Chapter 14 - The Arrests
The first police cruiser reached the mansion at 9:28.
By ten, the main drive was lined with state police vehicles, unmarked cars, and one county investigator who had known Catherine Mercer personally.
Dominic handed over the forged papers, the dead notary page, the red ledger, the cached security video, and copies of the foundation transfer records.
He did not make a speech.
He did not ask for favors.
He simply said, "Follow the evidence."
Brooke watched from the drawing room doorway.
"You're giving them everything?"
Dominic looked at her.
"You expected me to hide it?"
"You always protect the Mercer name."
"Not from the truth."
For the first time that morning, she looked genuinely afraid.
Voss was taken first for questioning related to leaving the scene of Evan's crash and possible financial crimes. Brooke was not immediately arrested. Detectives wanted her statement.
That enraged Natalie.
"She gets to walk?"
The lead detective shook his head. "For now. We move carefully or we lose the case later."
Dominic put a hand on Natalie's shoulder. "Let them build it."
She jerked away. "Easy for you to say. You didn't spend six months thinking rain killed your husband."
Dominic absorbed the blow.
"You're right."
Natalie looked surprised.
He continued, "I should have looked harder. I trusted the report because I wanted the accident to be an accident. I'm sorry."
Her anger collapsed into tears.
Noah came down the stairs and ran to her.
Dominic turned away to give them privacy.
Emma followed him into the hall.
"You can't blame yourself for all of it."
"I can blame myself for missing things."
"Then blame yourself tomorrow. Today they need you useful."
Dominic almost smiled.
Then his chief financial officer hurried in holding a laptop.
"We found another transfer."
Dominic's smile vanished.
"How much?"
"Not money. Ownership."
He opened the screen.
A shell company controlled by Brooke had acquired a forty-nine percent interest in Mercer Maritime through a sequence of proxy agreements.
Dominic read the filing twice.
"This is impossible."
"It shouldn't be possible," the CFO said. "Unless someone on the board countersigned it."
May you like
The signature belonged to Julian Mercer.
And the filing became effective at noon that day.
