Chapter 18 - THE LAST THING MY FATHER LEFT
The new footage forced us to return to the brownstone.
Charlotte was still there, waiting in the library under supervision. When Graham showed her the recording, she did not deny it.
“I went to the site because your father asked me to,” she said.
“My father?” Graham repeated.
“Victor knew Everett had changed the report. He also knew the evidence could disappear. He asked me to secure a second copy.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were already under suspicion. Everett believed you had helped Miles access the site. If he learned you were involved in the evidence, he would have destroyed you.”
Graham stared at her.
“You keep using protection as an excuse.”
Charlotte flinched.
“I know.”
“What was in the envelope?”
“A list of payments. Names. Dates. The people who helped Everett change the report.”
“Where is it?”
Charlotte looked at me.
“Your father gave me the envelope. I kept it for two years. Then he asked me to return it to the deposit box.”
“But you opened the box six weeks ago,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Did you take anything?”
Charlotte's silence answered.
Graham's voice became cold. “What did you take?”
“A small photograph.”
“Why?”
“Because it showed someone who was supposed to be dead.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Miles?”
Charlotte shook her head.
“No. Someone else.”
She reached into her handbag and took out a photograph.
It showed a woman standing beside Everett at a private event. Her face was turned toward the camera. She wore a dark coat and a silver pendant.
I recognized her.
Not because I knew her personally, but because I had seen her in my father's old office photographs.
“Who is she?” I asked.
Charlotte hesitated.
“Marianne Cole. She was the project administrator.”
“The inspector?”
“No. She handled the contract documents. She was the person who changed the electronic report.”
Graham studied the photograph. “Where is she now?”
“Dead.”
“How?”
“An apparent overdose, three years ago.”
I looked at the image again.
“Why would my father keep her photograph?”
“Because he believed she had made a copy of the original report before changing it. He thought she might have left the copy somewhere.”
“Did she?”
Charlotte nodded.
“She gave it to me.”
Graham's eyes narrowed. “You had the original report this entire time?”
“I had one page. Not the full file.”
“Where is it?”
Charlotte reached into the lining of her handbag and removed a folded document. The paper was brittle, but the signature at the bottom was clear.
It was my father's original approval warning.
His handwriting. His company seal. His recommendation to shut down the platform immediately.
And beneath it was a handwritten note from Marianne:
THE ORDER CAME FROM E.V. C.V. KNOWS.
I stared at the initials.
“E.V. is Everett Vale,” Graham said.
“And C.V.?” I asked.
Charlotte's face went pale.
“Charles Vale.”
Graham's father.
The room fell silent.
“You said my father was involved?” Graham asked.
Charlotte nodded slowly.
“Charles approved the financing arrangement. He knew the platform was unsafe. He wanted the project completed before the deadline. Everett handled the report. When Miles discovered what happened, Charles ordered him to stay quiet.”
Graham looked sick.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you protected him?”
“I was afraid of what would happen if the truth came out.”
Graham took a step back.
“You let me hate Audrey's father. You let me believe Miles died because of an accident. You let me build my life on a lie.”
Charlotte began to cry.
“I thought I could keep the family together.”
“You kept the name together,” Graham said. “You broke the family.”
He turned away.
I held the original report in both hands.
My father had been telling the truth from the beginning. He had warned them. He had tried to save the workers. And he had died with the knowledge that the people responsible were still free.
I looked at Graham.
“We have to find Miles.”
May you like
He nodded.
“And we have to make sure this evidence reaches someone who cannot be bought.”
