Chapter 6 - The Missing Page
Marcus’s downtown archive occupied a windowless room two floors beneath Cole Meridian’s executive offices.
Emily entered first with corporate security.
Nothing looked disturbed.
That worried her more.
The room had no shattered locks, no forced cabinets, no obvious theft.
Whoever entered had expected to belong there.
The brass key Noah found fit the outer mechanical override.
Marcus looked at Grant’s access history.
Grant had entered the archive nine times in the previous year.
Three visits appeared normal.
Six occurred after business hours.
One occurred the night before Marcus signed the trust restatement.
Another occurred four days before Jaden was pushed.
“Why didn’t anyone flag this?” Marcus asked.
His general counsel, Rachel Kim, looked furious.
“Because Grant was authorized.”
Marcus opened the trust cabinet.
The original 2019 family trust was intact.
So were the 2021 amendments.
The 2026 restatement sat in a black archival folder.
Rachel lifted it carefully.
“Wait.”
She pointed toward the signature packet.
“Page forty-seven.”
Marcus looked.
The document jumped from page forty-six to page forty-eight.
The numbering in the table of contents still listed forty-seven.
“What was on it?”
Rachel opened a certified electronic copy stored with the firm that had witnessed execution.
Page forty-seven concerned successor trustees.
The executed electronic version named Rachel Kim as first successor trustee if Marcus became incapacitated or died, followed by an independent corporate fiduciary.
The paper archive copy was missing that page.
In its place, a nearly identical sheet had been inserted deeper in the folder but numbered forty-seven-A.
That page named Vanessa.
Marcus stared.
“I never signed this.”
Rachel examined the signature.
“It’s a scanned reproduction.”
“So it’s worthless.”
“By itself, likely yes. But if someone presented a complete counterfeit packet to a bank or board during a crisis, it could create enormous confusion before being challenged.”
Emily said, “Especially if Marcus were unavailable.”
Nobody said dead.
They did not need to.
Marcus walked away from the table.
The plan suddenly looked larger.
Jaden’s death would make Noah sole descendant beneficiary.
If Marcus then became incapacitated, a fraudulent trust packet could position Vanessa to claim trustee powers.
Grant, as estate counsel, could lend credibility.
Thomas controlled physical systems at the estate.
It was not proof of a complete murder conspiracy.
But it was architecture.
Designed pathways.
Prepared doors.
Marcus thought of the crocodile enclosure.
One disabled latch.
One missing camera feed.
A place where an “accident” could happen quickly.
Rachel called law enforcement.
Detective Ortiz arrived with a financial-crimes investigator and obtained consent to preserve the relevant corporate records while additional warrants were sought.
As they reviewed Grant’s access, Emily found something else.
The archive room did not retain video beyond ninety days.
But the corridor outside did.
Four nights earlier, Grant had entered carrying a slim document case.
He left twenty-two minutes later.
Thomas Rusk followed him out.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“They know each other.”
Emily shook her head.
“They know each other well enough to be here together at eleven thirty at night.”
Grant called fifteen minutes later.
Marcus answered on speaker.
“Where are you?”
Grant sounded tired.
“At my office.”
“We found the altered trust packet.”
Silence.
Then: “What altered packet?”
“The one naming Vanessa successor trustee.”
Grant exhaled.
“Marcus, listen carefully. I did not prepare any such document.”
“You accessed my archive four days ago.”
“Yes.”
“With Thomas Rusk.”
Another silence.
“Thomas met me there because there was a humidity alarm.”
Emily mouthed, Lie.
The archive climate system showed no alarm.
Marcus said, “Police are going to want to talk to you.”
“Of course.”
“Then come here.”
“I have counsel now.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“Why?”
“Because you’ve decided I’m guilty.”
“No. I’ve decided I was stupid.”
Grant’s voice hardened.
“Those are different problems.”
The line went dead.
That evening, Jaden sat at the kitchen counter drawing.
Marcus watched him carefully.
“What are those?”
“Crocodiles.”
Marcus stiffened.
Jaden noticed.
“They’re behind glass.”
Marcus sat beside him.
“Do you want us to stop talking about what happened?”
“No.”
“You can.”
“I know.”
The boy colored another line.
“Can we get rid of them?”
“The crocodiles?”
“Yes.”
Marcus thought about the animals.
They had done nothing wrong.
They were predators placed inside a billionaire’s garden because Marcus once thought exotic animals made the estate memorable.
The danger had been created by humans.
“Yes,” he said. “We’ll move them to a proper sanctuary.”
Jaden nodded.
Then he pointed to the drawing.
One figure stood near the fence.
A woman with yellow hair.
Beside her was another shape.
A man.
Marcus leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Jaden shrugged.
“Mr. Mercer.”
“When was he at the enclosure?”
“The day before.”
Marcus felt the air leave his lungs.
“You saw Grant there?”
“He was talking to Thomas.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jaden looked confused.
“You didn’t ask.”
Marcus turned toward Emily.
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Emily was already calling Detective Ortiz.
One day before the attack, Vanessa’s estate lawyer and the man suspected of disabling the habitat safety system had been standing together beside the exact place where Jaden would later fall.
