“What do you mean?” Evan asked, his voice shaking.

“He wouldn’t do that,” Vivian said, though her confidence was visibly slipping.

“He is our family friend.”

“He is a business owner who wants to keep his liquor license and avoid grand larceny charges,” Lydia countered.

She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a thick manila folder.

“He was served with a grand jury subpoena three days ago.”

“And he was remarkably cooperative once he realized the paper trail led directly to his shop.”

Lydia opened the folder, revealing several pages of printed spreadsheets and scanned documents.

I watched Evan’s face drain of all color as he recognized the logo at the top of the pages.

It was the blue letterhead of Brantley Fine Wines & Spirits.

“Mr. Brantley did not advise you that these transactions were legal,” Lydia said.

“In fact, his internal records show something entirely different.”

She turned a page, her finger tracing a highlighted line of text.

“He kept a private ledger of every bottle removed from the Hayes cellar over the last six months.”

“And he kept copies of the authorization forms.”