Chapter 6 - THE RAT IN THE CORNER
By midday, the news had shattered every financial network in the country.
**BREAKING NEWS: VALE LOGISTICS CEO ARRESTED IN DRAMATIC BOARDROOM RAID. BILLIONS IN OFFSHORE ASSETS FROZEN. FORMER WIFE'S SUSPICIOUS DEATH REOPENED AS HOMICIDE INQUIRY.**
I sat in a private conference room at the Federal Building in lower Manhattan, drinking lukewarm tea while federal attorneys worked through boxes of evidence.
Across the courtyard, through the reinforced glass, I could see Adrian sitting in an interrogation room. His jacket was gone. His tie was loosened. The arrogant heir who had told me to get on my knees fourteen hours ago was now weeping into his palms while his defense lawyer frantically argued with two federal prosecutors.
The door behind me opened, and Julian walked in, carrying a tablet.
"The sister is singing," Julian said, pulling out a chair.
"Beatrice?" I asked.
"She called the US Attorney’s office thirty minutes after Adrian was booked. Offered full testimony regarding Celeste’s private accounts in exchange for full immunity from the weapons trafficking charges." Julian chuckled dryly. "The moment the money stopped flowing, House Vale ate itself alive."
"And Celeste?"
Julian’s face darkened slightly. "She hasn't spoken a word. Her attorneys filed an emergency habeas motion, claiming she had no operational knowledge of Adrian’s logistics routes. She’s trying to pin the entire murder of Elena and the arms smuggling on Adrian."
"Of course she is," I said, setting my cup down. "Celeste didn't spend forty years building an empire to let her son drag her down to a federal penitentiary. Adrian was always her sacrificial pawn. If he succeeded, she stayed rich. If he failed, he took the fall."
"Can we tie her directly to Elena’s car?" Julian asked. "The wire transfers for the mechanic who cut the brakes were routed through an untraceable shell company."
"Untraceable to an amateur," I said, opening my laptop. "Julian, remember what Celeste said to me in the kitchen before Adrian locked me up?"
*“In this house, wives do not embarrass their husbands. They do not question accounts. They do not ask why certain doors are locked.”*
"She was talking about the cellar vault in the Greenwich mansion," I said. "The one beneath the carriage house. Adrian told me once it was where his father stored vintage wine. But the power consumption on that carriage house is six times higher than the main house."
Julian leaned forward. "A private server."
May you like
"Not just a server," I said, bringing up a blueprint of the estate. "The private operational archive of Celeste Vale. If we move right now before her private security wipes it, we don't just put Adrian away for life. We bury Celeste under the prison."
***
