Chapter 4 - Edwin Mercer had kept the second key
Walter called Edwin’s daughter, Caroline.
He had not spoken with her since the funeral.
She remembered the key immediately.
“Dad kept it in that ridiculous little plastic holder.”
Walter sat forward.
“Do you still have it?”
Silence.
“I might.”
Caroline lived in Charleston now.
After Edwin died, she packed his Palm Beach apartment herself. Brandon visited during the process and offered to take old club materials off her hands.
“He said most of it was obsolete,” Caroline told Walter.
“What did you give him?”
“Board binders. Old guest books. Some club keys.”
Walter’s hope fell.
Then Caroline continued.
“But Dad’s gold key wasn’t with those.”
“Where was it?”
“In his desk safe.”
Walter closed his eyes.
Caroline had kept it because Edwin once told her:
“If this club ever starts pretending computers have better memories than paper, keep this.”
At the time she thought he was being sentimental.
After Walter called, she searched the storage box.
The key was still there.
Caroline sent a photograph.
Walter recognized it instantly.
Antique brass-gold finish.
Stamped with a tiny number 2.
The matching key Walter once owned had been stamped 1.
Then Caroline said something that made the situation darker.
“Brandon knew Dad had one.”
“How?”
“He asked me about it.”
“When?”
“After the funeral.”
Walter went quiet.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He asked whether I’d found an old gold club key. I said I hadn’t.”
“What did he tell you to do if you did?”
Caroline hesitated.
“He said throw it away. The lock had supposedly been removed.”
Walter felt cold.
The lock had not been removed.
The archive still existed.
And Brandon had specifically tried to make sure Edwin’s key disappeared.
That did not prove financial fraud.
But it proved Brandon understood that access to the old room mattered.
Walter asked Caroline to send him the key through insured courier.
She refused.
“I’m bringing it myself.”
Three days later, she drove to Florida.
They met with Helen and an attorney.
The lawyer’s first instruction was simple.
Nobody goes into that archive alone.
They notified two independent board members and requested supervised access.
The board members agreed.
Brandon did not.
He claimed the archive was unsafe because of mold and structural issues.
Then claimed it contained private member information.
Then said the old records had no relevance anyway.
Every objection made Helen more suspicious.
The board scheduled a formal access meeting.
Brandon canceled it twice.
Finally Walter understood.
If he walked into the club through ordinary channels, Brandon would delay forever.
So Walter made a different choice.
He would go himself.
With the key.
In daylight.
In front of witnesses.
He carried every supporting document inside the faded canvas bag.
And when he stepped through the revolving doors, Brandon did exactly what Walter feared.
He did not ask why his estranged father had returned.
May you like
He tried to throw him out before anyone could see what he was carrying.
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