Chapter 7 - The Second Ledger.
Theodore Bell denied writing the note.
He denied knowing about employee recovery accounts.
He denied ever authorizing Marcus to bill workers for training mistakes.
Marcus denied almost nothing.
That made Vivian uneasy.
A man caught in a lie usually searched for an exit.
Marcus looked as though he had been waiting for this room to be opened.
Renee photographed the contents of the cash box and sealed the envelopes.
Theodore stood near the wall with his phone pressed to his ear, speaking in short whispers to his attorney.
Daniel sat on an empty wine crate.
His hands covered his face.
"Twenty-seven thousand," he said.
"I didn't even know I owed twenty-seven thousand."
Olivia looked at him.
"That's because you don't."
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
"Marcus told me I couldn't leave until next spring."
Vivian turned.
"Why?"
"He said the restaurant had invested too much in me."
Marcus leaned against the wine rack.
"We sponsor advanced training."
Daniel looked up.
"You sent me to a two-day knife-skills seminar in Newark."
"Which cost money."
"Not twenty-seven thousand dollars."
Renee asked Daniel whether he was willing to give a formal statement.
He nodded.
Then his expression changed.
"But if I do, I lose my job."
Theodore lowered his phone.
"No one is losing a job for cooperating."
Daniel looked at him.
"You can't promise that."
Theodore looked offended.
"I own the restaurant."
Daniel stared at him for a long moment.
"Do you?"
Nobody understood the question at first.
Then Daniel pointed toward Marcus.
"Because for three years, he has told us he decides who works, who gets scheduled, who gets paid, and who gets a reference."
Theodore's face reddened.
"He runs the kitchen."
"He runs everything downstairs."
Olivia spoke quietly.
"That's why people don't complain."
Vivian looked at her.
"How many people left?"
Olivia hesitated.
"At least eleven since I started."
"In how long?"
"Nine months."
Renee stopped writing.
"Eleven?"
Olivia nodded.
"Most quit without picking up their last check."
Marcus rolled his eyes.
"Restaurant turnover is high."
Olivia looked at him.
"Nora didn't quit."
The room changed.
Marcus's expression went flat.
Vivian remembered the envelope marked NORA PRICE - CLOSED.
"Who is Nora?"
Olivia looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at the floor.
Finally, Olivia answered.
"She was the pastry assistant before Elena."
"What happened to her?"
"She challenged the deductions."
Marcus sighed.
"She walked out during service."
Olivia shook her head.
"After you gave her a bill for forty-one thousand dollars."
Marcus's voice sharpened.
"She damaged equipment."
Daniel looked up.
"A mixer broke."
"A twenty-thousand-dollar mixer."
"It was twelve years old."
Marcus ignored him.
Vivian turned to Olivia.
"Where is Nora now?"
"I don't know."
"Did you ever speak to her?"
Olivia hesitated again.
That hesitation told Vivian there was more.
"Olivia."
"Once."
"When?"
"Six weeks ago."
Marcus straightened.
Vivian saw it.
"How?"
"She messaged me from a new account."
"What did she say?"
Olivia looked toward Renee.
"She told me to start writing down everything."
Renee nodded toward the notebook envelope.
"That's why you made the ledger?"
"Yes."
"Did she give you documents?"
Olivia's eyes moved toward Marcus.
"She tried."
Marcus pushed away from the wall.
"This is becoming a conspiracy story."
Renee held up one hand.
"Let her answer."
Olivia swallowed.
"Nora said she had copies of her pay records and a settlement letter."
Vivian frowned.
"Settlement with whom?"
"Petit Mont."
Theodore stepped forward.
"There was no settlement."
Olivia looked at him.
"She said there was."
"I would know."
Marcus smiled again.
"Would you?"
Theodore turned on him.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Marcus said nothing.
Renee asked Olivia where the documents were now.
"Nora said she'd send them after she knew I was serious."
"Did she?"
Olivia nodded slowly.
"She sent one photograph."
"Do you still have it?"
Olivia's hand instinctively went toward the pocket of a pair of shorts that did not contain her phone.
"My phone."
Vivian looked at her.
"Where is it?"
Olivia's eyes filled with frustration.
"Marcus took it this morning."
Marcus laughed.
"I did not take her phone."
"You said phones weren't allowed on the line."
"That's policy."
"You put it in your office drawer."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"You can have it after your shift."
Renee stared at him.
"You just said you didn't take it."
Marcus paused.
Then he shrugged.
"I collected it pursuant to kitchen policy."
Vivian looked toward the staircase.
The anonymous text had warned them not to search Marcus's office.
She suddenly understood why.
The message had not meant the office was irrelevant.
It meant someone expected the office to become a distraction.
She looked at Renee.
"The phone matters."
Renee nodded.
"It does."
Marcus smiled.
"Then go look."
The invitation was too easy.
Vivian felt the same thought pass through Renee's expression.
Olivia looked between them.
"What?"
Vivian lowered her voice.
"He wants us in his office."
A faint vibration came from inside the wine cabinet.
Everyone stopped.
The sound came again.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Grant moved the champagne cases aside.
Behind them was a second, smaller metal box.
Theodore stared.
"There's another one?"
Grant pulled it forward.
The vibration came from inside.
Renee asked Marcus for the key.
Marcus's face had finally lost its smile.
Grant tried the silver key from the first box.
It opened.
Inside lay three mobile phones.
One belonged to Olivia.
The second belonged to Mason.
The third was still receiving a call.
May you like
The screen showed a name.
NORA PRICE.
