The darkness lasted only a few seconds.
It felt much longer.
Margaret heard David move toward her.
“Stay where you are.”
George's voice came from the other side of the room.
“Don't move.”
A chair scraped against the floor.
Someone outside struck the door.
Once.
Then again.
The old building seemed to shudder around them.
Peter whispered, “That's him.”
Margaret could barely hear him.
“Who?”
Peter swallowed.
“The man who took me.”
Another impact struck the door.
The lock held.
For now.
Andrew moved silently toward the rear entrance.
George caught his arm.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“He knows the exits.”
A flashlight appeared through the crack beneath the door.
It moved slowly across the floor.
Then stopped.
Margaret felt David's hand close around hers.
The flashlight disappeared.
Silence followed.
Then a voice came through the door.
“Margaret.”
She froze.
She knew that voice.
She had heard it at Thomas's retirement dinner.
George whispered, “Don't answer.”
But Margaret already knew.
“Peter?”
“No.”
The voice outside spoke again.
“You've been looking for me.”
Margaret's mouth went dry.
She looked at George.
“Who is it?”
George's face had gone pale.
“Arthur Dean.”
The initials.
A.D.
Margaret understood.
Andrew looked toward him.
“You said you were A.D.”
“I was.”
George shook his head.
“You used the same initials.”
Andrew's expression changed.
“What are you talking about?”
George stared at him.
“You knew exactly what Thomas was hiding.”
Andrew took a step backward.
Margaret looked between them.
“Someone explain.”
George spoke first.
“Arthur Dean was the man who managed the reserve accounts.”
Margaret stared at Andrew.
Andrew did not deny it.
Instead he said quietly, “I never stole anything.”
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Gray-haired.
Thin.
His face was familiar.
Margaret recognized him from the photograph.
The attorney.
The man who had stood beside Thomas and Helen.
Arthur Dean.
He smiled.
“You finally found the money.”
David stepped forward.
“You've been stealing from the foundation.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Stealing implies ownership.”
“The money belongs to the families.”
“According to Thomas.”
“According to the documents.”
Arthur laughed softly.
“Documents can say anything.”
Margaret felt anger replacing fear.
“You threatened my family.”
“No.”
He looked at George.
“He did.”
George stiffened.
Arthur continued.
“I merely wanted the records.”
“You disappeared.”
“I protected myself.”
“You let everyone believe you were dead.”
“I never said I was dead.”
Margaret looked at Andrew.
“And you?”
Andrew's face was grim.
“I worked for Arthur before I worked for Thomas.”
Margaret felt betrayed.
“You were watching us for him?”
“At first.”
“And then?”
“Thomas changed my mind.”
Arthur smiled.
“Thomas was very good at changing people's minds.”
David asked, “Why did you want the reserve fund?”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“Because it was stolen money.”
Margaret frowned.
“What?”
“Money taken from investors through fraud. Thomas called it compensation. He created a foundation and decided where it should go.”
George interrupted.
“Because the original investors were corrupt.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Some were.”
“Most.”
“Enough.”
Margaret understood.
Arthur wanted to reclaim money he believed did not belong to Thomas.
But there was another question.
“Why now?”
Arthur looked at David.
“Because your father left the foundation to you.”
David stared.
“I didn't inherit the reserve.”
“You inherited control.”
Arthur stepped inside.
“That was enough.”
He explained that the reserve fund had remained untouched because Thomas had placed legal restrictions on it.
No individual could access it.
But the foundation could.
David's appointment as trustee created the possibility of moving the money.
Arthur needed David to authorize the transfer.
“So you manipulated the account.”
“Yes.”
“Using my identity.”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at Peter.
“And Peter?”
Arthur sighed.
“Peter discovered the account.”
“He refused to cooperate.”
“So I frightened him.”
Peter looked away.
Arthur's voice remained calm.
“I needed him to stay quiet.”
David asked, “Where were you taking the money?”
Arthur did not answer.
George did.
“Back to the original investors.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Arthur nodded.
“Some of it.”
Margaret felt the tension in the room shift.
“You wanted to return it?”
“I wanted to settle an old debt.”
“But not all of it.”
Arthur said nothing.
George answered.
“He planned to keep a portion.”
Arthur looked at him.
“You always were sentimental.”
George laughed bitterly.
“And you always called greed principle.”
Margaret stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both men looked at her.
She held Thomas's letter.
“My husband spent years protecting people from this.”
Arthur looked at the paper.
“He made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He trusted the foundation.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at David.
“He trusted us.”
David understood.
He stepped toward the safe.
Arthur moved quickly.
“Don't.”
David stopped.
Arthur's expression changed.
“Give me the reserve authorization.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what happens if you refuse.”
David looked at him.
“I understand exactly.”
Arthur reached inside his coat.
Andrew moved instantly.
But Arthur pulled out a phone.
Nothing else.
He pressed a button.
A recording began.
Thomas's voice filled the room.
“If anyone asks you to move the reserve fund without the trustees present, refuse.”
Margaret's eyes widened.
Thomas continued.
“Do not trust anyone who claims the money belongs to them.”
The recording ended.
Arthur stared at the phone.
His face had lost its confidence.
Margaret looked at Andrew.
“You had that recording?”
Andrew nodded.
“Thomas gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The week before he died.”
Arthur whispered, “You betrayed me.”
Andrew looked at him.
“No.”
“I trusted you.”
“You shouldn't have.”
Outside, sirens appeared in the distance.
Arthur turned toward the door.
George stepped in front of him.
“You're not leaving.”
Arthur looked at Margaret.
“This isn't over.”
Margaret held his gaze.
“Yes, it is.”
Police vehicles stopped outside.
Officers entered.
Arthur did not resist.
Peter sat down.
David exhaled.
George remained still.
Andrew looked toward Margaret.
She realized something.
The threat had never been one person.
It had been a chain of people protecting old secrets.
And the chain had finally broken.
But as officers collected the documents, Margaret noticed one paper missing.
The original reserve authorization.
She looked at David.
“Where is it?”
He checked the safe.
It was gone.
Arthur was already being taken outside.
Margaret's heart sank.
Someone had taken it before the police arrived.
She turned toward the doorway.
Andrew was gone.
Click here to continue reading: PART 22: Andrew Disappeared With the One Document That Could Control the Reserve Fund, Leaving Margaret Unsure Whether Thomas’s Final Protector Had Betrayed Them
Nine Days After Thomas Was Buried, Margaret Opened Her Door to an Unexpected Responsibility—and Realized Her Son Had Already Decided What Her Life Should Be
Part 21 of 27
