She Discovered Too Late novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Cuff

The boardroom of Ellingham Holdings had seven leather chairs and one long window over the river.

I had never been inside it. I stood against the glass, where nobody could walk through me.

Five of the chairs were full by five to nine.

Colby's chair was empty, pushed in square to the table.

Our father's older brother sat three seats down from it. He did not look at anyone, and his tea had gone cold in front of him.

The last director through the door was our cousin from finance.

He wore a grey suit and carried a leather binder, and he smiled at the table before he sat.

"Miriam," he said. "I'm sorry for your loss. We all are."

"Thank you for coming," Miriam said.

She did not sit. She walked the length of the table and put a stapled sheet in front of every director.

"These are monthly invoices for consulting services," she said. "Seven years of them, paid from the company account."

"The consultant was a private investigator. He followed Cedric from city to city."

"Each invoice carries the finance office's initials. I would like to know whose."

The outside director on her left turned a page and then turned another.

"These are blue ink," she said slowly. "Every month."

"Colby asked me to approve a welfare check," our cousin said. His voice stayed easy. "Family business. He was worried about his brother."

"He got Cedric fired in four towns," Miriam said. "That was his worry."

"I can't speak to what the man did with the information."

"You signed for it eighty-four times."

Our cousin opened his binder and closed it again.

Keep reading free with an account. Start She Discovered Too Late from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.