“It’s possible someone left her phone here intentionally,” the officer replied.

“We can’t conclude that Caroline was ever inside this property.””

I looked toward the staircase.

Daniel’s bedroom door was open.

His side of the bed was untouched.

He hadn’t come home to sleep.

He’d come home to use his office.

And then he’d left again.

“Can you check the house cameras?”” I asked.

The officer nodded.

Our security system stored footage on a separate server. The technician accessed it from the living room while Margaret and I waited.

At 11:18 p.m., Daniel entered the house carrying a black briefcase.

At 11:31 p.m., he went into his office.

At 11:49 p.m., he left carrying the same briefcase.

He never returned.

I watched the footage twice.

“Where did he go?”” I asked.

“We’re checking the vehicle cameras and nearby traffic footage,” the officer said.

Then he paused the recording.

“There’s something else.””

At 11:26 p.m., someone had entered through the side door.

The person wore a dark jacket and a baseball cap.

Their face was obscured.

They walked directly to Daniel’s office.

They remained inside for eleven minutes.

Then they left carrying a thin black folder.

“Can you identify them?”” Margaret asked.

“Not from this angle. We’ll compare the footage with other cameras.””

The person had known exactly where to go.

They hadn’t searched the house.

They’d entered for a specific item.

I thought of the original donor ledger.

“Could that folder have contained the ledger?””

“Possibly,” the officer said.

“But we need to inspect the archive before making that assumption.””

At dawn, we returned to the hotel.

The building was quiet. Housekeeping staff pushed carts along the corridors, and the smell of fresh coffee drifted from the lobby café.

I changed into a clean suit and went straight to the secure archive.

The archive required two keys and a personal access code. My key still worked.

Inside, rows of locked cabinets held decades of contracts, receipts, donor records, and property documents.

My father’s original ledger was stored in a fireproof cabinet at the back.

I entered the code.

The cabinet opened.

The ledger was gone.

I stood motionless, staring at the empty shelf.

“Someone took it,” I whispered.

Margaret checked the inventory sheet attached to the cabinet.

“The last recorded inspection was ten days ago.””

“Who signed it?””

She turned the page toward me.

Caroline Reed.

I felt a knot tighten in my chest.

Caroline had been investigating the transfers.

She’d argued with Stephen.

She’d disappeared.

And now the ledger was missing.

“Could Caroline have taken it to protect herself?”” I asked.

“It’s possible,” Margaret replied.

“But we shouldn’t assume that. Someone else may have used her access.””

I looked at the empty shelf.

My father had written in that ledger for nearly twenty years. He’d recorded every major donation in his own handwriting and kept notes about the people who gave money to the foundation.

He’d trusted paper because he believed digital records could be changed too easily.

If the ledger contained original signatures and payment details, it might reveal who had falsified the foundation’s accounts.

And someone had gone to great lengths to remove it.

A security officer approached us.

“Miss Bennett, we’ve received an update from the police.””

I turned.

“Have they found Caroline?””

“Not yet. But they’ve identified the vehicle seen leaving your property last night. It belongs to Stephen Cole.””

My stomach dropped.

“Where is he now?””

“His home is empty, and his office has been locked since midnight.””

Margaret immediately contacted the investigators.

I looked once more at the empty cabinet.

Daniel’s letter claimed Stephen had threatened him.

The security footage showed someone removing a folder from Daniel’s office.

And the vehicle connected to that visit belonged to Stephen.

For the first time, I wondered whether my husband had been trying to confess.

Or whether he’d been helping Stephen cover his tracks.

Then the archive door opened behind us.

Jasmine stood in the doorway, pale and breathless.

“Miss Bennett, I need to show you something.””

She held up her phone.

“I found the original video from the night Emily was threatened. I checked the full recording this morning because I thought I might have missed something.””

She pressed play.

The footage showed Richard Collins standing in the service corridor, arguing with Emily.

Stephen Cole stood beside him.

Then Daniel appeared at the edge of the frame.

He handed Stephen a document.

Stephen glanced at it and smiled.

Richard asked, “Is it done?””

Daniel nodded.

“Olivia has already approved the transfer.””

I felt the blood drain from my face.

The video continued.

Stephen slipped the document into his jacket.

“Good,” he said.

“Once the ledger is gone, nobody will be able to prove otherwise.””

Daniel looked toward the corridor entrance.

“And Caroline?””

Richard laughed.

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