Chapter 2 - The Paper in the Safe
The master study on the second floor of the Moretti estate was an imposing fortress of dark mahogany, bulletproof glass, and antique bronze.
Evelyn Crane stood before my heavy executive desk, clutching her leather folio against her chest. Her former condescending arrogance was beginning to fracture into fine lines of panic around her eyes.
I sat in my high-backed leather chair, taking out the folded modification document and laying it flat on the desk.
Beside it, I placed my encrypted tablet displaying the forensic bank reconciliations of the estate’s operational accounts.
“Sit down, Evelyn,” I commanded.
“Mr. Moretti, the budget denial was purely administrative,” Evelyn began, her voice climbing in pitch. “We cannot set a precedent where domestic staff demand structural alterations to a historic estate. If we accommodate one maid, every laundry worker will demand customized quarters.”
I tapped the screen of my tablet.
“Let’s discuss the ‘Marble Restoration’ ledger, Evelyn,” I said in a tone of deceptive calm. “Over the past twelve months, you approved fourteen separate payments of $1,200 each to an entity named Apex Stone Refinishing LLC.”
Evelyn’s throat hitched. “Nero Marquina marble requires specialized diamond polishing—”
“Apex Stone Refinishing is a dummy corporation registered to a post office box in Newark,” I interrupted, looking directly into her eyes. “The sole authorized signer on the bank account is your brother, Gregory Crane.”
Evelyn went rigid as stone.
“You didn’t just steal $8,400,” I continued, swiping to the next audit page. “You have siphoned a total of $342,000 from my household payroll, emergency medical reserves, and maintenance funds over the last three years.”
“That’s... that’s an accounting error! My brother was managing the subcontractor bids!”
“And where did the money go, Evelyn?”
I stood up, walked around the desk, and leaned against the edge, looking down at her.
“Anna’s daughter was diagnosed with congenital talipes equinovarus and ligament dysplasia two years ago. Anna applied for an advance from the staff emergency medical endowment—an endowment I personally funded with half a million dollars for my employees.”
I pulled a second document from my desk drawer.
“You rejected Anna’s medical advance application, claiming the fund was exhausted. And on that exact same afternoon, a wire transfer of $25,000 left the endowment account and landed in your personal brokerage fund to pay off your luxury vehicle lease.”
Evelyn burst into tears, dropping to her knees on the Persian rug.
“Mr. Moretti, please! I gave six years of my life to this house! I kept this estate immaculate! You don't know the stress I was under! Gregory had gambling debts—”
“You made a four-year-old child apologize for bleeding on my floor so you could steal her surgery money,” I said, my voice dropping into a register of cold, absolute lethal venom.
I pressed the intercom on my desk.
“Marco.”
The heavy mahogany doors opened instantly. Marco, my head of security, stepped into the room with two armed tactical guards.
“Search her quarters,” I instructed Marco. “Seize all phones, hard drives, and safe combinations. Lock her in the holding suite in Sublevel 2 until federal investigators arrive.”
Evelyn shrieked as the guards took her arms, dragging her across the hardwood floor.
“Mr. Moretti! Please! Have mercy!”
The heavy doors clicked shut, cutting off her screams.
May you like
I adjusted my cuffs, looked out over the sunlit gardens below, and picked up my phone.
“Get Dr. Bennett on the line. The chief of pediatric orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins. Tell him I have a patient arriving this afternoon.”
