Chương 12
“He knows about the folder?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him about my credentials?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because outside counsel advised that no one under review receive further details until interviews begin.”
“Is Elijah officially under review?”
“He will be when he lands.”
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
“And me?”
“You may be interviewed as a witness.”
“Because of the credentials.”
“Yes.”
“Margaret.”
“What?”
“The photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“The one Laura sent me.”
I told her about the bourbon glasses in Elijah’s office and the unidentified man’s hand.
Margaret became silent.
“Can you send it to me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know what I’m looking at, and neither do you.”
A pause.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You’re learning.”
“I don’t appreciate that.”
“You don’t have to.”
I almost smiled.
“Who has access to Elijah’s office?”
“Executives, assistants, cleaning staff, security, maintenance, and anyone invited in.”
“So half the company.”
“Not half.”
“Enough.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the photo again.
The watch on the unidentified wrist bothered me.
Not because it was expensive.
Because I had seen it somewhere.
A square black face with a narrow silver bezel.
I zoomed in.
The cuff beside it was pale blue.
Nothing unique.
Nothing useful.
Then I noticed a small detail reflected in the glass door behind the bourbon.
A red tie.
Part of a man’s torso.
Not the person whose hand was visible.
Someone else had been in the office.
I enlarged it until the pixels broke apart.
The tie remained.
“Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“How many people were in Elijah’s office the night Laura sent me that photograph?”
“How would I know?”
“Can security logs tell you?”
“Possibly.”
“I need the date.”
I checked the message.
“August fourteenth.”
Megan watched me.
Margaret exhaled.
“I can ask counsel to preserve access records for that date.”
“Not because I think it proves anything.”
“Correct.”
“Because it might establish who was there.”
“Correct.”
I looked again at the reflection.
My skin prickled.
“What?”
Margaret asked.
“There are two men.”
“What do you mean?”
“In the photograph.”
I zoomed farther.
The reflected man’s face was not visible.
Only the tie and part of one hand resting near the glass.
On that hand was a heavy gold ring.
A ring I had noticed repeatedly at Mercer events because its owner turned it around whenever he was nervous.
Leonard Mason wore no ring in the photographs I had just searched.
But I knew someone who did.
Someone who had spent dinner at the gala seated two tables from Margaret.
Someone who had hugged Elijah after every quarterly earnings call since his father’s stroke.
My mouth went dry.
“Megan.”
She leaned closer.
I showed her the image.
“What am I supposed to see?”
“The ring.”
She squinted.
“Who wears that?”
I did not answer her.
I raised the phone again.
“Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“Where was Richard Cole on August fourteenth?”
The silence on the line became immediate and absolute.
Richard was Mercer Hospitality’s chief financial officer.
He was also the man responsible for overseeing the family office that had moved money from my account.
When Margaret finally spoke, her voice had lost all warmth.
“Do not contact Richard.”
I stared at the blurred reflection.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not contact anyone.”
“Margaret.”
“Alex, listen to me.”
“I am.”
“No, listen carefully.”
Her breathing sounded close to the receiver.
“Richard resigned ten minutes ago.”
For a second, I thought I had misheard her.
“Resigned from what?”
“The company.”
“Effective when?”
“Immediately.”
Megan sat beside me, watching my face.
“Did he give a reason?”
“Personal circumstances.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone stop him from leaving?”
“We are a corporation, Alex, not a prison.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Her sharpness sounded like fear again.
I lowered my voice.
“Is he still in the building?”
“No.”
“Where did he go?”
“We don’t know.”
“How does the chief financial officer of a public company resign during an active internal review and nobody knows where he went?”
“Because people are allowed to walk out of buildings.”
I closed my eyes.
“Right.”
Margaret exhaled.
“Security preserved his badge logs and company devices before he left.”
“He gave up his phone?”
“His company phone.”
“And his laptop?”
“Yes.”
“Personal phone?”
“No.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Did he know the audit committee found the folder?”
“He was in the room.”
“So he resigned ten minutes later.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not subtle.”
“No.”
“Does Elijah know?”
“His plane landed twenty minutes ago.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
A pause.
“He knows Richard resigned.”
“And the rest?”
“Outside counsel is speaking with him now.”
I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the phone.
“I want to know what happens.”
“That phrase is becoming irritating.”
“It is designed to.”
Megan mouthed, Who is Richard?
I covered the phone.
“CFO.”
Her eyes widened.
I uncovered it.
“Margaret, I need to deal with my mother.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want calls every fifteen minutes.”
“I understand.”
“But if anything involves my name, my accounts, or my credentials, tell me immediately.”
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“Do not let Elijah come back here today.”
There was silence.
“I can’t control him.”
“You can control the jet.”
“That is childish.”
“So was slapping me.”
Megan’s eyebrows rose.
Margaret sighed.
“I cannot ground the chairman like a teenager.”
“Then tell him I don’t want him here.”
“Thank you.”
I ended the call.
Megan stared at me.
“What the hell did I just walk into?”
“I’m not sure.”
“That is a terrible answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
She held out her hand.
“Show me the picture.”
I passed her the phone.
She enlarged the reflection.
“That could be anyone.”
“I know.”
“You said it was the CFO.”
“I said he wears a ring like that.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“I know.”
She looked at me suspiciously.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because everyone keeps reminding me.”
“Good.”
She handed the phone back.
May you like
“You are emotional, sleep-deprived, grieving, and bruised.”
“Thank you for the flattering inventory.”
