Chapter 18 - THE PERSON WE MISSED
For one terrible hour, Daniel became the obvious suspect: his computer, his credentials, his motive. Police asked him to come in voluntarily. He did, without delay.
Martin went with him.
By late afternoon, the answer emerged.
Daniel’s executive assistant, Marissa, had remote access to his computer.
So did Gregory Shaw.
IT logs showed a remote session at 11:42 p.m. the night of the rehearsal dinner.
The connection came from Gregory’s home. Vanessa had driven home only to retrieve the packet Gregory wanted delivered to Raines.
Gregory had created the forged guaranty himself.
Why?
Because he needed the bank extension to remain alive long enough for Raines to position his takeover. If the legitimate renewal failed too soon, Mercer Urban could have entered formal restructuring, where every transaction would face scrutiny.
The forgery bought time.
Vanessa knew about the plan to pressure me.
She knew about the buyout.
She knew Kyle was copying records.
But the forged signature belonged to Gregory.
When police showed him the logs, he stopped talking.
Daniel called me from Martin’s office.
“I blamed her for that part.”
“You had reason to suspect her.”
“That doesn’t make it true.”
“No.”
He exhaled.
“I want to tell the police everything, even the things that make me look bad.”
“Good.”
“And I’m going to correct the board minutes. All of them.”
“Good.”
He laughed softly. “You only have one word now?”
“I’m conserving energy.”
For the first time since the wedding, he truly laughed.
Then Martin took the phone.
“Evelyn, we have another issue.”
I closed my eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Gregory’s attorney just produced an email chain.”
“What chain?”
“One that suggests Gregory was not the first person to propose selling your hotel interest.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who was?”
May you like
Martin paused.
“Daniel.”
