Chapter 3 - THE ENVELOPE
The officer replayed the footage.
The timestamp showed 7:41 p.m.
Victoria appeared in the upstairs hallway.
She looked left.
Then right.
She entered Elena and Julian’s bedroom holding a cream-colored envelope.
Three minutes later, she came out without it.
Arthur rewound the recording.
“Where is that envelope?”
Victoria shrugged.
“I do not remember.”
Thomas looked at Elena.
“Do you?”
Elena thought carefully.
Then she remembered the sound she had heard upstairs earlier.
A drawer shutting.
“My desk.”
They went upstairs together.
Julian walked beside Elena, but she kept several feet between them.
The bedroom looked normal.
Too normal.
Elena crossed to the small writing desk near the windows.
She opened the top drawer.
Nothing.
The second drawer contained receipts, notebooks, and stationery.
The third held a sealed envelope.
Thomas reached for it.
Elena stopped him.
“Let the officer do it.”
The policeman photographed the envelope before lifting it.
There was no name on the front.
Inside were several pages.
Julian leaned closer.
“What is that?”
The officer unfolded the first document.
Elena recognized the logo immediately.
Vance Holdings.
Arthur’s face hardened.
The document appeared to be a transfer authorization.
It moved shares from one family trust into a private entity registered in Delaware.
Julian read the first page.
“That is my signature.”
Arthur looked at him sharply.
“Did you sign this?”
“No.”
Julian turned the page.
“My signature is copied.”
Thomas studied the document without touching it.
“Who benefits from the receiving company?”
The officer examined the final page.
“Northstar Meridian LLC.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
Elena noticed.
“You know that name.”
Arthur was silent for several seconds.
Then he looked at Eleanor.
“Your brother used that company.”
Eleanor stood frozen near the doorway.
Victoria stepped between them.
“This has nothing to do with Mom.”
Arthur’s voice sharpened.
“I did not ask you.”
Eleanor slowly sat on the edge of a chair.
“My brother closed that company years ago.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
Thomas pulled out his phone.
“My legal department investigated Northstar Meridian eighteen months ago.”
Eleanor’s face turned white.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Julian.
“Because someone using that company tried to acquire confidential debt connected to Vance Holdings.”
Arthur stared at Eleanor.
“You told me those inquiries came from an outside investor.”
Eleanor looked away.
Julian suddenly understood.
“You knew?”
She said nothing.
Victoria stepped toward him.
“Julian, you are misunderstanding this.”
He backed away from her.
“No.”
He pointed toward the papers.
“I think I am finally beginning to understand.”
Elena felt something colder than anger settle inside her.
May you like
The missing necklace had never been the real plan.
It had been a distraction.
