Chapter 8: The Woman Who Knew Too Much
Martin Voss agreed to an interview three days later.
He arrived at the law firm's offices wearing a charcoal suit and carrying no briefcase. His hair had gone almost completely gray, and he walked with the cautious stiffness of a man who expected every conversation to become evidence against him.
His attorney accompanied him.
So did Marian, Evelyn's father's counsel, and an independent investigator assigned to review the financial records.
Evelyn sat at the far end of the conference table.
She had not wanted to attend.
The thought of listening to another stranger explain why people had treated her life as an opportunity made her feel physically exhausted.
But when Marian told her that Voss had agreed to answer questions about the original transactions, Evelyn decided she needed to hear the answers herself.
The interview began with routine questions about his employment history.
Voss had served as chief financial officer of Prescott Development Group for eleven years. He had overseen acquisitions, debt arrangements, and the company's relationships with outside investment advisers.
He had left the organization two years earlier.
When asked about Northbridge Advisory Group, he folded his hands.
“Northbridge was introduced to us as a specialist firm capable of structuring private investments.””
“Who introduced the firm?”” the investigator asked.
Voss glanced at his attorney.
“An adviser who worked with several wealthy families.””
“Can you identify that adviser?””
“Yes.””
He provided a name.
Marian wrote it down.
“Did you authorize the eighteen-million-dollar transfer to Bellweather Holdings?””
“No.””
“Did you authorize the twenty-four-million-dollar transfer associated with the Westbridge project?””
“No.””
“Who did?””
Voss's jaw tightened.
“Those transactions were processed through a special authorization channel. I questioned them.””
“Who controlled that channel?””
Voss looked down at the table.
“Randolph Prescott approved exceptions to the normal procedure. Sometimes he did so verbally.””
“Did he approve these transactions?””
“I cannot say that he approved both of them. I know he was aware of the first.””
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
“What did he know?””
Voss turned toward her.
“I told him that the supporting documentation was incomplete and that the receiving entities had not provided adequate evidence of their business purposes.””
“What did he say?””
“He instructed me to keep the matter internal until we could determine whether the transactions were legitimate.””
“Did he tell you to conceal them?””
Voss hesitated.
“Not in those words.””
The investigator made a note.
“Did you?””
“I continued reviewing them.””
“Did you report your concerns to the company's independent directors?””
“No.””
“Why not?””
Voss's shoulders slumped.
“Because I believed Randolph would resolve the issue. He controlled the board. I thought escalating the matter without complete evidence would end my career and possibly damage the company.””
Evelyn watched him.
“You had a responsibility to investigate.””
“Yes.””
“You knew the transactions were questionable.””
“Yes.””
“And you stayed quiet.””
Voss closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.””
The admission did not satisfy her.
She had heard too many explanations from men who believed their fear justified their silence.
But she could see that Voss was not trying to make himself look heroic. He appeared ashamed.
It was not forgiveness.
It was simply a fact she could acknowledge.
Marian moved to the next document.
“We have a memorandum dated six weeks before Evelyn met Prescott. It references a possible relationship involving the beneficiary of a private family trust. Did you write it?””
“No.””
“Do you know who did?””
“Yes.””
He identified the adviser who had introduced Northbridge.
“Why was the relationship discussed in a business memorandum?””
Voss took a long breath.
“The adviser believed a personal connection to Evelyn's family could make a future investment proposal more attractive.””
Evelyn's hands curled beneath the table.
“Did anyone instruct Prescott to date me?””
Voss looked at her for a long moment.
“I never heard anyone use those words.””
“Did anyone encourage him to marry me because of the trust?””
“I heard discussions about the advantages of a close family relationship. I cannot tell you what Prescott believed or whether his feelings for you were genuine.””
“Did he know about the eighteen million dollars before we met?””
Voss hesitated.
“I believe he knew there was a potential investment opportunity involving your family.””
“That's not the same as answering the question.””
“No,” he said quietly.
“It isn't.””
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Did he know that my name had appeared in the memorandum?””
Voss looked at his attorney.
After a brief exchange, he answered.
“Yes. He saw the memorandum before your engagement.””
The words left Evelyn feeling strangely empty.
She had expected fury.
Instead, she remembered Prescott on their third date, asking about her work and telling her how refreshing it was to meet someone who cared about financial integrity.
Had he meant it?
Had he been curious about her mind, or had he been evaluating what her mind might reveal?
There was no way to separate the memories cleanly.
“What about the prenuptial agreement?”” Marian asked.
Voss shifted in his chair.
“The agreement was prepared by independent counsel, but the asset schedules were based on information supplied by the Prescott family's advisers.””
“Were the Northbridge transactions disclosed?””
“No.””
“Why not?””
“I don't know whether they were deliberately excluded or whether the people preparing the schedules believed the transactions belonged to unrelated entities.””
“Did you raise the omission?””
“No.””
The investigator paused the questioning while counsel reviewed the next set of records.
During the break, Evelyn went to the hallway.
She stood beside a window overlooking the street and tried to steady her breathing.
Her father's attorney approached but remained a respectful distance away.
“Do you want to continue?”” he asked.
“Yes.””
“You don't have to.””
“I know.””
She looked at the traffic below.
“I just need to understand whether my marriage was a lie.””
He considered his answer carefully.
“Mr. Voss can testify to what he heard and saw. He cannot tell you what Prescott felt.””
“That seems convenient.””
“It may be frustrating, but it's an important distinction. Evidence can establish conduct. It cannot always resolve the meaning of every private moment.””
Evelyn nodded reluctantly.
When she returned to the conference room, Voss was examining a document on his attorney's tablet.
He looked up.
“There is something I should add.””
The investigator resumed the interview.
Voss explained that the Northbridge arrangement had involved an outside adviser who claimed to understand the administrative structure of Evelyn's mother's trust. The adviser had represented that a future investment could be arranged through a series of entities, provided the family relationship developed favorably.
Voss had questioned the proposal.
He had also failed to report it to the independent directors.
“Did you receive money personally?”” the investigator asked.
“No.””
“Were you promised compensation?””
“No.””
“Did you knowingly help divert funds?””
Voss's attorney objected to the wording, and the investigator rephrased the question.
Voss denied knowingly participating in a fraudulent scheme.
His denial would need to be tested against the records.
Then he provided the detail that changed the direction of the inquiry.
“The adviser was not acting alone,” he said.
“There was another person who supplied information about the trust.””
“Who?””
Voss swallowed.
“Someone who had worked with Evelyn's mother.””
Evelyn felt the room narrow around her.
“Her estate administrator?””
Voss nodded.
“He arranged a meeting between the adviser and a representative of Northbridge. He provided documents describing the trust's structure and the procedures required for certain investment decisions.””
“Was he authorized to provide those documents?””
“I don't know.””
“Did he receive money?””
“I saw a payment reference that appeared to involve a company associated with him. I never verified the ultimate beneficiary.””
Marian exchanged a glance with the investigator.
“What was the company's name?””
Voss provided it.
The investigator compared the name with the records already collected.
It matched an entity that had received a payment shortly after the first eighteen-million-dollar transfer.
Evelyn gripped the edge of the table.
The connection was stronger now, but it was not yet a complete explanation. The company might have provided legitimate services. The payment might have had an innocent purpose. The former estate administrator might have acted properly or improperly.
They needed the underlying records.
“Can you help us locate him?”” Marian asked.
Voss agreed to provide his former contact information and any correspondence he still lawfully possessed.
The interview ended shortly afterward.
As Voss gathered his coat, Evelyn approached him.
“Did you ever think about telling me?””
He looked at her with exhausted eyes.
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you?””
“Because I was afraid of losing everything I had spent my life building.””
She let out a humorless breath.
“So was everyone else.””
Voss lowered his head.
“I know.””
Evelyn walked out without offering forgiveness.
Outside the conference room, Marian received confirmation that the former estate administrator had been located.
His name was Arthur Bell.
He had retired to a coastal town in South Carolina and had not responded to previous informal attempts to contact him.
But there was something else.
Arthur Bell had recently retained a lawyer.
And according to the lawyer's initial communication, Bell was willing to meet Evelyn's representatives if he received written assurances that the meeting would be voluntary and properly documented.
Evelyn stared at the message.
“Why now?””
Marian closed her tablet.
“Perhaps he has information he wants to provide. Perhaps he's concerned about his own exposure. We won't know until we speak with him.””
Evelyn thought of her mother, of the trust established to protect her, and of the man who had helped administer it.
If Arthur Bell had supplied information to people who later used it to construct a financial scheme, she needed to understand why.
If he had done nothing wrong, she needed to know that too.
She looked at Marian.
“Arrange the meeting.””
Marian nodded.
Evelyn took a final glance at the closed conference-room door.
The financial investigation had begun with suspicious transfers and a humiliating night at a charity gala.
Now it had reached into the years before her marriage, into the administration of her mother's estate, and into the decisions made by people she had trusted long before she met Prescott.
She had wanted the truth.
But she was beginning to understand that the truth might not arrive as one dramatic confession.
It might come in pieces.
A payment here. A memorandum there. A witness who had waited too long to speak.
And somewhere in those pieces lay the answer to the question that had haunted her since the gala.
Had Prescott married her for love, for money, or for an opportunity he had been taught to recognize?
She would not accept a convenient answer.
Not from Randolph.
May you like
Not from Voss.
And certainly not from Prescott.
