Chapter 12 - Claudia’s Real Fear Was the Accounting Review
Once Isabella’s notebook was authenticated, investigators expanded the review beyond the buried containers.
The financial records showed years of questionable billing.
Not every invoice was fraudulent.
Marco’s company had performed substantial legitimate work.
That distinction mattered too.
But several categories showed consistent irregularities.
Premium products billed but not delivered.
Duplicate treatment charges.
Replacement plantings billed shortly after unauthorized vegetation damage.
Labor hours that exceeded verified staffing records.
Claudia had prepared many of the invoices.
Marco had approved the field work.
Together, the suspected overbilling reached well into six figures.
Enough to matter.
Not enough to transform anyone into a cartoon criminal mastermind.
Their scheme depended on something much simpler:
a wealthy household that rarely questioned landscaping invoices.
Then Isabella started questioning.
That was why Claudia hated the memorial garden.
Every surviving bed represented a timeline.
Every soil layer could be tested.
Every old plant label could be compared to invoices.
And Isabella’s notebook connected them.
The garden was not sentimental evidence.
May you like
It was physical evidence.
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