Chapter 6 - Shadows of Zurich
The room seemed to spin. The triumph of standing, the sweet taste of exposing Logan and Mallory in front of the entire world, evaporated into a chilling cloud of dread.
“Who?” I breathed, my fingers digging into the velvet armrests of my chair. “Who paid him?”
Detective Vance shook his head. “The offshore account is registered to an entity called *Vanguard Alpha*. We’re running the shell through Interpol and the Treasury, but whoever set it up knew how to bury their tracks. Logan had a file labeled ‘Insurance Policy’ in his safe. It contained partial bank slips, audio recordings, and a single handwritten note.”
“What did the note say?”
Vance reached into his inside pocket and pulled out an evidence bag containing a photocopied slip of yellow legal paper. The handwriting was elegant, old-fashioned, and unmistakably distinct:
*“Make sure the girl does not attend the Zurich summit. If she walks into that room, everything we built will burn. Settle her quietly.”*
My breath caught in my throat. I recognized that handwriting.
It wasn’t Logan’s messy scrawl. It wasn’t Mallory’s looping script. It was a hand I had seen signing my birthday cards, signing board resolutions, and signing the condolence book at my mother’s funeral.
It was my father’s estranged brother—my Uncle Julian, who had supposedly vanished from public life ten years ago after being ousted from the family empire.
“Uncle Julian,” I whispered, tears of shock pricking my eyes. “They told me he died in a nursing facility in Vienna three years ago.”
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“We’re pulling the death certificate right now,” Vance said grimly. “It was signed by the same private clinic network connected to Dr. Ward. Mrs. Sterling, your uncle didn’t die. And whatever your father discovered in Zurich... Julian spent the last decade trying to keep buried.”
***
