they?"
"On a personal drive. I was afraid the office system would be altered."
Marcus stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ruth's voice broke.
"I tried."
She opened her desk drawer and removed an old printed memo.
It was addressed to Marcus.
The subject line read:
Concerns Regarding Withheld Personal Correspondence
Ruth had written that she believed important family letters were being diverted.
At the bottom was a handwritten instruction.
Do not deliver. Handle internally. — E.B.
Marcus looked at the initials.
Evelyn Bennett.
His mother.
Ruth began crying quietly.
"I'm sorry."
Marcus sat down.
He read the memo again.
Then a third time.
His mother had not merely concealed Naomi's letters.
She had prevented anyone else from warning him.
"I need you to speak with Claire," Marcus said.
Ruth wiped her face.
"Will she protect me?"
"She can explain your rights and help you find independent counsel. I won't ask you to hide or alter anything."
Ruth nodded.
Then she reached into another drawer.
"There's something else."
She handed him a small envelope containing a printed screenshot.
It showed an entry from the family's correspondence database.
Seventy-eight letters had been marked with the same disposition code.
HOLD — EXECUTIVE PRIVACY
But beside the final entry was a different notation.
TRANSFERRED TO S.V. — SPECIAL REVIEW
The date was only four days earlier.
Marcus looked up.
"Simon received the last letter?"
Ruth nodded.
"Personally."
"Why?"
Ruth's face grew pale.
"Because that one wasn't from Naomi."
Marcus examined the entry.
The sender was listed as a Richmond law firm.
The subject was partially visible.
Preservation Notice — Carter Financial Records
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Someone had warned the Bennett family office that evidence needed to be preserved.
And four days before the wedding, Simon Vale had taken possession of that warning.
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