Chapter 4 - The Audit
“You made a critical miscalculation, Clayton,” I said, walking around the table to stand beside my aunt. “You assumed that because I bake biscuits and arrange hydrangeas, I forgot how to read a balance sheet.”
“This is insane!” Clayton barked, looking at Helen and the police. “She’s hysterical. Both of them are. Ruth is suffering from severe dementia, and my wife has a history of mental instability. I have medical power of attorney!”
“Actually, you have a forged document,” Helen Price intervened, opening her red folio. “Which was voided this morning at 8:00 AM by a superior court judge. Just like your fraudulent appraisal of Magnolia Hall.”
I pulled my tablet from the kitchen counter and tapped the screen. “Let’s talk about your portfolio, Clayton. Shell company in the Caymans, routed through a dummy corporation in Delaware. You’ve been siphoning Magnolia Hall’s catering profits to pay for Serena Bell’s riverfront penthouse.”
Clayton’s jaw went slack. The mention of his mistress stripped away the last of his armor.
“But the embezzlement is just the warm-up,” I continued, my voice echoing coldly off the cedar panels. “Yesterday, you submitted an appraisal to the board claiming this estate was worth $1.8 million. You were going to force a sale to a developer you secretly own a 40% stake in. And to make sure nobody stopped you, you paid a dirty doctor at Briar Glen to prescribe lethal doses of sedatives to my aunt.”
“Lies,” Clayton spat, though sweat was now pouring down his temples. “You have no proof of any of this. It’s your word against mine!”
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“I have five months of your encrypted banking metadata, which I decoded while you were sleeping,” I replied evenly. “I have the original capsules you tried to feed my aunt, currently being processed by the state crime lab. And as of 3:14 AM last night, I have the forged appraisal document with my blood splattered across the bottom of it, proving physical coercion.”
Detective Vega stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from her belt. They clinked heavily in the quiet room.
