Chapter 7 - THE SECRET BENEATH THE AUCTION HOUSE
The court issued an order requiring the auction house to preserve the disputed materials.
Independent experts were appointed to examine the manuscript and inventory records.
Camille's attorney requested access to the evidence under supervision.
Three days later, Camille returned to the building.
Not in a housekeeping uniform.
In a dark blue dress and a coat borrowed from Mrs. Baptiste.
Lucien accompanied her.
Harrison Whitfield stood near the warehouse entrance.
His expression hardened when he saw them.
"Mr. Moreau."
Lucien nodded.
"Mr. Whitfield."
Harrison looked at Camille.
"You're making a mistake."
She smiled faintly.
"You keep saying that."
Inside the warehouse, the appointed experts examined crate D-47.
The wooden box was old.
Its shipping labels had been replaced several times.
But beneath the newest label, Camille noticed faded handwriting.
Her father's.
She stepped closer.
"That's his writing."
The expert photographed the marking.
Then opened the crate.
Inside were several smaller boxes.
A brass compass.
A leather ledger.
And a sealed metal case.
Camille's breath caught.
The case bore a symbol she recognized.
A crescent moon above three waves.
Her father had drawn it in the margins of his notebooks.
The expert opened the case.
Inside lay a bundle of documents wrapped in oilcloth.
The paper was brittle.
The ink faded.
But the signatures remained visible.
Camille leaned closer.
Then froze.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Élodie Delacroix.
Another appeared beneath it.
Jean-Baptiste Thibodeaux.
Camille's hands began to shake.
The documents suggested that Élodie had transferred beneficial interests in several properties to descendants of the Thibodeaux family.
Lucien looked at her.
"Camille."
She couldn't speak.
For eight years, she had believed her father left her nothing except grief.
Now she was looking at evidence that he may have been protecting an inheritance hidden for generations.
But the final document contained something even more troubling.
A modern certification dated eight years earlier.
Signed by Harrison Whitfield.
The certification declared the historic claims invalid.
Camille stared.
Then whispered:
"He knew."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Yes."
"He knew what my father found."
May you like
Lucien looked toward the warehouse doors.
"And he made sure nobody else did."
