Chapter 9: The Dead Man in the Photograph
Harold Whitmore stared at the photograph.
His hands trembled.
"My father is dead.""
Benjamin looked at him.
"Are you certain?""
Harold nodded repeatedly.
"I attended his funeral. I saw the casket.""
Evelyn placed the photograph on the table.
"Then someone made a very convincing mistake.""
Harold snatched it up.
"Where did you get this?""
"Thomas gave it to me.""
"When?""
"Three weeks ago.""
Harold looked furious.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
Evelyn's voice was bitter.
"Because you weren't the person Thomas was trying to impress.""
Harold lowered the photograph.
Benjamin looked at Robert.
"Find out where Arthur Whitmore is.""
Robert immediately called the corporate investigation team.
Naomi sat silently, processing everything.
Her mother had discovered financial fraud.
Her aunt had helped conceal it.
Someone had altered her inheritance documents.
And now a man who was supposedly dead might be controlling the entire operation.
Grace began moving in her blanket.
Naomi gently rocked her.
"Shh, sweetheart.""
Benjamin noticed.
"Naomi, I want you and Grace moved somewhere secure.""
She shook her head.
"I'm not leaving you.""
"Baby, this isn't a negotiation.""
"Daddy, somebody has been threatening me for months. If I leave every time they want me to disappear, they'll keep doing it.""
Benjamin looked at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"All right. But you stay with Raymond.""
Raymond approached.
"I'll personally escort her.""
Before they could move, Robert called out.
"Mr. Carter.""
Benjamin turned.
Robert had opened a new file.
"We found the registered ownership records for Magnolia Holdings.""
"Who owns it?""
Robert looked at the screen.
"Arthur Whitmore is listed as the controlling beneficiary. But the company is registered through a private trust.""
"Who administers the trust?""
Robert scrolled.
Then stopped.
"Thomas Reed.""
Benjamin shook his head.
"Of course.""
Robert continued.
"There's a second beneficiary.""
He enlarged the document.
The name appeared.
*VICTORIA WHITMORE.*
Harold closed his eyes.
"My wife?""
Robert nodded.
"She holds a twenty-five percent beneficial interest.""
Benjamin stared.
"Then Victoria knew.""
Harold looked sick.
"She told me she had no involvement with Magnolia.""
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
"Victoria knew everything.""
Harold turned toward her.
"You knew about this?""
"I suspected it.""
"Then why didn't you tell me?""
Evelyn looked at him.
"Because I was too busy trying to save myself.""
Harold sat down.
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Then Naomi spoke.
"Wait.""
Everyone looked at her.
She held up the photograph of her mother.
"Why did Thomas bring this picture to me?""
Robert frowned.
"What do you mean?""
"He could have threatened my father. He could have threatened the company. Instead, he sent a picture of me with Grace and wrote something about Mom.""
Benjamin looked at the photograph.
Naomi continued.
"Maybe he wants us to focus on the wrong thing.""
Robert nodded slowly.
"That's possible.""
She looked at Evelyn.
"Was there anything else Mom found?""
Evelyn hesitated.
Then her expression changed.
"Yes.""
Benjamin turned.
"What?""
"She found an original property deed.""
"Which property?""
"The old St. Charles Royale ownership parcel.""
Benjamin frowned.
"We own that property.""
"Not all of it.""
Robert leaned forward.
"Explain.""
Evelyn opened the folder again.
"Before the hotel was renovated, the land was divided into several legal parcels. Lorraine discovered that one of the parcels had been transferred into a separate trust.""
Benjamin stared.
"Who owned it?""
Evelyn looked toward Naomi.
"Your mother.""
Naomi blinked.
"What?""
"She purchased it privately before she married Benjamin.""
Benjamin looked stunned.
"Why didn't I know about this?""
"Because she never told you. She said it was an inheritance from her grandmother.""
Naomi looked down at Grace.
"Why would Mom keep something like that secret?""
Evelyn shook her head.
"I don't know.""
Robert immediately began searching the property records.
A few moments later, he found the deed.
He read it carefully.
Then his eyes widened.
"Mr. Carter, your wife didn't own a small parcel.""
Benjamin approached.
"What do you mean?""
Robert turned the screen around.
The deed described a substantial portion of the land beneath the hotel's original structure.
The property had been held in a private family trust.
And the beneficiary wasn't Benjamin.
It was Naomi.
Naomi stared at the screen.
"Me?""
Robert nodded.
"The deed names you as the sole beneficiary upon your mother's death.""
Benjamin looked at Evelyn.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because Thomas was trying to acquire it.""
Robert examined the transfer history.
"There's a problem.""
Benjamin looked at him.
"What?""
"The parcel was transferred six months ago.""
Naomi's face went pale.
"To Magnolia Holdings?""
Robert nodded.
Benjamin stepped backward.
"How?""
Robert examined the signature.
Then he looked at Benjamin.
"The transfer was approved through a document signed by Naomi Carter.""
Naomi shook her head.
"No.""
Robert checked the identification details.
"There's a copy of a driver's license attached.""
Naomi stood.
"I never signed anything.""
Benjamin approached her.
"I believe you.""
Robert looked at the document.
"The license number matches your old records.""
Naomi frowned.
"My license was stolen.""
Benjamin turned sharply.
"When?""
"Last year. I lost my wallet at a grocery store. I reported it, but I never thought...""
Her voice faded.
Robert nodded.
"Someone may have used the stolen identification to create the transfer.""
Naomi looked horrified.
"So they stole my land?""
"Apparently.""
Benjamin clenched his jaw.
"Can we reverse it?""
"Possibly. But we'll need the original trust documents and evidence of identity fraud.""
Evelyn suddenly spoke.
"Thomas has them.""
Benjamin turned.
"Where?""
"At the original hotel office.""
Robert looked confused.
"That office was closed years ago.""
Evelyn shook her head.
"Not the public office. The old underground records room.""
Harold stared.
"That place was sealed.""
Evelyn nodded.
"Thomas reopened it.""
Benjamin looked at Raymond.
"Can you get us access?""
Raymond shook his head.
"Not without the property's security plans.""
Robert opened another file.
"I may have those.""
He searched through the archived acquisition records.
Then he found a floor plan.
The old records room was located beneath the eastern wing of the hotel.
There was only one entrance.
A service elevator behind the laundry department.
Benjamin looked at Naomi.
"You're staying upstairs.""
Naomi shook her head.
"Daddy, that's where Mom's records are.""
"Exactly why I don't want you anywhere near it.""
She looked directly at him.
"Mom spent the last days of her life trying to protect me. I'm not going to let someone erase everything she left behind.""
Benjamin was about to respond when Raymond's radio crackled.
"Security to command. We have an issue.""
Raymond lifted the radio.
"Go ahead.""
"We just lost camera coverage in the eastern wing.""
Benjamin looked at Robert.
Robert checked his laptop.
The hotel's internal security feed had gone black.
Then a single camera came back online.
It showed the empty service corridor.
A man stepped into view.
Dark suit.
Silver hair.
A scar above his left eyebrow.
Arthur Whitmore.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he smiled.
A message appeared on the monitor.
*BENJAMIN, BRING YOUR DAUGHTER TO THE RECORDS ROOM. COME ALONE.*
Naomi felt her blood turn cold.
Benjamin stepped in front of her.
Raymond reached for his radio.
But another message appeared.
*OR THE ORIGINAL WILL DISAPPEARS FOREVER.*
Then the screen changed.
A live image appeared.
It showed a wooden desk in the underground records room.
On it sat a leather folder.
Beside it was a framed photograph of Lorraine Carter.
And behind the desk stood Thomas Reed.
He raised a sheet of paper toward the camera.
Naomi recognized her mother's handwriting immediately.
Thomas smiled.
"Benjamin, I believe it's time we finished what Lorraine started.""
The screen went black.
Benjamin stared at it.
Robert whispered, "He's trying to draw you downstairs.""
Benjamin nodded.
"Yes.""
Naomi looked at the photograph of her mother.
Then she noticed something.
The framed picture on the screen wasn't an ordinary photograph.
It was the same picture her mother had sent them in the video.
But there was something different.
A small gold necklace around Lorraine's neck.
Naomi recognized it.
Her mother had worn that necklace every day.
After her death, Naomi had kept it in a jewelry box.
Or at least, she thought she had.
She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small velvet pouch.
Inside was the necklace.
Naomi looked at the photograph again.
Then she whispered:
"That's not possible.""
Benjamin turned.
"What?""
Naomi held up the necklace.
"Mom left this with me before she died.""
Robert examined it.
Then he looked at the screen.
The necklace in the photograph had a tiny engraved number on its clasp.
Naomi checked hers.
The numbers matched.
She turned it over.
There was a small hidden compartment beneath the clasp.
And inside was a folded piece of paper so tiny it had been almost impossible to notice.
Naomi carefully opened it.
Three words were written in her mother's handwriting.
*THE ORIGINAL IS HERE.*
Benjamin looked toward the underground floor plan.
Then at his daughter.
Lorraine hadn't simply left them a warning.
She had hidden the evidence somewhere nobody had thought to look.
And the clue had been with Naomi all along.
But before they could decide what to do, a final message appeared on the monitor.
*YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.*
May you like
Underneath it was a second line.
*OR YOUR MOTHER'S LAST SECRET DIES WITH ME.*
