Chapter 11
Julian Monroe came voluntarily the next morning.
That surprised me.
Estelle had called him.
Not to protect him.
To tell him Miles had recorded everything.
Useful incentive for honesty.
Julian sat across from me at Agnes’s temporary kitchen inside the hotel.
Strange setting.
Appropriate.
“I ordered Nolan to burn the bakery.”
He started there.
Good.
“Why?”
“To close the passage.”
“Knowing Agnes would be gone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Miles delayed her?”
“No.”
I believed him.
Not innocence.
Different guilt.
“Why not tell me about the passage?”
Julian looked at Estelle.
Then at me.
“Because I thought you’d end the engagement.”
There it was again.
Everyone organizing reality around my future reaction.
“Would I have?”
“If you knew my family had been meeting your people secretly? Probably.”
“Then perhaps the engagement deserved to end.”
He looked away.
Julian’s motive was simple.
He feared Monroe would disappear inside Kingsley after marriage.
His father had warned him.
Never let your sister become a guest in another family’s empire.
So he built access.
Security.
Private meetings.
A seat.
Not because he hated me.
Because he did not trust marriage to protect his family’s relevance.
Again.
Power wearing the costume of protection.
I asked:
“Did Estelle know you were meeting Harold?”
“She knew I met people.”
“How many?”
“Not who.”
She looked at him.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“And told me burning the bakery would protect us.”
“Yes.”
Her face hardened.
Julian continued.
“I thought Miles wanted balance.”
“So did I,” Estelle whispered.
Then Julian laughed bitterly.
“We were both idiots.”
Correct.
But different idiots.
He had knowingly ordered arson.
She had knowingly covered it.
Miles escalated toward murder.
Harold supplied ideology.
Everyone had a piece.
No single villain carrying the whole story.
That mattered.
Then Agnes placed fresh bread on the table.
Julian looked confused.
She said:
“You’re still eating.”
He stared.
“Why?”
“Because hunger doesn’t improve honesty.”
I looked at her.
Of course.
The woman could humiliate powerful men with bread better than I could with threats.
Julian took a piece.
Quietly.
Then confessed the final thing.
There were six Kingsley associates at the underground meetings.
Not three.
Three had not yet been identified.
All were currently staying in my hotel.
Good.
May you like
The fire had ended.
The cleanup had just begun.
