I sat, pulling Ruby into the chair beside me.

She looked tiny in the oversized leather seat.

Her scuffed sneakers dangled inches above the plush carpet.

Nathaniel tapped the thick folder on his desk.

“I want to show you something, Claire,” he said.

He slid a stack of bank statements across the dark wood.

“This is the maintenance account for Brindlewood Apartments,” Nathaniel said.

“It is funded directly from the Graves family trust.”

I looked down at the numbers on the page.

The figures were staggering.

“Every month for the last twelve years, a transfer was made,” Nathaniel explained.

“Fifty thousand dollars.”

“Sometimes sixty thousand, depending on the season.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“That’s… that’s over half a million dollars a year,” I whispered.

“Yes,” Nathaniel said.

“And where did that money go, Arthur?”

Arthur did not answer.

He remained standing, his eyes fixed on the glass window behind Nathaniel.

“According to the invoices Arthur submitted, the money went to contractors,” Nathaniel continued.

“Plumbers, electricians, roofers.”

“He even billed us seventy thousand dollars for a new heating system three years ago.”