Chapter 4
Adrian responded through attorneys.
He claimed Rocco had become irrational after seeing his daughter injured.
He denied entering the study without permission.
He denied misusing Rocco’s phone.
And he accused Julia of trying to protect herself from sloppy museum controls.
That last accusation frightened the museum board.
Julia called Rocco from her office.
“Three trustees want an emergency meeting.”
“Give them one.”
“They may suspend me.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian signed the transfer paperwork.”
Rocco understood.
If the records were fraudulent, either Adrian had abused his authority or Julia had failed to supervise the museum.
Possibly both.
Julia had thirty-two employees depending on her.
A scandal could damage fundraising for years.
“This isn’t only your family anymore,” she said.
Rocco looked at the stack of frozen vendor invoices on his desk.
“I know.”
He hired an independent forensic accounting firm.
Not Moretti accountants.
Not Adrian’s people.
Outsiders.
The decision offended half his senior staff.
Good.
The first results appeared within days.
After-midnight approvals had been issued from Rocco’s personal phone on seven dates.
Every one occurred while he was home asleep.
The transactions authorized temporary transfers of museum property to educational partners.
Rocco recognized none of them.
Rachel asked, “Could you have approved them and forgotten?”
“No.”
She looked at him carefully.
“Think before answering.”
Rocco thought.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
The investigators compared the times with the estate’s access records.
On six of seven nights, Celeste entered Rocco’s study minutes before an approval.
Adrian entered the property shortly afterward.
The seventh night bothered Rachel.
“No Adrian.”
Rocco checked the date.
He had been at a charity dinner in Providence.
Celeste attended with him.
“Then who approved that transfer?”
The investigators traced the device location.
Rocco’s phone had been inside his house.
He had carried a second phone to Providence without noticing the difference.
Someone had switched them.
Samuel reviewed household footage.
At 6:17 p.m., Adrian entered through the side entrance.
At 6:28, he left.
That approval happened at 12:04 a.m.
Meaning Adrian had not needed to remain in the house.
He only needed the device.
“What was transferred?” Rocco asked.
The accountant opened the file.
A nineteenth-century electrical demonstration instrument from the museum’s historical collection.
Worth roughly $240,000.
Julia went quiet.
“That object is still downstairs.”
Everyone looked at her.
“You’re sure?”
“I saw it yesterday.”
Rocco stared at the transfer document.
If the valuable exhibit never left the museum, then Adrian had not been using fraudulent paperwork to steal it.
He was creating records showing that Rocco had personally authorized movements that never happened.
The question changed immediately.
May you like
Not what Adrian was taking.
Why he wanted false evidence bearing Rocco’s approval.
