Chapter 19
“Your father-in-law told me that you had been diverting company money through a personal account. He gave me bank records and instructed me to organize them for Elena. Later, he said you had been making threats against Rebecca.”
“Were the documents real?”
“Some were real. Their meaning had been altered.”
“How?”
“Transfers were copied from legitimate accounts and placed beside unrelated transactions. Telephone records were printed with missing pages. Dates were changed. A few statements were written by someone else and presented as if they came from witnesses.”
Alexander’s voice came from the doorway.
“Who?”
Marian looked at him.
“Your father.”
His expression did not change, but his shoulders lowered.
“Why did you cooperate?”
“I didn’t know I was cooperating with a crime. I thought I was helping the family understand a dangerous situation.”
“Until when?”
“Until the night you sent Claire away.”
Marian looked at me.
“I saw your father-in-law in the west wing with Elena. He told her the first stage had worked.”
My breath caught.
“What first stage?”
“Separating you from Alexander. He believed you would leave if the family rejected you.”
“I didn’t leave.”
“No. You fought.”
Marian’s eyes filled with regret.
“Then he changed the plan. He told Elena to make sure you could not contact the child.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Alexander stared at the carpet.
“What did Elena do?” I asked.
“She prepared the custody papers and arranged for the letters to be redirected. I was asked to create a forwarding list for your correspondence.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The admission hurt, though I had already suspected it.
“Where were the letters sent?”
“To an office mailbox in Geneva.”
“Elena.”
Marian nodded.
“She said she would hold them until the matter was settled. But the box was closed after only a few months.”
“Who closed it?”
“I don’t know.”
“And Rebecca?”
“Your father-in-law used her fear of losing the family. He told her that if she withdrew her accusation, he would expose her father’s financial irregularities.”
Alexander looked up.
“Daniel?”
“Your father-in-law had found evidence that Daniel had taken money from one of the private security accounts.”
Rebecca had said Daniel was investigating the diversion. This sounded different.
“Did he take it?” I asked.
Marian shook her head.
“No. Daniel had moved the money to protect it from Rook.”
Alexander stepped into the room.
“Who was Rook?”
Marian set down her cup.
“I never saw that name attached to a person. It appeared in account notes and private memoranda. Your father-in-law used it as a designation for whoever controlled the diversion network.”