Chapter 13 - WHAT THE SECOND BOOK CONTAINED
The second book arrived in a sealed evidence bag two days later.
Celeste had signed written authorization for the storage company to release the relevant property under counsel's supervision.
An independent examiner documented the condition of each item before anything was opened.
I stood behind a viewing window with Ellen and watched a technician lift the small black notebook from its box.
Thomas's handwriting covered the first pages.
I recognized his disciplined columns, the way he underlined totals twice, and the little star he drew beside a number he wanted to revisit.
This was not a secret ledger of unreported wealth.
It was a record of suspicions.
Years before his death, Thomas had begun documenting unusual inquiries from Richard Vale and a younger investor who later became Graham's business partner.
The notebook described attempts to use our restaurant holdings as collateral for unrelated real-estate ventures.
Thomas had refused each one.
He had also documented a private conversation with Adam.
On one page he wrote, OUR SON BELIEVES GRAHAM CAN MAKE HIM IMPORTANT.
I read the line three times.
Beneath it was another sentence.
I FEAR HE WILL ONE DAY CONFUSE A FATHER'S LOVE WITH AN OPEN ACCOUNT.
I had to sit down.
Ellen waited without speaking.
In the back of the notebook was an envelope addressed to me in Thomas's handwriting.
Its seal was intact.
The examiner photographed it before allowing Ellen to open it with my permission.
Inside was a letter written months before Thomas became seriously ill.
He said he had concealed his worries because he hoped Adam would mature and leave Graham's orbit.
He said he had placed safeguards around our business, but he knew no document could mend a son's character.
Then came the sentence I would carry with me for the rest of my life.
Margaret, love him as our son, but do not let him turn your love into permission.
I pressed the letter to my chest.
For four years I had thought Thomas had left me with an impossible burden.
In truth he had left me the one instruction I desperately needed.
Ellen turned to the final page of the ledger.
There, Thomas had listed one account neither of us recognized.
Beside it he had written: ESCROW ACCOUNT — RETURNED FUNDS — DO NOT RELEASE WITHOUT HER CONSENT.
The balance was written in red.
May you like
It was more than eleven million dollars.
