Chapter 5 - Thomas’s Desk
Thomas Cole’s office had remained untouched.
Adrian could not bring himself to change it.
Evelyn kept it locked.
Now she opened the door.
Dust.
Leather.
Old wood.
A photograph of Adrian at sixteen.
A photograph of Claire, Adrian’s younger sister, before rehab.
Naomi stayed near the doorway.
This was family ground.
Evelyn went to the desk.
“Your father hid things in obvious places.”
Adrian opened drawers.
Tax files.
Contracts.
Pens.
Nothing.
Then Naomi looked at the picture frames.
One was crooked.
Behind it:
A small brass key.
Adrian stared.
“Dad used to do that.”
The key opened a side cabinet.
Inside was a black ledger.
Not a diary.
A transaction list.
Vendor names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Brighton appeared six times.
So did Harbor Consulting.
Beside several entries Thomas had written:
G.P. + D.R.?
Then later:
V.S. ACCESS?
Adrian stopped.
“Vanessa?”
Evelyn sat down.
Thomas had suspected her before he died.
Adrian looked at his mother.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t Dad tell me?”
A folded note answered.
Adrian,
If you find this, I waited too long.
The problem is not one vendor.
It is access.
Someone close to us is feeding information outside.
Adrian read faster.
The note named no one.
But it warned:
Do not accuse without proof.
Do not let family loyalty become a blindfold.
Adrian whispered:
“He wrote this about me.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Then Naomi noticed one page missing from the ledger.
Freshly torn.
Not two years ago.
Recently.
Adrian looked toward the door.
Only three people had entered the office in the past month.
Evelyn.
Adrian.
And Vanessa.
Then Caleb called Naomi.
His voice shook.
“I found something in the ballroom trash.”
“What?”
“A piece of black paper.”
Naomi looked at the ledger.
May you like
“Don’t touch it.”
The missing page had not left the house.
