Chapter 10 - The Insider
The fourth name was Megan Cross, a respected internal auditor who had resigned two weeks after Daniel’s death.
Rebecca located her through counsel and found she had already contacted investigators independently.
Megan had been afraid to speak because the access logs implicated her account.
She said her credentials were used while she was traveling without her laptop.
The company had initially treated the incident as a technical anomaly.
Daniel had treated it as a warning.
“Somebody kept entering the system through people they thought would be blamed,” Megan said during a formal interview.
“My account, then Daniel’s, then a temporary contractor’s.”
She produced travel receipts, device records, and a written report she had submitted before resigning.
Her report was marked closed without action.
Aaron had approved the closure.
The pattern now had a shape.
It still needed testing, and Olivia reminded me not to confuse a plausible explanation with proof.
But I no longer felt trapped inside Vanessa’s version of our family.
I had people who could challenge claims with documents instead of louder claims.
That afternoon, Dad sent a letter offering to settle the matter privately.
He would return a small fraction of the disputed money if I restored family support and signed a confidentiality agreement.
The letter also required me to withdraw any statements suggesting misconduct by family members.
There was no apology.
No admission.
No request to know Grace.
Rebecca read it once and placed it aside.
“We will not exchange silence for money,” I said.
She smiled for the first time that day.
“Good.”
The next morning a court issued an order protecting certain business records while the civil proceedings continued.
Independently, investigators confirmed they were examining the suspected fraudulent transactions.
Rebecca stressed that an investigation was not a conviction and that we would not claim otherwise publicly.
Vanessa, apparently desperate, reached out to me through a handwritten note left with Helen.
“I know what Dad did to Daniel,” it began.
“But I never agreed to the last part.”
I felt cold from my neck to my fingertips.
The note contained a meeting place and a time.
No lawyer.
No witness.
No phone.
Olivia shook her head.
“That’s exactly the kind of invitation we don’t accept.”
We offered Vanessa a safe meeting through counsel instead.
She sent back a single sentence.
“Then I’ll take the proof where you can’t get it.”
That night, a file-sharing alert appeared in Daniel’s old account.
Somebody was attempting to open the encrypted evidence archive from an unfamiliar device.
The location was only approximate.
May you like
It was close to my parents’ house.
