Chapter 7 - Northstar
Police searched the warehouse under lawful authority.
I stayed outside.
That decision surprised Roman.
“You’re really letting them handle it?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since Harper.”
He nodded once.
Inside, investigators found records.
No Mia.
No obvious signs someone had recently been held there.
Northstar Outreach wasn’t completely fake.
It bought food, clothing, and temporary housing services for rehabilitation programs.
But invoices were inflated.
Massively.
A $40,000 delivery became $140,000.
A $12,000 rental became $92,000.
Money left the foundation.
Northstar kept part.
Other amounts moved onward.
To where?
A private account in the Cayman Islands.
Beneficial owner unknown.
Victor denied controlling it.
His attorneys claimed he managed Northstar only administratively for Adrian.
Then investigators found a security-camera clip from the warehouse.
Mia arrived there eight days before she vanished.
Alone.
She entered with a key.
Stayed forty-three minutes.
Left carrying a brown envelope.
Someone had watched her from a parked car.
The driver’s face was unclear.
Vehicle?
Black sedan.
Same shape as the one outside my mansion.
That connected the surveillance.
Luca traced registrations matching the model among people linked to Vale organizations.
Twenty-three possibilities.
One belonged to Claire.
She stared at the report.
“My car is white.”
Her current car was.
She sold a black sedan six weeks earlier.
Buyer:
Diane Mercer.
A name I didn’t recognize.
Claire’s former roommate.
Now I did.
“Why did she buy your car?”
“She needed one.”
“Where is Diane?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer sounded rehearsed.
Luca found Diane’s employment history.
She worked for the Adrian Vale Foundation.
Bookkeeping.
Three years.
Then resigned one month after Adrian died.
She would have understood the money.
Mia probably knew her.
We located messages between them on Mia’s recovered cloud account.
Mia:
I FOUND THE NORTHSTAR NUMBERS.
Diane:
DON’T CALL ME ABOUT THIS.
Mia:
ADRIAN WASN’T ACTING ALONE.
Diane:
YOU HAVE A CHILD. STOP DIGGING.
The warning sounded protective.
Or threatening.
Then came the final message, two days before Mia disappeared.
Diane:
VICTOR KNOWS YOU HAVE THE BOOK.
Mia:
HOW?
No response.
That meant Victor knew about the blue notebook before Mia vanished.
He had motive to recover it.
But he didn’t have it.
Harper had led us to it.
Then Luca found another transaction.
Victor paid Diane $60,000 the morning after Mia disappeared.
Memo:
CONSULTING TERMINATION.
Roman looked at me.
“Consulting?”
“No.”
I stared at the transfer.
May you like
“That looks like silence.”
📖 Victor paid the one woman who warned Mia to stop digging, but Diane’s explanation would expose why Claire had been helping conceal her uncle’s movements. 👇
