Chapter 10 - THE BLUE LEDGER
Elena returned to the estate before sunrise.
She locked herself inside Margaret’s study.
Her parents had died when their car went through a bridge railing during a storm.
Police blamed wet roads and excessive speed.
Elena had never questioned it.
Margaret had taken her in the following morning.
Elena began searching every shelf and drawer.
Adrian said Margaret had told him to find a blue ledger.
The room contained hundreds of blue books.
Elena checked each one.
At eight in the morning, she found a thin account book hidden inside the cover of an old family Bible.
Its blue leather had faded almost to gray.
The first pages contained household expenses from twenty years earlier.
The final pages listed private payments.
Each payment was connected to a name Elena recognized.
A former police officer.
A private physician.
A mechanic who had inspected her parents’ car.
Marcus Bell’s father.
Beside the mechanic’s name was a date.
It was three days before the crash.
The payment description contained only two words.
Brake adjustment.
Elena’s hands shook.
A loose photograph fell from the ledger.
It showed Margaret standing beside Elena’s mother, Isabel.
The women were arguing outside the estate greenhouse.
Someone had written a warning on the back.
Isabel knows what Charles did.
Charles Hartley had been Margaret’s husband.
He had died six months after Elena’s parents.
Elena photographed every page.
Then she heard someone unlock the study door.
Victoria entered holding a pistol.
Her eyes moved toward the blue ledger.
“You always were too curious.”
Elena closed the book.
“Did your grandfather kill my parents?”
Victoria pointed the weapon at her.
“My grandfather protected this family.”
“From my mother?”
“Your mother discovered he had been using the Hartley charity to move stolen money.”
“She threatened to expose him.”
“So he killed her.”
Victoria’s expression remained cold.
“It was supposed to frighten her.”
“The brakes failed earlier than expected.”
Elena’s throat tightened.
“My father died too.”
“That was unfortunate.”
Elena wanted to attack her.
Instead, she slowly placed the ledger on the desk.
“You framed me for the necklace because you wanted this house.”
“This house contains documents that can destroy every Hartley still alive.”
“You mean documents that can destroy you.”
Victoria smiled.
“You still think I planned this alone.”
The study door opened again.
Adrian stood behind Victoria.
May you like
For one hopeful second, Elena believed he had come to save her.
Then Adrian closed the door and locked it.
