Chapter 27 - The Name Hidden in the Ledger
Samuel spent most of the night reviewing every document recovered from the warehouse and the estate.
One detail refused to leave his mind.
Every ledger contained initials instead of full names.
Except once.
Near the back of the oldest ledger, one payment listed a complete signature.
It had been overlooked because the ink had faded almost completely.
Using digital enhancement, Samuel slowly increased the contrast.
Letters emerged one by one.
Daniel watched silently.
Finally, the name became readable.
Edward Langford.
Samuel searched public corporate records immediately.
Edward Langford had officially died seventeen years earlier.
Yet someone continued using his authorization years after his reported death.
Daniel frowned.
"Could the records be wrong?"
Samuel opened another file.
"No."
"The death certificate is genuine."
"But..."
He enlarged a photograph attached to an old board-of-directors report.
Daniel's breathing slowed.
The man standing beside Edward Langford looked strangely familiar.
Older.
Gray-haired.
But unmistakable.
It was the same elderly man from the photograph Rebecca had taken at the estate.
Samuel looked back at Daniel.
"Whoever orchestrated this..."
"...has been hiding behind a dead man's identity for nearly two decades."
Before either of them could continue, Daniel's phone buzzed.
May you like
A text message appeared from an unknown number.
Stop searching. The truth will cost Lily far more than you realize.
