Chapter 12 - What Richard Helped Bury
Alexander did not speak for several minutes.
His father’s cuff link lay beside Celeste’s remains.
No lawyer could make that emotionally harmless.
Miriam tried to be precise.
“It proves Richard may have been near the chamber.”
Alexander looked at her.
“He moved the canvas.”
“Luis said that.”
“He signed the fraudulent property transfer.”
“Yes.”
“He paid Elena.”
“Yes.”
“He paid Sebastian nine hundred thousand dollars the next morning.”
“Yes.”
“And now his cuff link is buried with my mother.”
Miriam said nothing.
Alexander stared through the window.
“My whole life was built by a man who helped wall my mother inside a building.”
Elena’s throat tightened.
“You didn’t know.”
“That doesn’t make the money clean.”
“No.”
He turned toward her.
“What would you do?”
Elena almost laughed.
“You’re asking me?”
“Yes.”
“The woman who accepted seventy-five thousand dollars?”
“Yes.”
Elena thought carefully.
“Find out exactly what he did before deciding what you owe for it.”
Alexander looked down.
Forensic examination of Celeste’s remains revealed a fracture at the back of her skull.
She had suffered a severe blow.
Cause of death could not yet be established with certainty after thirty years, but homicide became the working theory.
The red velvet fragments matched her cloak.
Trace metal on one piece matched the old lift machinery.
The cuff link was authentic Richard Reed custom jewelry.
Detective Foster reopened the case officially as a homicide investigation.
Sebastian Marlowe’s Manhattan apartment, Connecticut estate, and company archive were searched.
Police seized records.
Old photographs.
Correspondence.
Cassette tapes.
One document changed everything.
A memorandum written by Richard Reed to Sebastian four days after Celeste disappeared.
S—
We agreed the east wing remains closed until the renovation wall is complete.
Voss handles the letter.
Navarro is resolved.
Orpheus proceeds on schedule.
No further discussion.
R
Alexander read it once.
Then again.
His father had not merely known.
He had organized the cover-up.
Elena saw something die behind Alexander’s eyes.
Not love.
Something more dangerous.
Reverence.
Victoria read the memo separately.
She walked into a restroom afterward and vomited.
When she returned, Maya was waiting.
“I don’t need sympathy.”
“Good.”
Victoria glared.
Maya handed her water.
“I brought this because you look terrible.”
Victoria drank.
“Everyone hates me.”
“No.”
“My sponsors do.”
“Your sponsors don’t have emotions.”
Victoria almost smiled.
Then Maya said, “People don’t know whether you’re helping or protecting yourself.”
“Neither do I.”
“That’s more honest.”
Financial investigators traced Orpheus distributions.
Richard Reed and Sebastian had been equal beneficiaries initially.
After Richard’s death, his interest passed through Harbor Meridian into the Reed family investment structure.
Alexander had unknowingly inherited assets derived from the transaction.
The amount attributable to Orpheus over time was enormous.
Miriam estimated hundreds of millions in appreciation.
Alexander’s lawyers advised discretion.
He refused.
“Freeze it.”
“Alexander—”
“Every asset traceable to Orpheus.”
“You may be voluntarily restricting property before liability is established.”
“Good.”
Miriam stared at him.
He continued.
“My mother tried to stop this.”
“That doesn’t mean every dollar is stolen.”
“Then accountants can separate it.”
It was the first time Elena saw Alexander use power not to protect himself but to limit himself.
The press noticed.
REED HEIR FREEZES FAMILY ASSETS AMID MOTHER HOMICIDE PROBE.
His company’s stock dipped six percent.
Board members panicked.
One director called him reckless.
Alexander answered, “My father was reckless.”
Maya lost her job the same afternoon.
St. Aurelia cited unauthorized archive access and breach of internal protocols.
Elena was furious.
“You found evidence.”
Maya shrugged.
“They found a policy.”
Alexander offered her a position on his personal staff.
She refused.
“Why?”
“Because then Sebastian’s lawyers will say I was working for you.”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“You’re annoying.”
“I’m aware.”
Victoria’s position worsened too.
A recording contract invoked a morality clause pending investigation.
She had not been charged with anything.
But scandal did not need due process.
She blamed Elena again.
Then stopped herself.
“I’m doing it.”
“What?” Elena asked.
“Making you responsible for consequences my father created.”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
Victoria exhaled.
“I hate this entire family.”
“Which one?”
Victoria laughed despite herself.
“Both.”
The major clue arrived from Celeste’s remains.
Inside a deteriorated leather handbag found near the body, investigators recovered a small brass key.
Not the E.L.-2 key.
Different.
Stamped:
B-17.
Elena recognized the format.
“Wardrobe storage.”
Maya checked historical plans.
B-17 had been a costume document cabinet in 1996.
The cabinet no longer existed.
But inventory records showed its contents were transferred in 2003.
Destination:
Marlowe Arts Records Center.
Sebastian had unknowingly preserved whatever Celeste’s key opened.
Detective Foster obtained a warrant.
Inside Box B-17, investigators found ledgers.
Duplicate invoices.
Original appraisal documents.
And one cassette tape.
A label in Celeste’s handwriting:
RICHARD / SEBASTIAN — 10/14.
Alexander stared at the cassette.
May you like
His mother had recorded the confrontation.
And for the first time, they might hear exactly what happened before she died.
