Chapter 6: The Board Member Who Answered to Someone Else
The forensic accountant's name was Desmond Fry.
Miriam had used him twice before — once in a pharmaceutical audit, once in a family estate dispute — and she said he was the kind of man who found things that had been hidden on purpose.
He arrived at seven the next morning with two associates and a hard drive.
By noon, he had found the first thread.
"Eleven years of quarterly vendor payments," Desmond said, spreading printed pages across the conference table.
"All legitimate on the surface.
All routed through a supplier called Hargrove Atelier — listed in Aurelia's system as a specialty gemstone broker based in Antwerp."
"Is Hargrove real?" Miriam asked.
"The company exists.
It has a registered address, a website, and two employees.
But its primary revenue for the past eleven years has come almost entirely from Aurelia House." He pointed to a column of figures.
"Aurelia paid Hargrove approximately three hundred and forty thousand dollars last year alone.
The year before, two hundred and ninety.
The pattern goes back to the year Nathan became CEO."
"What does Hargrove actually supply?" I asked.
"Based on the invoices — specialty cut stones, custom settings, sourcing consultation." He paused.
"Based on Aurelia's actual inventory records — nothing that matches."
I looked at Miriam.
She was already writing.
"Who approved the Hargrove payments?" I asked.
"Every single one was approved by the same board member," Desmond said.
He turned one page over and slid it toward me.
"A man named Aldric Voss."
I had expected it.
It still landed hard.
"Voss has been on Aurelia's advisory board continuously for thirty years," I said.
"My mother never removed him."
"He was very quiet," Helena said from the end of the table.
She had insisted on being present.
I had let her.
"He never caused problems.
He never asked for anything.
He attended meetings by phone and always voted with the majority."
"He didn't need to cause problems," my father said.
"He had the access he needed.
He just needed someone to keep approving the payments."
"Nathan," I said.
"Nathan approved them as CEO.
But Voss had been running the same scheme before Nathan arrived — through a different mechanism.
Nathan made it easier and larger." Gabriel looked at Desmond.
"How much total?"
Desmond checked his notes.
"Preliminary figure, subject to full audit — approximately nine point four million dollars over eleven years."
The number sat in the room.
Helena closed her eyes.
"Nathan knew," I said.
It wasn't a question, but I needed to say it out loud.
"Nathan knew," my father confirmed.
"Voss showed him the existing scheme when he brought him into the circle.
It was leverage and invitation at the same time.
Nathan could either expose it — and risk his position, since he'd already been approving payments for two years — or he could participate and be rewarded."
"He chose to participate."
"He chose to participate.
And Voss promised him that once the proxy gave Nathan voting control, Voss would have his formal board seat, Nathan would have his empire, and the financial arrangement would be restructured to protect them both."
Miriam set her pen down.
"We need to go to the authorities today.
Not tomorrow.
Today.
This is no longer a civil matter."
"I know," I said.
"Voss will move the moment he hears the forensic team is inside Aurelia's books.
He has done this before — your father's disappearance proves he has a playbook for making problems go away."
"Then we move first." I turned to Desmond.
"How long to produce a preliminary report suitable for a financial crimes referral?"
"With what I have now — four hours."
"Do it."
He nodded and gathered his pages.
The room began to move — Miriam on her phone, Desmond and his associates back to their laptops, my father quietly reviewing documents in the corner.
My phone lit up.
Nathan again.
I let it ring.
Then a message came through.
Not from Nathan.
From a number I didn't recognize — but the first line told me who it was.
*Miss Mercer.
My name is Aldric Voss.
I believe we should speak before you make decisions that cannot be undone.
I have information about your father that you have not yet heard.
Meet me this evening.
Alone.*
I read it twice.
Then I showed it to Miriam.
She read it.
Looked up.
"He's trying to get you isolated."
"I know."
"Don't go."
May you like
"I'm not going alone," I said.
"But I am going to answer him."
