Chapter 5 - Interrogation Under Chandeliers
The grand banquet hall no longer felt like a celebration; it had been transformed into a sterile, high-stakes interrogation room under the blazing brilliance of the crystal chandeliers. The tables with their half-eaten wedding cake and untouched champagne flutes had been pushed back against the wood-paneled walls to make room for a team of federal forensic accountants setting up portable laptops and secure communication gear. The group of men in matching dark suits had been separated and moved to the corners of the room, each guarded discreetly by a federal agent. Elena sat back down at the central table, the white dress feeling heavier and more suffocating by the minute. Across from her stood Agent Miller, leaning casually against the back of an empty chair, his eyes fixed on her with unsettling intensity.
"Let’s go over this one more time, Mrs. Vance," Agent Miller said, his tone deceptively polite. "You’re telling us that you had no idea your husband was funneling client trust money through a shell company registered under your maiden name?"
"I already told you," Elena replied, her voice steady despite the adrenaline hammering against her ribs. "I didn't know. Thomas handled all the financial paperwork for the household. He told me that LLC was established for a real estate investment project we were planning to undertake in Vermont after the wedding."
Miller pulled a printed document from a folder and slid it across the table. It was a bank signature card bearing a date from three months ago.
"Real estate investments don't usually require three hundred thousand dollars to be wired directly to an account in Zurich under the classification of 'consulting fees,'" Miller noted quietly. "Furthermore, the IP address used to authorize that transfer on your home computer matches the MAC address of a laptop registered to Julian Vance."
Elena’s head snapped up, her eyes widening in shock as she looked across the room toward Julian, who was standing near the double doors conversing in hushed tones with his attorney.
"Julian’s laptop?" Elena breathed, the pieces of a much darker puzzle suddenly clicking into place. "Are you saying Julian accessed my computer?"
Miller watched her reaction closely, noting the genuine surprise flickering across her face.
"We are saying that the digital footprint points in multiple directions," Miller said carefully. "Your husband is dead, which closes a lot of doors for our investigation, but it opens up several others. Someone at the firm knew about these transfers months before the audit triggered. Someone who stood to inherit the entire client portfolio if Thomas was suddenly removed from the picture."
Before Miller could continue, Julian broke away from his attorney and strode across the polished floor toward their table, his face a mask of controlled fury.
"Agent Miller, if you have any further questions for Mrs. Vance, you can direct them through my legal counsel," Julian said firmly, stepping between the agent and Elena. "We have cooperated fully, provided all requested documents, and endured a horrific tragedy this evening. This harassment has gone far enough."
Miller stood up slowly, folding his arms across his chest as he looked Julian dead in the eye.
"It's only harassment if you're innocent, Mr. Vance," Miller replied coolly. "And right now, the financial trail shows that the last person to log into Thomas’s master terminal before he fell was using your administrative credentials."
Julian didn't flinch, but a bead of sweat rolled slowly down his temple, catching the chandelier light as it traced a path across his cheek.
"My credentials were used frequently by all senior partners for system maintenance," Julian said smoothly, though his voice lacked its previous absolute confidence. "That proves nothing."
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Elena stared up at Julian, the illusion of his innocence shattering completely as she realized the man standing beside her in the dark gray suit was fighting not just to save the firm, but to bury her right alongside her dead husband.
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