Chapter 5 - The Trust Beneath the Floor.
Adrian did not sleep.
By dawn, the grand hall smelled of dying roses and cold coffee.
Lily finally rested on the library sofa with Nora sitting nearby, and Adrian stood at the windows while rain streaked the glass.
Gideon Crane's phone went straight to voicemail.
His townhouse was empty.
His office assistant claimed he had left the city after the gala.
No one could say where he went.
Adrian opened the black case again.
The documents were organized by year, beginning with the final months of Evelyn's life.
At the bottom was a handwritten ledger.
The first pages listed trust transfers.
The final pages listed names.
Celeste Vale.
Martin Cole.
Gideon Crane.
Mara Bennett.
And one name Adrian had not seen in two decades.
Julian Vale.
His older brother.
Julian had been cut off by their father after a violent dispute over the family company.
He disappeared from London, changed his name, and never contacted Adrian again.
Adrian remembered the gold crest ring in the camera image.
Nora approached quietly.
"You found his name."
Adrian turned.
"You knew Julian was involved?"
"My mother suspected it."
"Your mother appears in the same ledger."
Pain crossed Nora's face.
"Because she was helping Mrs. Vale."
Adrian tapped the page.
"Or because she was helping whoever stole from my daughter."
Nora's eyes flashed.
"My mother died with nothing."
The words stopped him.
"I was told she moved away."
"She did."
Nora's voice broke slightly.
"Then she died six months later."
Adrian sat down.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because she made me promise not to contact you."
"Why?"
Nora looked toward sleeping Lily.
"She said anyone who got too close to the Vale trust eventually became a problem someone wanted removed."
Adrian's blood ran cold.
"Are you saying Evelyn's death was not an accident?"
Nora hesitated.
"I am saying my mother stopped believing it was."
Adrian remembered the rain the night Evelyn's car left the road.
The police blamed a tire failure.
He had accepted it because grief left him no strength to challenge anything.
A sound came from the corridor.
Celeste appeared between two police officers.
She had been found before dawn walking along the estate road without shoes.
Her silver gown was torn to the knee.
Adrian stood.
"Where were you going?"
Celeste laughed weakly.
"Away from the person who turned off the power."
"You expect me to believe you were escaping danger?"
"I expect you to believe I am terrified."
She looked at Nora.
"And she should be too."
Adrian placed the ledger on the table.
"Julian Vale."
Celeste's face changed immediately.
"Where did you see that name?"
"In Evelyn's records."
Celeste stepped forward.
"Then burn them."
Adrian stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because Julian did not disappear."
"Where is he?"
Celeste's eyes filled with something very close to panic.
"He has been inside your life for years."
Adrian shook his head.
"I would recognize my own brother."
Celeste looked toward the portrait above the fireplace.
"Not if you have been calling him by another name."
The police officer beside her stiffened.
Adrian's mind jumped to Gideon, Martin, business partners, trustees, doctors, old friends.
May you like
Celeste leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"Ask Martin why he changed his surname when he was twenty-three."
