Chapter 14 - The Sister Who Found the Ledger
Evelyn called us at midnight.
“Come to my office.”
We found her surrounded by boxes from the Mercer-Vale archives.
Caleb was there too.
She opened an old accounting ledger.
“Thomas wasn’t only cheated out of shares.”
Daniel leaned over the table.
“What do you mean?”
“The company paid Judith for years.”
He frowned.
“We know Arthur paid her.”
“No.”
Evelyn tapped the page.
“These payments continued after Arthur died.”
“From whom?”
“Richard.”
Daniel sat back.
The amounts were enormous.
Richard had transferred money into private accounts Judith controlled.
Every year.
For almost two decades.
“What was he paying her for?” I asked.
Evelyn opened another file.
“For silence.”
She had found Richard’s handwritten notes.
Judith threatened to expose the entire Mercer-Vale fraud whenever Richard tried to change the trust.
Daniel stared at the papers.
“My mother blackmailed Dad.”
“Yes.”
“While staying married to him.”
“Yes.”
Caleb shook his head.
“That woman is impressive in the worst possible way.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Evelyn slid over another document.
“This is why she was terrified of Maisie’s DNA test.”
It was a draft trust amendment Richard had prepared shortly before his death.
If reliable genetic evidence established that Daniel was not Richard’s biological son, the Mercer shares held in Daniel’s name would automatically be investigated.
But Richard had added another provision.
If Daniel was proven to be Thomas Vale’s biological son, Daniel would be entitled to Thomas’s restored ownership rights alongside Thomas’s other heirs.
I read it again.
“Richard knew.”
Evelyn nodded.
“He was trying to fix it.”
Daniel’s voice was barely audible.
“He was going to give the company back.”
“Part of it.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“The amendment was never executed.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“When was it drafted?”
“Twelve days before his death.”
Richard Mercer had died of a sudden heart attack.
At home.
Judith had been with him.
The room went silent.
“No,” Daniel said.
Evelyn raised a hand.
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
“I’m thinking we need facts.”
Daniel looked ill.
Richard’s death had always seemed natural.
He had a history of high blood pressure.
But timing changes the meaning of old events.
The next morning, the attorney requested Richard’s medical records.
They confirmed severe cardiovascular disease.
Nothing suspicious appeared.
For once, the darkest possibility was not true.
Richard had died naturally.
But another document emerged.
Three days before his death, Richard had mailed the signed trust amendment to his attorney.
The attorney never received it.
The envelope had been returned to the Mercer residence because of insufficient postage.
May you like
Someone at the house signed for it.
Judith Mercer.
