Chapter 4 - THE MAN BEHIND THE PAPERS
Peter Blake was located two days later at a hotel outside Albany.
He initially denied wrongdoing. He claimed Vanessa had asked only for routine financial advice and that any questionable documents must have been prepared by someone else.
But the forensic accountant found emails between Blake and a company called Northstar Advisory. The company had received payments from an account connected to Vanessa's former fiancé, Julian Cross.
Julian had been presumed to have moved overseas after a business dispute several years earlier.
Miriam requested the full records.
The connection changed the investigation. Vanessa had not merely made a series of impulsive financial decisions. She had apparently been communicating with people who understood the Vale family's assets and knew how to exploit gaps in its legal protections.
Daniel remembered an old argument from before their wedding. Vanessa had insisted that his father was hiding money from her. Daniel had laughed it off, believing she was teasing.
Now he wondered whether she had been testing how much he knew.
Meanwhile, the authorities reviewed the nursery footage and interviewed Maria. They made it clear that the recording showed a serious lapse in judgment and a potentially dangerous situation, but they would need the complete evidence before deciding what charges, if any, were appropriate.
Daniel accepted that. He wanted accountability, not revenge.
Vanessa's attorney contacted Miriam with a proposal: Vanessa would agree to a temporary separation if Daniel withdrew his complaint and stopped examining the financial records.
Miriam refused to negotiate away evidence.
That evening, Daniel received a call from an unfamiliar number.
“You're making a mistake,” a man said.
“Who is this?”
“Someone who knows Vanessa better than you do.”
“Then tell me something useful.”
The man gave a humorless laugh. “Ask her why she was so interested in the Vale family before she ever met you.”
The call ended.
Daniel forwarded the number to investigators.
The following morning, they confirmed that it belonged to Julian Cross.
Julian had not disappeared overseas. He had been living under a different business identity while facing civil claims connected to a failed investment scheme.
Miriam laid out the new information carefully. The evidence suggested that Vanessa and Julian might have been trying to gain access to Daniel's assets. But she warned Daniel not to assume every suspicion was already proven.
“We follow the records,” she said. “We let the evidence speak.”
Daniel nodded.
For the sake of Noah, he would have to learn patience.
Then an envelope arrived at the house with no return address.
Inside was a photograph of Vanessa standing beside Julian outside a restaurant, dated six months before her engagement to Daniel.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
She didn't meet you by accident.
