The Envelope in His Jacket
Chapter 06 - The Envelope in His Jacket
The second phone required a passcode.
Grant refused to give it.
That told me enough.
Luke offered to place it in the venue safe until the police or attorneys decided what should happen. Grant protested, then stopped when I reminded him the phone had been found on venue property and that I was the person paying for the entire wedding.
That detail felt bitterly funny.
I had paid for the flowers.
I had paid for the orchestra.
I had paid for the arch beneath which a man had planned to obtain leverage over my inheritance.
Outside, the guests were being told the ceremony was delayed.
My mother wanted to leave.
I asked her to stay.
“No more after the wedding,” I said. “No more after the honeymoon. Everything is now.”
She nodded.
Luke returned ten minutes later carrying Grant’s suit jacket.
“One of the groomsmen said he left this in the lounge.”
Grant stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
Luke handed it to me instead.
I checked the inside pocket.
There was an envelope.
Inside was a printed draft of the trust amendment, a photocopy of my passport, and a receipt from a private bank on Harbor Street.
The receipt listed a safe-deposit box opened three months earlier.
Authorized users: Grant Mercer and Thomas Hale.
My uncle and my fiancé.
Together.
Grant sat down.
For the first time, he looked tired instead of angry.
“I can explain the box.”
“Please don’t start with that sentence.”
“It contains corporate records Thomas asked me to secure.”
“Why would my uncle ask my fiancé to hide company records in a private box?”
“He didn’t ask me to hide them.”
“Then why doesn’t the company know about it?”
No answer.
Celeste leaned against the wall.
“I’ve been there.”
Everyone looked at her.
She swallowed.
“Once. Grant asked me to deliver an envelope. I thought it was related to a client.”
“What was inside?”
“I didn’t open it.”
Grant laughed.
“Convenient.”
Celeste ignored him.
“But I saw Thomas leaving the bank when I arrived.”
My mother whispered, “Thomas told me he hadn’t spoken to Grant privately in months.”
That lie seemed small compared with everything else.
But sometimes the smallest lie is the one that proves a larger truth.
I called Uncle Thomas.
He did not answer.
I called again.
Voicemail.
Luke checked the guest list with his staff.
Thomas Hale had left the wedding eleven minutes earlier.
Not through the main entrance.
Through the service road behind the kitchen.
May you like
And according to the security camera, he had not left alone.
He was carrying a laptop bag that belonged to my mother.
