Chapter 9 - The Orpheus Ledger
Victoria photographed every page before Sebastian returned.
The ledger was handwritten.
Payments.
Dates.
Initials.
Shell companies.
Property transfers.
One column showed distributions to S.M.
Another to R.R.
Sebastian Marlowe.
Richard Reed.
The numbers totaled more than eighteen million dollars between 1994 and 1998.
That was before decades of appreciation.
Alexander stared at the photographs inside Miriam’s office.
“My father stole from his own foundation.”
Miriam nodded.
“And Celeste found it.”
The ledger contained another entry.
10/14/96 — C.R. discovered duplicate books. S. handling.
Elena felt cold.
“S. handling.”
Maya whispered, “Sebastian.”
Victoria sat apart from them.
Her arms were folded tightly.
“My father came home before I could take the ledger.”
“What happened?” Alexander asked.
“He knew someone had opened the cabinet.”
“Did he accuse you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“That I was looking for jewelry.”
Maya raised an eyebrow.
“Original.”
Victoria ignored her.
“He slapped me.”
Elena turned.
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“He hasn’t done that since I was nineteen.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
It was the first honest answer Victoria had given him without calculation.
Miriam asked, “Where is the ledger now?”
“My father took it.”
“Did he see you photograph it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then keep these copies secured.”
Detective Foster used the ledger photographs to seek subpoenas for historical financial records.
Some institutions no longer existed.
Others had archives.
Money left traces.
Even thirty years later.
Meanwhile Maya dug through St. Aurelia’s basement inventories.
The key marked E.L.-2 bothered her.
At 1:10 a.m., she found old renovation plans.
East Lift Two had been permanently sealed in November 1996.
Three weeks after Celeste vanished.
The work order had been approved by Sebastian.
Reason:
STRUCTURAL HAZARD.
Contractor:
Orpheus Restoration Services.
Maya stared at the page.
Another Orpheus company.
She called Elena.
“The lift shaft was sealed.”
“When?”
“November seventh, 1996.”
Elena whispered, “Oh God.”
Detective Foster requested the original building inspection.
None existed.
The permit file contained only an emergency certification signed by an engineer who died in 2008.
Alexander looked at the plans.
“What’s behind the wall?”
“A storage chamber and a disused section of shaft,” Maya said.
Elena remembered the rolled scenery canvas.
About the size of a person.
Nobody said it.
They all thought it.
Foster said, “I still need sufficient grounds for a search warrant.”
Alexander exploded.
“What more do you need?”
“A thirty-year-old witness. A compromised witness, according to opposing counsel. A hidden note. Financial fraud. A suspiciously sealed shaft.”
“That sounds sufficient.”
“For fraud investigation, yes. For excavating a building looking for human remains, a judge may want more.”
Maya said, “Then we find more.”
They did.
His name was Luis Moreno.
Seventy-one.
Retired stage porter.
Maya located him through union pension records.
Luis agreed to meet at his Bronx apartment.
Elena recognized him immediately.
“Luis.”
He stared at her.
“Elena.”
Thirty years sat between them.
Alexander asked, “Were you working October fourteenth, 1996?”
Luis nodded slowly.
“Night shift.”
“Did you see my mother?”
“At the donor reception.”
“Later?”
“No.”
Elena asked, “Did you see Sebastian and Richard?”
Luis’s face changed.
He looked toward the door.
Alexander leaned forward.
“Mr. Moreno, please.”
Luis whispered, “I have waited thirty years for somebody else to ask first.”
“What did you see?”
“Around one in the morning, Sebastian called me to loading.”
Elena’s fingers went numb.
“He told me to open the freight elevator.”
“What was he moving?”
Luis looked at Elena.
“You saw it too.”
She whispered, “The canvas.”
Luis nodded.
“Richard was helping him.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
“What was inside?”
“I didn’t look.”
“Why?”
“Because Sebastian told me not to.”
“That was enough?”
Luis gave him a tired smile.
“You have never been poor, Mr. Reed.”
Alexander flinched.
Luis continued.
“When a man controls your job, your insurance, your pension, and your immigration lawyer, ‘don’t look’ sounds different.”
Elena looked down.
She understood.
Alexander asked, “Where did they take it?”
“East lift.”
Maya stopped breathing.
“East Lift Two?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“They sent me home.”
“Was the chamber sealed that night?”
“No.”
“When?”
“A few weeks later.”
Detective Foster asked, “Did you ever tell police?”
Luis shook his head.
“Sebastian paid my son’s college tuition.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Another price.
Another silence.
Alexander asked, “Did Richard threaten you?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
Luis looked at him.
“He cried.”
Alexander froze.
“While moving the canvas?”
“Yes.”
Luis swallowed.
“He kept saying, ‘We can still fix this.’”
“And Sebastian?”
“He said, ‘There is nothing left to fix.’”
The room went silent.
Foster stood.
“That may be enough.”
For the first time, law enforcement had a witness placing Richard and Sebastian transporting a person-sized object to the sealed lift shaft immediately after Celeste disappeared.
Alexander stared at Luis.
“What did my father mean?”
Luis shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
But Elena did.
May you like
Richard had not behaved like a man helping dispose of a stranger.
He had behaved like a husband who knew exactly who was inside that canvas.
