Chapter 7 - The Room Without a Window
Armand sealed the security room and changed the access passwords. He had no authority to search private offices, so Priya requested an independent records hold from the board and warned against deleting data.
Meanwhile Claire booked a press conference. Her statement accused Jada of intimidating artists and disrupting a charity event. Jada could have responded with a counterattack. Instead she sent the twelve applicants a short letter.
"The selection process is under review," she wrote. "You deserve an accurate answer, not a headline. I regret my retaliation at the gala. The foundation will provide an independent channel for questions."
Imani replied first. "We deserve our studio keys, too."
They did. Jada knew it.
At the manor, Theo found Min sitting in a storage room, reviewing bills with her lead assistant. She had covered payroll on a personal credit card.
"Jada wants to make it right," Theo said.
"Then she can help the insurer get the facts," Min answered. "I don't need a feud. I need my people paid on Friday."
Priya arranged a temporary nonprofit mediation account to address actual losses without demanding that Min endorse either side.
Eleanor, meanwhile, located a sealed box of old trust records in a filing room with no windows. The caretaker handed her a key and a warning.
"Martin asked me to take these to storage last month. I couldn't lift them."
Inside were original documents bearing Bernard Locke's signature from years earlier, along with a recent letter asking him to waive the barns' charitable restrictions. Bernard had refused in handwriting.
At the bottom of the box Eleanor found a carbon copy of a different letter. It claimed she had accepted the waiver after Bernard's death.
The signature looked like hers. But the date gave it away.
"I was in surgery that morning," she whispered.
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Across the document, in small print, stood the name of the attorney who had notarized it: Gideon Vale, counsel for Martin Voss.
