Chapter 8
At nine the next morning, Conrad voluntarily reported the incident.
Not to a family fixer.
To law enforcement.
To the appropriate child-protection authorities.
To the independent directors of Bellafonte Holdings.
And to outside corporate counsel.
Rachel had explained the consequences before he made the calls.
“Police will ask why your cousin was punched.”
“They should.”
“Child investigators will inspect Elliot’s living environment.”
“They should.”
“They may question staff.”
“Yes.”
“They may ask about security, weapons, people coming through the estate.”
“Yes.”
“The corporate review may temporarily limit your authority.”
Conrad looked at her.
“If authority only survives because I hide what happened to my son, I shouldn’t have it.”
Rachel studied him for a moment.
Then she made the calls.
Conrad also voluntarily recused himself from any Bellafonte Holdings vote concerning the continuity committee until independent counsel completed a review.
The family erupted.
An older capo arrived at the estate furious.
“You handed internal records to outsiders?”
“Yes.”
“Over a family argument?”
Conrad looked at him.
“Elliot is three.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Conrad’s voice hardened.
“You know his age. You clearly don’t know what it means.”
The man left.
By afternoon, investigators photographed the garden column, chain, key, and medical-monitor data.
They interviewed Mrs. Bennett.
They obtained the landscaping work order.
They preserved staff-system logs showing Agatha’s tablet sent the false medication message.
Julian’s threat to press charges suddenly became more complicated.
The same investigators reviewing Conrad’s punch now had evidence showing Julian obstructed access to a chained child and initiated physical contact.
Conrad did not celebrate.
He wanted the sequence established accurately.
If he had committed a crime, he would answer for it.
If Julian had, Julian would too.
For the first time in his life, Conrad refused to decide fairness by family rank.
That evening, Nicholas told him Agatha had attempted to contact three of the independent directors privately.
“What did she say?”
“They declined the calls.”
“Good.”
“There’s more.”
Outside counsel had frozen the emergency acquisition packet concerning Julian’s development company.
No continuity committee action could occur while its members were under investigation for potential conflicts.
Julian’s eighteen-million-dollar problem was now entirely his own.
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The irreversible door Conrad opened had cost him some control.
It had also removed the prize waiting on the other side of his supposed downfall.
