Chapter 4 - The Hidden Ledger
The guest bathroom was rarely used, decorated in pristine white marble that felt more like a museum exhibit than a room in a home. Julian and Maya knelt on the cold floor near the freestanding clawfoot tub.
Julian tapped his knuckles against the marble tiles. One of them, hidden slightly beneath the shadow of the tub, produced a hollow thud instead of a solid clink.
Using a flathead screwdriver from his pocket, Julian carefully wedged it into the grout line and popped the tile loose. Beneath it was a small, dusty cavity containing a black leather-bound journal.
He pulled it out, brushing off the dust. The moment he opened it, his blood ran cold.
It wasn't a diary. It was a meticulous, handwritten log of dates, times, and observations. Beatrice had been tracking Victoria for over a year.
October 14th: Found Victoria in Julian's office again. Heard her on the phone. She mentioned a man named Elias.
November 2nd: My tea tasted bitter again. I poured it into the potted fern when Victoria wasn't looking. The fern died two days later.
December 18th: Elias came to the house pretending to be a life insurance adjuster. I recognized his voice from the phone. They are planning something for the winter trip.
"Who is Elias?" Maya whispered, reading over Julian's shoulder.
Julian's jaw tightened. "Elias Thorne. Doctor Aris Thorne’s younger brother. He’s an investment broker at the firm that handles my family's estate."
Suddenly, the entire puzzle clicked into place, revealing a conspiracy far darker than a greedy wife acting alone.
"Victoria didn't just want the cash in the offshore accounts," Julian said, his mind racing as he flipped through the pages. "She was trying to take the entire estate. But to do that, she couldn't just have my mother declared incompetent."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked.
"My father's will," Julian explained, his voice low and dangerous. "It explicitly states that if my mother is declared mentally unfit, the estate goes into a blind trust managed by the bank. Victoria couldn't touch it. Unless..."
Julian flipped to the back of the journal. Slipped between the final pages was a folded photocopy of a legal document. It was a Power of Attorney form, allegedly signed by Beatrice, granting Victoria full and irrevocable control over the Stirling estate.
"Unless she had a forged Power of Attorney," Julian finished, staring at the fake signature. "Elias Thorne is a broker. He has the notary stamp. He notarized this fake document, making it legally binding. His brother, the doctor, provided the drugs to keep my mother quiet."
"They were going to drain everything," Maya gasped. "And then what? What were they going to do with your mother?"
Julian looked up, his eyes harder than flint. "Once the money was gone, they wouldn't need her anymore. Victoria was going to frame you for elder abuse, have you arrested, and use the distraction to quietly dispose of my mother in a cut-rate nursing home under a fake name, or worse."
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Julian pulled out his phone and dialed Agent Vance’s direct line.
"Vance," Julian said the moment the agent answered. "You need to send a team to the financial district right now. Don't let Elias Thorne leave his office. I have the missing piece."
