Chapter 8 - The Man Behind the Door
I couldn't see his face clearly.
But I recognized the watch.
It belonged to the restaurant's primary investor.
Julian Mercier.
He had introduced himself to me two months earlier as a charming businessman who wanted Maison Dubois to remain “a symbol of excellence.”
Now he stood in the cellar discussing my disappearance.
I quietly photographed him.
Then the floor creaked.
The man turned.
I froze.
Beatrice moved quickly.
“It was probably the pipes.”
Julian stared toward the darkness.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then he closed the folder.
“Tomorrow morning, she receives her final payment.”
Beatrice looked confused.
“What payment?”
“The amount we agreed.”
“I never agreed to pay her.”
Julian smiled.
“You agreed to make her leave.”
Beatrice's face changed.
“I won't hurt her.”
“You don't have to.”
He walked toward the door.
“People can be persuaded without violence.”
After he left, I waited.
Then I stepped into the light.
Beatrice nearly screamed.
“You heard everything.”
“Yes.”
Her hands trembled.
“I didn't know he planned to pay you.”
“I don't want his money.”
“I know.”
She looked at the door.
“Then what do you want?”
“The truth.”
Beatrice sat down.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Daniel didn't disappear because he knew about the money.”
“Then why?”
She looked at me.
“He found the original supplier records.”
“Where?”
“Inside the old kitchen.”
I frowned.
“The restaurant renovated that room six months ago.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the records?”
“They were never removed.”
My pulse quickened.
“Where are they?”
Beatrice whispered:
“Behind the old copper oven.”
We went there together.
The oven hadn't been used in years.
Behind it was a narrow cavity in the wall.
Inside sat a metal box.
Daniel's original records were still there.
And they contained something nobody had mentioned.
Names.
Dates.
Bank transfers.
And one signature that made Beatrice cover her mouth.
I stared at it.
It wasn't Julian's.
It belonged to someone even more powerful.
The owner of the property.
And the signature was connected to a second restaurant.
May you like
One that had burned down three years earlier.
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