Chapter 12 - Thomas Grey’s Account Was Still Active After His Death

The ledger showed S-12 buying information eleven times after Thomas Grey died.

Mara verified the dates.

No mistake.

The account was active.

“That does not mean Thomas is alive,” Julian said over the phone. “It means someone has his credentials.”

Charles agreed.

“Exactly.”

“Who?”

“That is what I’ve been trying to learn.”

Alexander hated having to rely on him.

“Why?”

Charles looked toward the window.

“Because whoever controls Thomas’s old account has been hunting everyone who survived William’s network.”

“Evelyn.”

“Lydia.”

“Nathan?”

“Sometimes.”

“And you?”

Charles gave a small smile.

“Constantly.”

Mara asked why Charles had remained hidden instead of contacting police.

“Because some of the names in the original ledger wore badges.”

“That was decades ago.”

“Power survives people.”

Mara did not argue.

Police searched Ravenscourt.

They found no evidence Evelyn had been held there.

They did find a recent letter.

No envelope.

No signature.

Charles claimed it had been pushed through his door four days earlier.

STOP BUYING E.W.

NEXT PURCHASE WILL BE TREATED AS INTERFERENCE.

Below it was the code S-12.

Alexander asked, “Did you stop?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Charles almost smiled.

The last sale occurred three days earlier.

Location purchased: Cardiff Central Station.

Mara checked transportation records.

A woman matching Evelyn’s current photograph appeared on station cameras the same day.

She boarded a train.

Destination: London.

Alone.

Relief flooded Alexander.

She was not Charles’s prisoner.

Then came the next question.

Why London?

Lydia, who had joined them by secure video call, provided a possibility.

“Thomas maintained a private deposit box there.”

Julian searched legal archives.

Thomas Grey had rented a bank safe-deposit box in London until his death.

Afterward, the lease transferred to his law firm.

The firm dissolved.

The box should have been surrendered.

It was not.

Someone continued paying.

Julian produced old billing records from Thomas’s dissolved practice. Several annual fees had been charged to obscure client accounts before being consolidated into a single trust. Whoever maintained the box had known enough about Thomas’s legal structures to keep it alive without drawing attention.

Alexander asked whether Julian himself could have done it.

Julian answered without defensiveness. “Yes. That is exactly why you should verify every document I give you now.”

The admission did not restore trust, but it mattered.

Mara obtained the bank name through a subpoena request.

Evelyn had entered the branch two days earlier using identification for Eve Warren.

She remained inside nineteen minutes.

Then left with a thin metal case.

Alexander watched the security clip.

She wore a dark coat and carried no luggage.

She looked over her shoulder twice.

Someone else entered the bank six minutes after she left.

Male.

Baseball cap.

Face partly hidden.

Mara froze the image.

Nathan recognized him.

“Reed.”

Samuel Reed was following her.

Police alerted London units.

By evening, Evelyn’s image appeared on another camera near King’s Cross.

Then nothing.

Alexander returned to Whitmore House because investigators insisted he could do little in London.

He felt useless.

Ethan asked if Mommy was coming home.

Alexander sat beside him on the bed.

“I don’t know yet.”

“She’s alive?”

“Yes.”

That word made Ethan smile.

It nearly broke Alexander.

“Did she leave because I was bad?”

“No.”

“Grandmother said Mommy wanted to go.”

Alexander felt anger rise, but Ethan needed truth, not vengeance.

“Mommy left because she thought staying would put you in danger.”

“Did she want me?”

Alexander pulled him close.

“Every day.”

After Ethan slept, Elena joined Alexander in the library.

The rings had been catalogued.

The ruined antique book lay on the table.

Elena examined its broken spine.

“There’s something else inside.”

Alexander looked up.

She carefully peeled back the leather.

A second cavity appeared.

Inside was a tiny memory card.

They inserted it into a laptop disconnected from the network.

One video file.

Thomas Grey appeared on screen.

The date was two weeks before his death.

“If you found the rings, then either Evelyn succeeded or everything failed.”

Thomas coughed.

“I betrayed Lydia. I gave William her location. Reed saved her, but my cowardice nearly killed her.”

Alexander watched in silence.

“I later helped Evelyn because I owed Lydia a debt I could never repay.”

Thomas leaned closer.

“But Margaret was not Evelyn’s greatest threat. Neither was Reed.”

Alexander stiffened.

“Someone inside my firm accessed every protected file I kept. Someone used my credentials to buy locations from Reed. I discovered this too late.”

Thomas lifted a photograph.

A young man in a suit.

Alexander recognized him immediately.

Julian Mercer.

His closest friend.

Thomas continued.

“Julian worked for me as a trainee for three years. I trusted him. That was my mistake.”

The video ended.

Elena whispered, “Alexander…”

His phone rang.

Julian.

Alexander stared at the name.

Then answered.

“Where are you?”

Julian sounded breathless.

“At your front gate.”

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“Why?”

“I found Evelyn.”