Chapter 8 - The Shell Game Collapses
I pulled Daisy’s leather diary from my coat and dropped it onto the table with a heavy, dead thud.
Beside it, Marcus Kane laid out a stack of certified financial wire transfers stamped by the Swiss Banking Authority and the FBI.
"Four years ago, fifty million dollars was wired from Thorne Group Treasury to an unlisted account named Bell-Craft," I announced.
"Gordon told this board that Daisy Bell extorted that money and fled the country like a thief in the night."
"That was verified by internal forensic audit!" Gordon shouted, his face suddenly glistening with greasy sweat.
"The internal audit was conducted by your college roommate's accounting firm, Gordon," I replied, leaning across the table.
"Here are the unredacted secondary transfer records obtained two hours ago from Zurich."
"The fifty million dollars remained in the Bell-Craft account for exactly twenty-four hours before being routed to a numbered trust in the Bahamas."
"The sole authorized signatory on that Bahamas trust is Renata Vance-Thorne."
The dining hall fell into an absolute, suffocating silence so profound that the ticking of the grandfather clock sounded like an anvil.
My father’s head snapped toward Renata, his weathered face darkening into a mask of terrifying fury.
"Renata?" Harold whispered, his voice trembling with dangerous power.
"Is this true?"
Renata’s coffee cup rattled against its saucer, spilling dark liquid across her manicured hands as her smug facade collapsed into pure panic.
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"Gordon... Gordon told me it was a tax mitigation fund!" she stammered, looking frantically at her husband.
"He said we were using the money to secure the board votes to make him Chief Executive Officer!"
