Chapter 3 - The Staff Who Stopped Talking
"Who knew about the archive?" Elise asked.
Sébastien gave a tired smile. "Half the family."
"That isn't what I asked."
"Your father built enough secret doors to entertain himself for decades."
Elise watched him carefully.
He was joking because he needed the room to breathe again.
She refused to let it.
"Antoine, print every Founder-level log."
"The printers are restricted under lockdown."
"Export to an offline drive."
Sébastien's tone sharpened. "You are not taking company records out of the hotel."
"I own fifty-eight percent of the company."
From near the lobby bar came a quiet laugh.
An older woman in a housekeeping uniform had crossed her arms.
Mireille Duclos had worked at the Domaine for thirty-one years.
Sébastien looked at her. "Something funny?"
"Only the word reckless."
Victoire's eyes flashed. "Back to work."
Mireille stayed where she was.
"Mireille," Elise said. "What happened here?"
The housekeeper looked at the locked doors.
Then at Sébastien.
"People stopped getting overtime. Vendors stopped getting paid. Staff who asked questions got written up."
"That is a lie," Victoire said.
Mireille kept going.
"Three maintenance men were fired after they found invoices for repairs they never performed."
Elise turned to Antoine.
"Can you pull those invoices?"
"Yes."
Sébastien stepped forward. "Enough."
Elise faced him.
For the first time, the family warmth vanished from his expression.
"You came here pretending to be a guest," he said. "You provoked my staff. You triggered an emergency protocol no one has used in twenty years. Now you're treating gossip like evidence."
"Then evidence should calm you down."
Antoine opened the vendor file.
Azure Coast Advisory appeared again.
So did Riviera Systems, Blue Gate Services, and Montclair Restoration.
Four different companies.
Same mailing address.
Elise leaned toward the screen.
"Who approved them?"
Antoine clicked.
Sébastien Morel.
The lobby went still.
Sébastien did not blink.
"I can explain every one."
"Good. Start with this."
Elise pointed to the total.
One million nine hundred thousand euros.
Then Mireille spoke behind her.
"Ask him about the basement room."
Sébastien's face changed.
Elise turned.
May you like
"What basement room?"
Mireille whispered, "The one they told us never existed."
