Chapter 12 - The Man Who Came Back From the Dead
Charles Mercer had been living under another name in Milwaukee.
He was sixty-three, ill, and frightened.
When investigators located him, he initially refused to speak.
But after learning that his son had been arrested, he agreed to a formal interview with his lawyer present.
Alessandro was not permitted to attend.
He waited for updates at the mansion.
Elena was with him when Daniel called.
“Charles confirmed he copied the ledger.”
Alessandro gripped the edge of his desk.
“Where is it?”
“He claims Ryan took it three years ago.”
Elena looked up.
Ryan.
Of course.
The man who had threatened her over an invented debt had been holding something far more valuable.
“Does he still have it?” Alessandro asked.
“We don't know.”
Daniel continued.
“Charles says your father threatened to report the illegal accounts before he died.”
Alessandro frowned.
“That doesn't sound like him.”
“According to Charles, Vittorio had changed his mind.”
“Why?”
“He was afraid innocent employees would be implicated if the companies collapsed.”
Alessandro looked toward the portrait.
His father had never been a simple man.
He had been proud, ruthless, generous when it suited him, and capable of affection he rarely knew how to express.
The possibility that he had tried to change unsettled Alessandro.
Daniel spoke again.
“Charles claims the ledger was copied onto two drives.”
“One went to Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“And the other?”
“He doesn't know.”
Elena moved toward the window.
“Ryan told me once that his father kept a backup of everything.”
Alessandro turned.
“Do you remember where?”
She closed her eyes.
Ryan had loved boasting about his father's cleverness.
He once described a bank safe-deposit box that nobody could open without the correct documents.
“He mentioned a bank.”
“Which one?”
“I don't remember.”
She searched her memory.
A dinner.
An expensive restaurant.
Ryan laughing while explaining that rich people trusted vaults more than people.
“He said something about a bank with green marble floors.”
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Find it.”
Marco began making calls.
By evening, investigators had narrowed the search to several older financial institutions.
Daniel obtained records through lawful channels.
One bank stood out.
A private institution on LaSalle Street.
Its lobby had green marble floors.
Charles Mercer had maintained a safe-deposit box there until shortly before he disappeared.
The box had been closed.
But the records showed someone had accessed it three years earlier.
Ryan Mercer.
Elena stared at the report.
“He had it.”
Alessandro nodded.
“And he wanted me to believe I did.”
“Why?”
“Because accusing someone else is an efficient way to distract from what you're hiding.”
The following morning, Detective Walsh interviewed Ryan again.
His attorney sat beside him.
Ryan wore a gray jail uniform.
His expression remained arrogant until Walsh placed the bank records on the table.
Then he became quiet.
“You took something from your father's safe-deposit box,” she said.
Ryan leaned back.
“Prove what it was.”
“We're working on that.”
He smiled.
“You'll need more than a guess.”
Walsh placed another photograph before him.
It showed a storage locker.
Inside were several empty document cases.
One had a distinctive Moretti family seal.
Ryan stopped smiling.
The detective waited.
Finally, he said, “I want a deal.”
Walsh remained calm.
“That conversation goes through the prosecutor and your attorney.”
Ryan looked away.
“I can tell you where the ledger is.”
His lawyer leaned toward him.
Ryan ignored the warning.
“But I want Elena to hear something first.”
Walsh frowned.
“Why?”
Ryan's smile returned.
“Because she thinks she's free.”
Hours later, Elena received a call from Daniel.
He explained that Ryan had made a request.
She listened without speaking.
Then she said, “No.”
Daniel paused.
“You don't have to meet him.”
“I know.”
Elena's hand tightened around the phone.
“He doesn't get to make demands anymore.”
When she told Alessandro, he nodded.
“Good.”
She looked surprised.
“You don't need me to find the ledger?”
“No.”
“But Ryan said—”
“Ryan says whatever gets him control.”
Elena exhaled.
“I keep expecting you to be angry when I refuse something.”
Alessandro's expression softened.
“Then I'll keep giving you reasons not to.”
That night, police obtained further evidence from Ryan's storage records.
Investigators located a sealed case inside a commercial facility.
Inside was a leather-bound book.
The Harbor Ledger.
But when Daniel reviewed the first verified summaries, he found an unexpected entry.
A payment made eleven months earlier.
To a company named Carter Family Services.
Elena stared at the name.
“My last name is Carter.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“I know.”
She shook her head.
“But I don't own a company.”
Daniel turned another page.
The registered business address appeared.
Elena recognized it instantly.
It was her mother's old house.
A property that had been sold two years earlier.
May you like
Someone had used her family's identity to move money.
And the ledger suggested it was not the first time.
