Chapter 4 - THE BROKEN BRAKE
Adrian answered on the first ring.
"Clara?"
She heard desperation in his voice.
"We found something."
Adrian immediately became quiet.
Clara explained Olivia's messages.
Then she told him about Northbridge.
For several seconds, Adrian said nothing.
"How much money?"
"Approximately one hundred eighty thousand."
"From my company?"
"Yes."
"Authorized by who?"
"I'm still checking."
Adrian sat alone at the kitchen island.
The broken stroller brake lay inside a plastic evidence bag the police had provided.
His laptop was open.
"Send me everything."
"I already am."
Files began appearing in his inbox.
Invoices.
Payment records.
Screenshots.
A corporate registration search Clara had completed two weeks earlier.
Northbridge Advisory LLC was registered to an address Adrian recognized instantly.
Vanessa's condominium.
His hands began shaking.
"Jesus."
Clara continued.
"Olivia also recorded Vanessa going through my desk."
The video arrived.
Adrian watched it twice.
On the second viewing, he noticed Vanessa slipping something into her handbag.
"What did she take?"
"Bank statements."
"Why didn't you tell me you were investigating this?"
Clara was quiet.
Then she said the sentence he deserved.
"I was going to."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"But now you're wondering whether I would have believed you."
"Yes."
He could not blame her.
A knock sounded at the front door.
Detective Marcus Bell entered with another officer.
Adrian had called them after finding the damaged brake.
"We need the stroller untouched."
Adrian pointed toward it.
"I haven't moved it."
Detective Bell examined the mechanism.
He wore gloves.
After several minutes, he looked toward Adrian.
"This pin didn't fall out naturally."
"You're sure?"
"The retaining clip is missing."
The detective pointed toward a small groove.
"Someone would have had to remove it."
Adrian stared at the stroller.
"Could that cause the brake to fail?"
"Absolutely."
The room seemed to tilt.
Vanessa had not merely pushed the stroller.
She had made sure it would move.
Detective Bell stood.
"Does anyone else regularly use this stroller?"
"My wife."
"Your sister?"
"Sometimes."
"Any reason she would know how the brake works?"
Adrian thought about the previous weekend.
Vanessa had taken Emma for a walk around the neighborhood.
She had complained afterward that one wheel felt stiff.
He had watched her crouch beside the stroller and examine the brakes.
At the time, it had meant nothing.
Now it meant everything.
"She knows."
Detective Bell noticed Adrian's expression.
"What else?"
Adrian turned his laptop around.
"My wife discovered money missing from my company."
The detective looked at the documents.
"Your sister involved?"
"Possibly."
"How much?"
"At least one hundred eighty thousand dollars."
Detective Bell exhaled slowly.
"What does your wife think the connection is?"
Adrian looked toward the dark staircase.
"Vanessa may have been trying to destroy Clara's credibility before Clara exposed her."
The detective's expression became serious.
"If that's true, we are no longer looking at a family argument."
Adrian nodded.
"I know."
After the officers left with the stroller, Adrian called his chief financial officer.
It was nearly four in the morning.
The man answered sleepily.
"Adrian?"
"I need every payment connected to Northbridge Advisory."
"What?"
"Tonight."
A pause followed.
"Is something wrong?"
Adrian looked at the empty bassinet near the living room window.
"My sister nearly killed my daughter."
May you like
His voice hardened.
"And I think she was stealing from me before she did it."
