Chapter 18 - THE LAST ACCOUNT
We stayed away from the windows.
Police arrived within minutes, and the suspicious car fled before officers could identify its driver.
Nobody was hurt, but I could tell the girls were exhausted by fear.
Marisol said the investigators finally had grounds to connect several threats to a contractor paid through a Vale-linked security company.
The link was important, though not yet proof that Arthur ordered every act.
Meanwhile, the financial review uncovered the center of the old scheme.
North Bridge had billed insurers for services never delivered to vulnerable patients, then routed money through charitable entities.
False guardianship records helped conceal the identities of the children named in those claims.
The triplets had appeared in the records for years after their supposed medical files were closed.
The numbers were sickening.
I had counted coins for formula while strangers profited from their names.
“And the anonymous foundation donation?” Lily asked.
Marisol placed a statement on the table.
It had been traced to a reserve account created from disputed funds.
The girls would return the money pending legal resolution, and the foundation would be rebuilt with verified donations.
Lily looked devastated.
“We wanted to give you something beautiful.”
“You did,” I said.
“The idea is beautiful. Money can be replaced.”
Emma reminded us that hundreds of small donors had already contributed after the ceremony.
Those funds could be segregated until the legal review finished.
For the first time in days, Lily smiled.
Then Rebecca asked Marisol to examine a small brass key she had kept sewn inside her coat.
“It opens a deposit box Martin used,” she said.
“I stole it when I escaped.”
The box was at a bank that had since merged with a regional institution.
Under the supervision of investigators, it was opened the following morning.
Inside were original ledgers, witness statements, and a sealed envelope addressed to Emily.
The handwriting was my father's.
I tore it open with shaking hands.
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The first line read: If Judith tells you I died by accident, do not believe her.
