Chapter 15 - The Lowest Point
Natalie was arrested in front of the Mercer board.
Cameras captured everything.
By noon her face was on every major network.
FUGITIVE HEIRESS ARRESTED.
MERCER FRAUD WIDENS.
ATTORNEY CONNECTED TO MURDER.
Daniel tried to reach her.
Her lawyers advised silence.
The board voted without Natalie.
Without her trust proxy recognized, Jonathan’s allies approved the first stage of the company breakup.
Daniel lost control of Mercer Industries.
Margaret was arrested hours later after federal prosecutors filed charges related to Richard’s death.
Marcus remained in custody.
Rosa entered witness protection.
Brooks was suspended after internal investigators claimed she improperly handled evidence.
Everyone who had helped Daniel was removed one by one.
He returned to Mercer House alone.
For the first time, the enormous building felt exactly like what it had always been.
A beautiful prison built by secrets.
Daniel entered Richard’s study.
The Lincoln portrait was still missing from the wall.
He sat in his father’s chair.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Silence.
Then Daniel noticed something.
The scratches on the wall.
Four vertical.
One horizontal.
Seven tiny marks beneath them.
He had assumed it meant Room 417.
It had.
But Richard loved layered systems.
Daniel removed the wooden panel again.
The compartment was empty.
He shined his phone light inside.
There was writing along the top.
TO FIND THE TRUTH, LOOK WHERE WE BEGAN.
Daniel knew where Richard and Margaret began.
The old Mercer textile mill.
The place Jonathan had originally summoned them.
Daniel drove there alone.
The factory was under federal seal, but one section connected to an older administration building.
Richard’s first office had been there forty years earlier.
Daniel searched until dawn.
Then he found a photograph under a drawer.
Richard.
Margaret.
A young Elaine Reeves.
And baby Evelyn.
Behind it was a small magnetic key.
The key opened an old fireproof cabinet in the basement.
Inside sat a video camera.
A stack of tapes.
One tape was dated the night Richard died.
Daniel inserted it into an ancient player.
Richard appeared on screen.
Alive.
Tired.
“If you’re watching this, Jonathan succeeded.”
Daniel sat forward.
Richard continued.
“Do not let what happened to me become the story.”
Daniel frowned.
“The story is Evelyn.”
Richard looked directly into the camera.
“Jonathan killed her because she discovered the network.”
Then Richard said:
“Margaret helped cover it up.”
Daniel already knew.
But the next sentence changed everything.
“Elaine Reeves saw it happen.”
Natalie’s mother.
Richard continued.
“She was the witness I was protecting.”
That explained the payments.
They were not bribes.
Richard had paid Elaine to remain hidden and safe.
Then Richard added:
“If Jonathan ever learns Elaine recorded that night, he will kill anyone connected to her.”
Daniel stopped the tape.
Elaine had recorded Evelyn’s murder.
And if the recording still existed, Natalie might know where it was without knowing what it contained.
The first clue returned to him.
Natalie had hidden Richard’s brass key at her mother’s grave.
Elaine’s grave.
Daniel drove there.
He removed the flower vase again.
This time he dug deeper.
Beneath the metal cylinder was a second compartment.
Inside lay a small digital recorder.
Daniel pressed play.
Evelyn screamed.
Jonathan’s voice shouted.
Margaret cried.
Then Elaine said:
“Oh my God.”
The recording captured everything.
Enough to clear Natalie.
Enough to destroy Jonathan.
Daniel grabbed his phone to call federal prosecutors.
A voice behind him said:
“I was wondering when you’d finally understand your father.”
Daniel turned.
May you like
Jonathan stood ten feet away.
Holding a gun.
