Chapter 12 - Thomas’s Second Packet
Richard tried to take the box.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Set it on the desk.”
The bank employee obeyed.
Richard’s voice sharpened. “This is a private banking matter.”
“No,” Eleanor said. “It’s my husband’s trust.”
The lid opened.
Inside were three sealed envelopes, a flash drive, and a small velvet case.
Eleanor picked up the first envelope.
FOR ELEANOR.
Her name was written in Thomas’s unmistakable block handwriting.
Her fingers shook.
She opened it.
Ellie,
If you are reading this, then I failed to clean up my own mess in time.
She had not heard Thomas call her Ellie in two years. The word nearly broke her.
The letter did not accuse Richard of causing his death. It did something more devastating.
Thomas admitted he had protected Richard after the first transfer because he feared scandal. Then Richard used that protection to frame Grant when a second transfer surfaced.
I chose the company over our son. I told myself I was buying time. What I really bought was silence.
Eleanor had to stop reading.
Grant turned away.
Harrison covered his mouth.
The second envelope was addressed to Grant.
The third to Harrison.
The velvet case held Thomas’s missing watch.
Everyone stared at it.
Sloan whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Daniel lifted the auction photograph from his folder and compared serial numbers.
“They match.”
Harrison looked at Sloan. “Then what did you photograph?”
Sloan did not answer.
Richard did.
“A replica.”
Eleanor turned.
Richard looked tired now, stripped of polish.
“Thomas moved the original into the vault before he died.”
“Why make a replica?” Daniel asked.
Richard’s silence gave the answer.
To sell something that did not legally belong to them while keeping the original hidden.
Sloan whispered, “You told me it was real.”
Richard looked at his daughter with open contempt.
“And you believed me because you wanted to.”
Harrison stepped between them. “Don’t speak to her like that.”
Sloan stared at him, shocked that he had defended her.
Richard laughed softly.
“There he is. Still saving everyone.”
Then the bank supervisor appeared at the lobby entrance with two police officers.
Richard’s face went still.
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“I called them after we heard the recording.”
One officer approached Richard.
“Mr. Mercer, we need to ask you some questions about Thomas Caldwell’s death and suspected financial fraud.”
Richard did not resist.
May you like
But as they led him away, he looked over his shoulder at Eleanor.
“You still don’t know what your husband did to protect you.”
