Chapter 4 - The Black Crown
They did not return to the Aurelia.
Dominic moved Claire to a secure apartment in Tribeca that did not belong to Vale Holdings.
Only Marco knew the address.
Serena insisted on coming.
Dominic protested.
Serena ignored him.
“I was at the dinner. If someone is cleaning witnesses, I’d rather not sleep alone.”
Claire sat at the kitchen island with the blue ledger open.
Dominic paced.
“Luca’s name is in there twice.”
“Yes.”
“You think he’s involved.”
“I think his name is in there twice.”
“That is a very secretary answer.”
“It is an accurate answer.”
Dominic stopped.
“What would make you accuse him?”
“Evidence.”
“He arranged the dinner.”
“Yes.”
“He insisted I invite you.”
“Yes.”
“He had access to the guest list.”
“Yes.”
“He could have known the room.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stared.
Claire sighed.
“And he could also be exactly what the person behind this wants you to suspect.”
Serena pointed at Claire.
“That.”
Dominic glared.
Serena shrugged.
“She’s right.”
Dominic hated when everyone was right around him.
Claire studied the ledger.
“Your father said the network was inside the business.”
“Six years ago.”
“Networks don’t die because one man does.”
“You think I inherited it.”
“I think you inherited a company built on systems you did not create.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“There’s a difference.”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
Claire meant it.
That mattered.
At two in the morning, Marco called.
Police had questioned everyone at the hotel.
Luca was released.
The dead waiter had no criminal record.
The photograph of Claire had been printed that afternoon.
No fingerprints.
Dominic asked Marco to bring Luca to Tribeca.
Claire immediately objected.
“You’re bringing him here?”
“I want to see his face when I show him the ledger.”
“If he’s involved, you’re showing him what we know.”
“If he isn’t, he helps.”
“And if we can’t tell?”
Dominic’s mouth tightened.
“I can tell.”
Claire gave him a look.
He remembered the dinner invitation.
“Usually.”
Luca arrived at three.
He saw Claire.
Then Serena.
Then the ledger.
His expression changed.
Dominic placed the page in front of him.
“Explain.”
Luca read his name.
He laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“Where did you get this?”
“Answer.”
“I can’t explain something I’ve never seen.”
“Your name appears twice.”
“So does yours.”
Dominic turned.
Claire looked down.
He grabbed the ledger.
She had not shown him.
Three pages earlier.
DOMINIC VALE.
One crown.
Not two.
He looked at her.
“When were you going to mention that?”
“When I knew what it meant.”
Luca threw up his hands.
“Apparently it means we’re all murderers now.”
Claire closed the book.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The crown doesn’t mark members.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“Victor said it marked their transfers. We assumed the names beside it belonged to people inside the network.”
Serena leaned closer.
“But?”
Claire pointed at the numbers.
“These are outgoing payments.”
“To them,” Dominic said.
“No. Through them.”
She traced a column.
“The people listed may be accounts used without their knowledge.”
Luca stared.
“So I’m not evil?”
Dominic said, “Jury’s still out.”
Claire almost smiled.
Then she found something else.
Every marked transaction passed through one legal firm.
Hawthorne & Pike.
Dominic knew the name.
His father’s former attorneys.
The senior partner, Samuel Hawthorne, had retired years earlier.
His daughter, Vivian Hawthorne, now ran the firm.
Dominic’s face changed.
Claire noticed.
“You know her.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Vivian advises our board.”
Luca swore.
Serena whispered, “She also handled Victor’s estate.”
Dominic went still.
“Call her.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if she’s innocent, we warn her.”
“And if she isn’t?”
“We warn her.”
Dominic accepted that.
They spent the next hour cross-checking corporate files.
Claire had access to Vale Holdings records from home.
That surprised no one anymore.
She traced old legal invoices.
Each suspicious transfer corresponded with paperwork prepared by Hawthorne & Pike.
The pattern continued after Victor’s death.
Dominic looked at the screen.
“She’s been moving money through us for years.”
Claire nodded.
“Maybe.”
“Stop saying maybe.”
“Then stop wanting certainty before we have it.”
He leaned over her chair.
“What would convince you?”
“The trust.”
“What trust?”
“B.C. Strategic Trust. Twelve point four million.”
Claire searched.
The trust still existed.
Inactive.
But not empty.
Balance: $18,763,411.
Dominic stared.
“That money belongs to your father.”
“Or someone using his name.”
“Can you access it?”
“No.”
A contact field appeared.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE: VIVIAN HAWTHORNE.
Nobody spoke.
Luca said, “Well. That feels bad.”
Dominic took out his phone.
Claire caught his wrist.
“Don’t call her.”
He looked at her hand.
She released him.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
Their eyes held a second too long.
Serena cleared her throat.
“Can we survive the conspiracy before whatever this is becomes inconvenient?”
Claire turned bright red.
Dominic looked away.
Luca grinned for the first time all night.
Dominic pointed at him.
“Not one word.”
They decided to visit Hawthorne & Pike after opening hours.
Not confront Vivian.
Search archived estate files.
Dominic still had contractual access because the firm retained Vale family records.
At six fifteen in the morning, the city began turning gray.
Claire had not slept.
Dominic brought her coffee.
She stared at it.
“What?”
“You know how I take it.”
“You’ve worked for me three years.”
“You’ve never brought me coffee.”
“That’s because you bring mine.”
Claire accepted it.
“Growth.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
They sat by the window.
For the first time since dinner, neither discussed the ledger.
Dominic said, “Why did you stay?”
“At Vale Holdings?”
“Yes.”
“Access.”
“Only that?”
Claire hesitated.
“No.”
He waited.
“You were changing things.”
“What things?”
“Your father’s things.”
Dominic’s expression cooled.
“You know more about him than you’ve admitted.”
“I know what the records showed.”
“And?”
“You closed businesses that were laundering money.”
Dominic said nothing.
“You cut ties with people Victor tolerated.”
Still nothing.
“You created legitimate contracts where none existed.”
He looked at her.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I spent most of my life believing everyone connected to your father was dangerous.”
“And then?”
“I met you.”
The room became quiet.
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“And what did you decide?”
Claire looked down at the coffee.
“That you were dangerous in different ways.”
He laughed softly.
It surprised both of them.
At eight, Marco drove them to Hawthorne & Pike.
The firm occupied six floors in Midtown.
Vivian was not expected until ten.
They entered the records room under Dominic’s authority.
Claire found Victor’s estate file.
Inside were tax records.
Property documents.
Letters.
One sealed page.
Marked:
PERSONAL DIRECTIVE — D. VALE ONLY.
Dominic opened it.
Victor’s handwriting.
Son,
If Hawthorne still sits beside you when you read this, leave the room before you finish.
Dominic’s blood went cold.
He continued.
Edward discovered the crown.
I helped him hide the proof.
We failed to protect his family.
If Claire Bennett ever comes to you, believe her before you believe me.
Dominic looked at Claire.
She was crying silently.
Not from fear.
From the proof that her father had mattered to someone.
Then footsteps sounded beyond the records-room door.
Slow.
Measured.
Claire wiped her face.
Dominic folded the letter.
The handle turned.
Vivian Hawthorne walked in.
She looked at the open estate file.
Then at Claire.
May you like
And smiled.
“I wondered how long it would take Edward’s daughter to find me.”
