Chapter 6 - The Dying Doctor’s Black Ledger
At Marcus's secluded auto repair shop, Jonathan’s longtime friend provided them with an unmarked, reliable 2008 navy-blue sedan with analog plates.
"Celeste and Richard have owned this city for too long," Marcus said. "Put them where they belong, Jonathan."
Sitting in the office, Jonathan opened the burnt-orange envelope.
"If we go to the local authorities right now, Richard’s lawyers will file endless motions and potentially seize temporary custody of Emma," Jonathan explained. "We need an irrefutable witness."
"Dr. Robert Harrison," Elena said. "He is on his deathbed at his estate in St. Claire Valley. He told me he kept a personal ledger—a black book containing records of every illegal procedure and payoff he ever handled for the city’s elite."
An hour later, Jonathan arrived at Dr. Harrison’s private manor.
In the sunroom, Dr. Harrison lay frail and skeletal, hooked to oxygen tanks. When Jonathan entered, the dying doctor rasped, "I knew someone would come... My soul has rotted for six years over what I did to Elena Vance."
"Where is the ledger, Doctor?" Jonathan demanded.
Harrison pointed a trembling finger toward an antique grandfather clock in the corner. "Behind the pendulum... the false compartment. Everything is there. The original footprints, the wire transfer slips, and an audio recording of Celeste ordering me to declare the baby dead."
Jonathan reached behind the pendulum and retrieved a thick, leather-bound black ledger and a digital voice recorder.
He pressed play. Celeste’s cold, crisp voice echoed from the speaker:
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"I don't care how you do it, Robert. Tell that nineteen-year-old girl her baby suffocated. The Sterling Trust requires an heir... Here is your two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
Jonathan closed his eyes, his knuckles white. The evidence was complete.
