Chapter 5 - THE TRUST FUND
Andrew did not sleep that night.
At 2:15 in the morning, he and Elizabeth sat inside Caroline’s old study.
The room had remained locked since her death.
Andrew had preserved it because entering felt like admitting she would never return.
Now every untouched drawer felt like a question.
Elizabeth searched through old correspondence.
Andrew opened the locked cabinet beside Caroline’s desk.
Inside were tax folders, property deeds, insurance documents, and paperwork connected to the Whitmore Family Trust.
Alex was the principal future beneficiary.
Andrew served as trustee.
Lucinda had administrative authority only in emergency circumstances.
Andrew pulled out three annual account summaries.
Something immediately seemed wrong.
“There should be another account.”
Elizabeth looked over.
“What kind?”
“My father created a separate education and medical reserve for Alex.”
“How much?”
“Originally twelve million.”
Elizabeth stared at him.
Andrew flipped through the documents.
“It isn’t listed.”
“Could Caroline have moved it?”
“No.”
“Not without my signature.”
Elizabeth searched another drawer.
“Could someone have forged it?”
Andrew looked at her.
The possibility had once seemed absurd.
Now nothing did.
At the back of the cabinet, Elizabeth found a thin envelope taped beneath a shelf.
There was no address.
Only Andrew’s name.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note in Caroline’s unmistakable script.
Andrew,
If you are reading this, I failed to fix the problem before it reached you.
Do not trust the emergency authorization filed in March.
I never signed it.
Neither did you.
The reserve account was used as collateral.
Someone is moving money through Bellweather Holdings.
The papers are hidden where green never fades.
Please protect Alex.
C.
Andrew read the note twice.
Then a third time.
Elizabeth whispered.
“Where green never fades.”
Andrew immediately thought of the ribbon.
But Caroline’s message predated her death.
The phrase had another meaning.
Andrew walked to the shelves.
Caroline loved gardening.
Her study contained several botanical books.
One entire row concerned evergreen plants.
He pulled out a heavy book titled Evergreen Gardens of New England.
A small brass key fell from inside.
Elizabeth picked it up.
“No label.”
Andrew looked around the room.
Then he remembered Caroline’s antique writing desk had a hidden lower compartment.
He inserted the key.
The compartment opened.
Inside was a flash drive.
A ledger.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed Lucinda sitting at a restaurant with Martin Vale, the chief financial officer of Whitmore Medical Technologies.
Andrew stared at it.
Martin had resigned two weeks after Caroline died.
He claimed health reasons.
The ledger contained numbers Andrew did not immediately recognize.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
BELLWEATHER.
Elizabeth connected the flash drive to Caroline’s old laptop.
Most files were encrypted.
One was not.
It was a short video.
Caroline appeared on screen.
She looked exhausted.
“If Andrew sees this, then I probably didn’t get the chance to tell him myself.”
Andrew stopped breathing.
Caroline looked directly into the camera.
“Lucinda has been moving money from Alex’s trust.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
Elizabeth covered her mouth.
Caroline continued.
“But money is not what frightens me.”
She glanced behind her as if someone might be listening.
“She knows I discovered what happened to our father.”
Elizabeth whispered.
“Our father?”
Caroline leaned closer to the camera.
“And if Lucinda believes I have the original records, she may do anything to get them back.”
The video ended.
Andrew stared at the black screen.
Elizabeth looked stunned.
“My father died twenty-three years ago.”
“How?”
“A boating accident.”
May you like
Andrew slowly turned toward her.
“Lucinda was there.”
