Chapter 7 - Julian Dane’s dead-man file
Clarissa’s late husband Julian had died eighteen months after Seraphina.
Pancreatic cancer.
Long illness.
Plenty of time to organize his affairs.
Two days after the gala, a law firm in Manhattan contacted my attorney.
They represented Julian’s estate.
They possessed a sealed archive Julian had deposited under instructions that it be released if:
Dane Secure Logistics was sold.
Clarissa was charged with a serious offense.
Or specified foundation transactions became subject to government investigation.
The gala triggered two conditions.
Clarissa knew the archive existed.
She did not know everything inside it.
That explained something.
Her threat had not necessarily been confidence.
It may have been panic.
The archive contained:
Emails.
Insurance correspondence.
Shipping ledgers.
Private memoranda.
Voice recordings.
And one document labeled:
SERAPHINA — IF ANYTHING HAPPENS
May you like
I could not read it alone.
My lawyer sat beside me.
