Chapter 2
The garden chain had been installed that morning.
The landscaping contractor produced the work order before noon the next day.
It described the anchor as a temporary attachment point for decorative lighting.
The request came from Julian’s executive assistant.
Julian denied knowing anything about it.
His assistant, Evan Cole, said Julian personally dictated the request.
One of them was lying.
Conrad let lawyers deal with which.
The more interesting discovery concerned the party itself.
Agatha had added seven names to the guest list during the previous week.
That was not unusual.
She had organized Bellafonte gatherings for decades.
The names were.
Three were independent directors of Bellafonte Holdings.
One was the company’s outside governance attorney.
Another was a retired federal judge who had served as an adviser during a previous succession dispute.
The remaining two were older capos whose opinions carried unusual weight with senior family members.
Conrad sat at the end of the conference table reading the list.
His corporate counsel, Rachel Sloan, sat opposite him.
“Would you normally invite these people to a garden party?”
“Some of them.”
“All together?”
“No.”
Rachel tapped the page.
“Agatha said she invited them because she wanted ‘stability represented in the room.’”
Conrad looked up.
“She said that?”
“To the event planner.”
The phrase bothered him.
Not enough to mean anything yet.
Enough to remember.
Rachel continued.
“There’s another issue.”
She opened the Bellafonte Holdings governance book.
Conrad recognized the thick binder.
He had signed pieces of it for years without reading every clause each time.
Rachel turned to a continuity provision.
“If the controlling chairman becomes unable to act because of incapacity, serious criminal indictment, or certain emergency events, executive authority temporarily transfers to the continuity committee.”
Conrad frowned.
“I know.”
“Do you remember who currently sits on the committee?”
He did.
Two independent directors.
One outside adviser.
And the senior family representative.
Agatha.
Conrad stared at her name.
“Temporary authority doesn’t give her control.”
“No.”
Rachel shook her head.
“But the committee can approve emergency measures needed to preserve company operations.”
“What kind?”
“Debt actions. Interim management appointments. Certain acquisitions if delay would materially harm the company.”
Conrad leaned back.
“Why are we talking about this?”
“Because Agatha requested a certified copy of this section seventeen days ago.”
Silence.
“Reason?”
“She told the corporate secretary she was updating the family emergency files.”
Conrad looked again at the guest list.
Three independent directors.
Outside governance counsel.
A retired judge.
Two senior capos.
Agatha had surrounded the garden with people whose testimony would matter in almost any dispute about Conrad’s judgment or authority.
That was strange.
Still not proof.
He remembered Rachel’s favorite rule.
Interesting was not the same thing as established.
Conrad closed the binder.
“What was Julian doing financially?”
Rachel looked at him.
“Why Julian?”
“He stepped in front of me instead of unlocking Elliot.”
That answer was enough.
Rachel promised a review.
When Conrad returned to Elliot’s room, the boy was awake and watching cartoons.
A fresh heart-monitor sensor sat beneath his pajama shirt.
Conrad sat beside him.
Elliot immediately asked, “Agatha coming?”
“No.”
“Julian?”
“No.”
The boy relaxed.
Conrad noticed.
“Did they do this before?”
Elliot looked at the television.
“No chain.”
Conrad’s chest tightened.
He kept his voice even.
“What happened before?”
Elliot thought.
“Aunt Aggie says sit outside.”
“When?”
“When you go work.”
Conrad did not ask another question.
Not then.
May you like
One planned incident was already too much.
The possibility that it had grown from smaller ones changed what he needed to understand.
