PART 10 — The Sister Who Broke
Emergency lights flickered on.
Garrick was still in the foyer with an officer.
Miriam remained beside the dining table.
Marcus was gone.
The window in the library stood open.
Commissioner Fletcher ordered the estate locked down.
Officers searched the grounds while the board members gathered in one room.
The mansion had more than forty rooms, two service staircases, and an underground passage connecting the wine cellar to the garage.
Marcus knew the property well.
He had helped restructure the estate ownership years earlier.
As officers searched, Garrick’s sister Camille began shaking.
She had barely spoken all evening.
Now she stared at the dark hallway as though expecting someone to emerge.
“He won’t leave without the ledger,” she whispered.
“What ledger?” Fletcher asked.
Camille looked at Miriam.
Her mother’s expression became deadly.
“Be quiet.”
Camille backed away.
For the first time, she seemed more afraid of Miriam than of the police.
“The original ledger,” Camille said. “Marcus keeps it inside the chapel.”
The estate’s private chapel stood beyond the gardens.
Garrick’s younger brother Julian lowered his glass.
“You knew about this?”
Camille nodded.
“Mother made me copy documents. She said it was to protect the family.”
Miriam stood.
“You have lived in comfort because of me.”
“I lived in fear because of you.”
Camille explained that Marcus kept handwritten records of every illegal payment, including the money connected to Henry’s death.
He trusted paper more than computers.
The ledger also contained the names of judges, contractors, and public officials who had accepted bribes.
“If Marcus gets it,” Camille said, “he’ll burn it.”
Fletcher sent officers toward the chapel.
A minute later, a gunshot echoed across the estate.
Sienna jumped.
I pulled her behind me.
Officers ran through the garden.
They found the chapel door open.
Inside, one officer had fired into the ceiling after Marcus attacked him with a brass candlestick.
Marcus escaped through a concealed door behind the altar.
But he had not found the ledger.
Camille led investigators to a compartment beneath the first pew.
The book was still there.
Fletcher opened it.
Pages of names and payments filled the ledger.
Near the back was an entry dated two days before Henry’s death.
Ortega — 20,000.
Hale — authorization complete.
M. Ashford — balance after accident.
Then came a more recent entry.
V. Bennett policy active Monday.
Garrick’s initials appeared beside it.
Sienna turned toward her husband.
“You knew they planned to kill my mother.”
Garrick shook his head.
“No. Marcus told me the policy was collateral.”
Before anyone could respond, Fletcher received a radio message.
Marcus had reached the garage.
May you like
And he was not escaping alone.
Miriam Ashford had disappeared.
