Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN RED
The vote was eight to three.
Andrew was suspended as chief executive pending investigation.
He still held the title.
He still owned common shares.
But for the first time since he was twenty-seven, he could not issue a single company order without approval.
He left the boardroom without speaking to me.
Twenty minutes later, Brenda called.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
“Mariana.”
Her voice had lost the honeyed sweetness from the previous night.
“What have you done to Andrew?”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“He’s furious.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“You’re destroying his life because your feelings got hurt.”
I looked at my bruised reflection in the window.
“My feelings?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No.”
“I really don’t.”
She exhaled sharply.
“You were already leaving him.”
Interesting.
I said nothing.
Brenda continued.
“You haven’t loved him for years.”
“Did Andrew tell you that?”
“He told me everything.”
“Then he should have told you who paid for your apartment.”
She went silent.
“Excuse me?”
“Red Birch Strategy.”
The silence became heavier.
“You’re spying on me.”
“Company records are not private.”
“That money was a gift from Andrew.”
“It belonged to Whitmore Dynamics.”
“He owns Whitmore Dynamics.”
“No.”
I let the word hang.
“That is the part both of you failed to understand.”
She disconnected.
Victor entered my office carrying a tablet.
“We found something.”
The mansion used a private security vendor.
I knew because I had approved the service contract.
Most interior cameras were limited to entry points, hallways, service corridors, and secure rooms.
The family had always insisted bedrooms and living areas remain private.
Margaret’s upstairs hallway had one camera.
Victor played the footage.
At 6:42 p.m., Brenda appeared at the top of the staircase.
Crimson gown.
Perfect hair.
She looked both directions.
Then she walked toward Margaret’s suite.
At 6:44, she disappeared inside.
At 6:49, she came out.
I leaned closer.
“Where was Margaret?”
“Downstairs with the florist.”
“Andrew?”
“On a call.”
Victor advanced the footage.
At 7:10, Brenda returned upstairs.
This time she carried a small clutch.
She entered the guest bedroom she had used to change before dinner.
Three minutes later, she emerged without it.
I looked at Victor.
“Search warrant?”
“We cannot search personal belongings ourselves.”
“But if Margaret reports the necklace stolen and gives police the footage…”
“They can take it from there.”
I picked up my phone.
Then stopped.
Something bothered me.
“Why would Brenda steal the necklace?”
“To frame you.”
“Why?”
“To force you out.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Andrew was already having an affair.”
“She wanted you gone faster.”
“Then why now?”
Victor understood.
“She needed a deadline.”
Exactly.
I went back through the financial report.
Red Birch had received its largest payment six days earlier.
Four hundred thousand dollars.
And one day after that payment, Andrew had requested draft documents from corporate counsel concerning a proposed sale of his common shares.
The buyer’s name had been redacted in the first data pull.
“Get me the full share-sale request.”
Victor nodded.
My phone rang before he reached the door.
Margaret.
This time her voice was different.
Not angry.
Afraid.
“Mariana.”
“Yes?”
“I asked Brenda where she was before dinner.”
“And?”
“She said she never went upstairs.”
I looked at the frozen security image.
Brenda stood outside Margaret’s suite.
Her hand was on the door.
May you like
I answered quietly.
“She lied to you.”
