Part 9
“Yes.”
“Based on what?”
“He is controlled until he isn’t.”
Simone’s pen paused. “Has he been violent?”
“No.”
“Threatening?”
“No.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“He makes decisions quickly when he feels responsible for someone.”
“Such as?”
“Last fall, a groundskeeper’s son crashed a utility cart. Julian paid the medical bills before the insurance review. It complicated the claim.”
“That sounds generous.”
“It was generous. It was also impulsive.”
Simone smiled slightly. “You are protective of him.”
“No.”
“You corrected that one too quickly.”
Mara felt heat rise beneath her collar.
“He is my employer.”
“Currently?”
“Apparently not.”
“Paid suspension is not termination.”
“Not yet.”
Simone closed the file.
“Your unauthorized photographs are a problem. Your failure to report the missing pages immediately is another problem. But neither explains the removed ledger, altered catalog entry, or Ms. Arden’s refusal to permit a vehicle search.”
“So you believe me.”
“I believe some things you said are independently supported.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“It is the only kind of belief useful in an investigation.”
Before Mara left, Simone asked whether she possessed any other copies, notes, or images relating to Halcyon.
Mara said no.
The answer stayed with her all the way home.
At ten that night, she remembered the pencil rubbings.
They were not really rubbings. During a binding survey two weeks earlier, she had placed a thin sheet of Japanese tissue over the ledger’s damaged spine and traced the sewing structure in soft graphite. The sheet included the thickness of every gathering, the placement of the missing folios before they were removed, and a faint transfer from a folded note tucked near page 214.
She had stored the tracing in her conservation portfolio.
Mara pulled the portfolio from beneath her desk.
The tissue lay between sheets of glassine. At first it showed only thread lines and measurements. Then she angled it beneath the lamp.
Letters appeared backward near the center fold.
—don’t let J sign until V confirms—
The rest disappeared into a crease.
Mara sat very still.
She had told Simone she possessed no other material.
At the time, she had forgotten the tracing. That was true.
Keeping it now would not be.
She called Alan.
He answered on the first ring.
“I found something.”
He arrived with Simone forty minutes later.
Neither praised Mara for calling.
Simone photographed the tracing in place, documented its storage, and asked the same questions three times in slightly different forms.
“Who is J?” Alan asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Julian?”
“Possibly.”
“V?”
“Victoria?”
“Possibly.”
Simone studied the reversed letters.
“Could this note have been planted?”
“Anything could be planted,” Mara said. “But the tissue was made before the pages disappeared.”
“How do you know?”
“The binding measurements include both missing folios.”
“Does anyone else know when you made it?”
“I logged the treatment.”
“Can the log be altered?”
“Yes.”
“Any witnesses?”
“The paper conservator from Boston was here that day. She reviewed my measurements.”
Simone looked at Alan.
“That helps.”
The conservator confirmed the appointment the next morning and produced a photograph taken during the survey. In the background, the green ledger lay open to the now-missing section. A folded ivory note protruded from the gutter.
The image was not clear enough to read the note, but it proved the pages and inserted paper had existed two weeks earlier.
By Wednesday, the investigation moved beyond the estate.
The trust’s forensic accountant traced HMR Reserve payments through a regional bank to four limited liability companies. Two appeared to fund environmental monitoring and medical reimbursements for former residents near the Halcyon parcels. A third paid legal fees. The fourth, Larkspur Community Holdings, had received more than six million dollars over nine years.
Larkspur’s registered manager was a corporate services company.
Its beneficial owner was not publicly listed.
The estate board scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday.
Julian called Mara that afternoon.
She let the phone ring twice before answering.
“Alan says you found a tracing.”
“Yes.”
“You remembered it after the interview.”
“Yes.”
“That is convenient.”
Mara looked at the kitchen window. Ice had formed along the lower pane.
“It is.”
He was silent.
“Do you think I hid it?” she asked.
“I don’t know what I think.”
“That seems to be happening to both of us.”
“You told me to protect the records. I am trying.”
“By questioning whether I planted evidence?”
“By questioning everyone.”
“Are you questioning Celeste?”
“She will not speak to me.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No,” he said. “It isn’t.”
Mara heard the fatigue in his voice.
“Did they search the car?”
“Her attorney negotiated a supervised inspection this morning.”
“And?”
“No ledger.”
The certainty she had been holding loosened.
“Nothing?”
“An overnight bag. Wedding files. Two client folders belonging to Arden Pike. No book.”
“Could it have been removed before the inspection?”
“The car was under camera from the moment she left it.”
“Blind spots?”
“None that security found.”
Mara sat down.
“What if she didn’t take it outside?”
“We searched the accessible rooms.”
“The old passage connects to more than the library.”
“To what?”
“Servants’ stairs. A storage corridor. The wine cellar, indirectly.”
“Why didn’t you say that before?”
“Because most of the connecting doors were sealed during renovation.”
“Most?”
“I need the old floor plans.”
“You’re suspended.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then tell Alan.”
“I will.”
Julian exhaled.
“Mara.”
“Yes?”
“Celeste says you asked her for money.”
Mara stood again.
“What?”
“She says you offered to keep the ledger issue quiet in exchange for a private payment.”
“That is a lie.”
“She has a message.”
“I never messaged her.”
“She has a screenshot from an unknown number. It says, ‘The Halcyon pages disappear for fifty thousand.’”
Mara gripped the edge of the table.
“What time?”
“Five-thirty Monday.”
“I was in the archive.”
“That does not mean you could not send it.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
The words came unexpectedly.
Mara said nothing.
May you like
Julian continued. “The number is prepaid and inactive. Alan is tracing what he can.”
“Why would Celeste show you a message if she stole the ledger?”
