Chương 8
Victoria took the other half from Ethan’s paper. “You cannot interrogate him.”
“I asked one question.”
“You asked it four times.”
“He may know.”
“He may also believe his answer decides whether his father goes to jail.”
Teresa rubbed the indentation the pencil had left across her palm.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Let a trained interviewer decide whether there is a child-related issue. You do not turn your son into evidence.”
The phrase was cruel because it was accurate.
Arthur’s attorney denied that Arthur had used Teresa’s device or instructed Ethan to access it. Bernard argued that Teresa had signed numerous documents from home and might simply not remember approving the pledge.
Arthur requested an in-person meeting with Teresa and both attorneys.
They met in Victoria’s conference room on Wednesday. Arthur appeared without Bernard for the first ten minutes, at his own request. Victoria remained near the door.
“I did not use Ethan,” Arthur said.
Teresa sat across from him. “Did you use my iPad?”
“Yes.”
The admission was so immediate that she lost the next sentence.
Arthur continued. “You were asleep with him. Harrison called and said the lender needed the pledge before midnight. I knew your passcode.”
“You forged my consent.”
“Yes.”
“You pledged Ethan’s trust.”
“I believed the collateral would be released within sixty days.”
“You said you would never put his money near this.”
“I didn’t move the money.”
“You risked it.”
“The project had presales. We had a hotel buyer. The risk looked limited.”
“To whom?”
“To me.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Arthur pressed his fingertips together. His nails were bitten close, a habit Teresa had not seen since the first year of their marriage.
“Why admit it now?” she asked.
“Because Harrison has the pledge agreement, and he’ll use it if I don’t support his version.”
“Which is?”
“That I designed the transfers, approved every entity, and pressured him to conceal the losses.”
“Did you?”
“Some of it.”
“Arthur.”
“I approved payments. I knew Genevieve’s invoices were inflated. I knew Harrison was using one entity to pay obligations on another. I did not know he moved two million into an account he controlled.”
“Did you know the project was insolvent?”
“Not at first.”
“When?”
Arthur looked toward the blinds. “January.”
It was now March.
“You brought Genevieve into our house in March.”
He swallowed.
“You knew the company was collapsing, you knew you had forged my signature, you knew Harrison could expose you, and you were shopping?”
“That is not what happened.”
“She had six bags.”
“One had your watch.”
The absurdity of the defense silenced both of them.
Arthur rubbed his face. “I thought if the Harbor sale closed, I could repair the accounts before anyone was hurt.”
“People were already hurt.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now because there are lawyers in the room.”
His hands dropped. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth before it becomes useful to you.”
He looked at her for a long time.
“I was afraid,” he said.
The words were small, almost disappointing. Teresa had expected strategy, perhaps an explanation complicated enough to justify the years she had spent believing him exceptional.
“Of losing the company?”
“Of being the man who lost your father’s company.”
“My father’s dead.”
“He’s still in every room there.”
Arthur’s voice sharpened. “Every decision I made was measured against what he would have done. Every person who praised me said he would have been proud. Every person who disagreed looked at you before deciding whether I belonged.”
“You were chief executive for eleven years.”
“And still married to the founder’s daughter.”
“So you stole from the founder’s grandson?”
His face folded for a second. He covered it with one hand.
Teresa felt anger, pity, and something worse than either: recognition. Arthur had always been most dangerous when he believed shame was temporary and success would erase the route taken to reach it.
“Where is the missing money?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Harrison?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you have records from the storage unit?”
Arthur looked up sharply.
“You were there,” she said.
He turned toward Victoria. “That photograph came from Genevieve.”
“It came from counsel,” Victoria replied.
Arthur laughed once without humor. “Of course.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
“Why did your phone show you at Bernard’s office?”
“I left it with his assistant.”
Victoria straightened. “Bernard knew?”
“No. I said the battery was dying and asked to charge it.”
Teresa stared at him. “You manufactured an alibi.”
“I needed documents before Harrison destroyed them.”
“Did you get them?”
Arthur reached inside his coat.
Victoria stepped forward. “Slowly.”
He removed a brass key attached to a plastic tag.
“Second unit,” he said. “Harrison moved the important files before I arrived. This opens a cabinet bolted to the back wall. I couldn’t remove it without tools.”
“Why not tell the committee?”
“Because the cabinet contains Harbor South records too.”
The old bribery arrangement.
“You were protecting yourself,” Teresa said.
“Yes.”
At least he no longer bothered to dress the answer.
The special committee’s lawyers entered with Bernard. The next three hours became procedural. The storage unit was secured. Independent counsel arranged access. Arthur surrendered the key and signed a statement acknowledging the forged pledge consent. Bernard objected to the wording, crossed out two sentences, and advised Arthur repeatedly not to speculate.
Teresa watched the man she had married become a witness against himself.
There was no dramatic collapse. Arthur asked for water. He corrected a date. He requested a bathroom break. At one point Bernard told him to stop answering, and Arthur said, “I’ve been stopping for a year.”
The cabinet contained paper ledgers, two encrypted drives, copies of consulting agreements, and a folder labeled HSD COMMUNITY.
May you like
Harrison Drake disappeared before investigators reached him.
His house was empty except for furniture staged for sale. His office computer had been wiped. His assistant said he had traveled to Toronto, though immigration records later showed no corresponding departure. A company car assigned to him was found at an airport parking garage.
