CHAPTER 5: The Letter from Prison
The first envelope arrived six weeks after the Thomas Mercer Foundation opened.
There was no return address.
Daniel found it on his desk early Monday morning, resting on top of a stack of applications from elderly people seeking legal help.
His assistant had not placed it there.
The overnight security team had not seen anyone enter his office.
Inside the envelope was a single photograph.
It had been taken during the foundation’s opening ceremony.
Daniel stood at the podium. Eleanor was beside him in her ivory suit. Behind them were board members, attorneys, donors, and city officials.
Someone had drawn a red circle around one man in the back row.
Malcolm Sterling.
Sterling had served as Reed International’s chief legal counsel for almost twenty-five years. He had handled Daniel’s father’s estate, protected the company during financial crises, and stood beside Eleanor after Thomas died.
On the back of the photograph were seven handwritten words:
Charles Wynn was never the man in charge.
Daniel recognized the handwriting immediately.
Victoria.
He drove to the federal detention center that afternoon.
Victoria entered the visitation room wearing a plain beige uniform. Her hair was shorter, and the polished confidence she once carried had vanished.
But her eyes remained sharp.
“You received the picture,” she said.
“How did you get it into my office?”
Victoria leaned toward the glass.
“If I tell you everything now, Malcolm will know I’m cooperating.”
“Sterling has protected my family for decades.”
Victoria gave him a tired smile.
“That is what makes him dangerous.”
Daniel placed the photograph against the glass.
“You accused my mother of hiding the truth about my father. Then investigators uncovered Charles Wynn’s family company. Now you’re blaming another person.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to check your father’s original autopsy report.”
Daniel’s expression tightened.
“I’ve seen it.”
“No. You’ve seen the copy Malcolm Sterling placed in your family archive.”
Victoria explained that Charles had once become intoxicated during a private meeting and revealed more than he intended.
Thomas Mercer had not died immediately during the overseas incident.
He had survived long enough to be transported to a military hospital.
Someone visited him there hours before his death.
A civilian attorney.
Malcolm Sterling.
“Why would Sterling travel overseas?” Daniel asked.
“To recover whatever evidence your father had collected.”
“Where is your proof?”
Victoria glanced toward the guard.
“In the wedding ring.”
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“We already found the key.”
“Not the key,” Victoria said. “The ring itself.”
Before Daniel could ask what she meant, the guard announced that visitation time was over.
Victoria stood.
“Daniel, your mother believes she has already exposed the people responsible.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“She hasn’t.”
That night, Daniel removed his father’s ring from the chain around his neck.
Under a magnifying glass, he noticed something he had never seen before.
A thin line ran around the inside of the band.
The ring was not solid.
It opened.
May you like
And hidden inside was a strip of microfilm containing one name.
Eleanor Reed.
