Chapter 12 - THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GALA
Someone entered the archive despite the court order.
Security showed a masked person using an executive key.
The intruder poured solvent across the steel cabinets.
A sprinkler alarm interrupted the attempt.
Most documents survived.
The audio reel was missing.
The company blamed an outside activist.
Detective records showed the executive key belonged to Martin Reed.
Samuel Reed’s grandson.
Martin served as chief financial officer.
Police searched his vehicle.
They found gloves carrying traces of the archive solvent.
He was arrested for evidence tampering.
The missing audio reel remained gone.
Martin refused to say where it was.
Then Ava remembered the museum conservator had created a digital transfer.
Three authenticated copies existed.
Destroying the original no longer erased the voices.
Martin had repeated his grandfather’s mistake.
He believed evidence belonged to whoever controlled the room.
The arrest occurred the night before the anniversary gala.
Mercer & Reed refused to cancel.
The board chair said the event would demonstrate stability.
Mom received no invitation.
Ava received no invitation.
I received no invitation.
Rebecca obtained shareholder access through Celeste.
Forty-seven former sewing workers arrived with legal guest passes.
Some used walkers.
Some carried oxygen.
All wore pale blue thread pinned near their hearts.
Mom wore a gown she had designed herself.
Midnight blue.
Simple neckline.
Hand-finished seams.
Inside the hem, she had sewn a new label.
Made by Eleanor Morrow.
Not an initial.
May you like
Not hidden.
Her full name.
