Episode2
298 Words
Episode 2: The First Clue
Elena couldn't shake the strange warning from her mind.
“You know me better than you think.”
The words suggested that the person behind the messages was not a stranger. Whoever it was knew both families—and possibly knew exactly how the old business scandal had been created.
Marcus unlocked the library's forgotten records room. They searched through boxes of dusty documents until Elena noticed a battered metal case hidden beneath a shelf.
Inside lay an old financial ledger.
Several pages were missing.
Elena carefully turned through the remaining sheets until one name caught her attention.
Victor Hale — Company Accountant.
She looked at Marcus.
“Victor worked with our fathers?”
“He did,” Marcus answered. “He prepared financial reports before everything collapsed.”
Elena studied the entry more closely. Next to Victor's name was an unusual reference code and a date only days before the company's missing funds were discovered.
“That timing can't be meaningless.”
Marcus found an old newspaper and spread it across the table. A photograph showed Victor smiling beside Daniel and Adrian at the company's final anniversary event.
Then Elena noticed something unsettling.
The handwriting beside Victor's entry resembled the writing on the anonymous messages.
Before they could investigate further, footsteps echoed outside.
The door creaked open.
Nobody stood there.
A brown envelope rested on the floor.
Inside was a copy of an old bank transaction. The missing funds had been transferred to a company Elena didn't recognize.
But the authorization carried a familiar signature.
Victor Hale.
Marcus stared at the evidence.
“He deceived everyone.”
Elena swallowed hard.
“Then who has been warning us?”
A phone suddenly began ringing somewhere beyond the dark hallway.
Neither of them moved.
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