Chapter 6 – Chapter 6 – The Accountant Who Left Behind a Warning

The audit led Brooks and an investigator to a storage unit rented under Daniel Price’s name. Inside were filing boxes, duplicate ledgers, hard drives, and a metal cabinet. The records showed transfers from the family trust to a consulting company connected to Vanessa.

An old computer contained emails instructing someone to keep Richard’s signature on an authorization and prevent new documents from reaching him. The message suggested that the signature had been copied from another form.

A sealed letter from Price explained that he had refused to approve further transfers. He claimed he had been threatened and forced to leave his job. He named Vanessa as the person who delivered the instructions.

Alexander read the letter in silence. “Why would she do this?”

Brooks warned him not to jump to conclusions until the evidence was verified. Dana, the investigator, found a note saying the original authorization was not in the storage unit. Someone had hidden a blue file elsewhere.

As they left, a man Alexander recognized as one of Vanessa’s advisers hurried out of the building. He dropped an envelope containing a warning: *Find the blue file before Richard does.*

Alexander called Vanessa. She did not answer. Instead, she sent a message asking him to come home alone before his father “ruined everything.”

Brooks insisted on accompanying him. Alexander agreed. He was beginning to understand that this was no longer a simple argument over a house. It was a scheme that might have been running for years.