Chapter 9
The forensic accountants worked for six weeks.
Their conclusions were devastating because they were boring.
There was no brilliant criminal scheme.
No secret offshore fortune.
No elaborate coded ledger.
There were false invoices.
Inflated consulting fees.
Duplicate charges.
Services billed but never performed.
Payments split into amounts small enough not to attract immediate attention.
Adrian had used his authority over the Arts Fund to approve them.
Victoria’s company received a substantial portion.
Two other vendors returned money to businesses controlled by Adrian’s associates.
Grace had noticed.
That was why she ordered the audit.
Then the auditors found something even more important.
Victoria’s company email archive had survived through an old cloud backup preserved during a civil tax dispute.
Her attorney could not prevent lawful production of relevant material once financial claims began.
One calendar entry appeared repeatedly.
A — LFM
The dates matched evenings Adrian had been at the Lake Forest Moretti estate while Dante was traveling.
LFM.
Lake Forest Moretti.
Victoria had been inside the estate before Grace died.
More than once.
Dante asked Maria to review old household schedules.
On three of those nights, Grace was home.
One night Lily had been sick.
Grace spent most of the evening in the music room because the piano calmed her.
Maria remembered bringing tea.
She also remembered Adrian leaving unusually late.
“Did you see anyone else?”
“No.”
“Could someone have been there?”
Maria thought.
“The side study connects to the music room through the small corridor.”
Dante knew it.
A guest could enter through the west stairwell and remain unseen from most of the house.
Rebecca looked at the dates.
Then at Grace’s handwritten note.
You brought her into my house.
The likely truth was becoming difficult to avoid.
But Dante still did not know why Victoria had been there.
Business?
Fraud?
Something personal?
Or all three?
He arranged one final formal interview with both attorneys present.
Victoria refused to attend if Adrian was there.
Adrian refused to attend if Victoria was not.
Rebecca looked at Dante after hearing both conditions.
“They’re not protecting the same thing anymore.”
May you like
Dante nodded.
That meant the center was finally breaking.
