“The company would have been divided, sold off in pieces to satisfy his ridiculous moral debts.”

“I had to keep the paperwork safe,” she said.

She stopped herself, her eyes widening as if she had said too much.

Investigator Vance took a small notebook from his pocket and flipped it open.

“Where is the original signed document, Mrs. Sterling?” Vance asked.

“The one with the dry seal from the state registry.”

Miranda did not answer.

She looked toward the locked drawer at the bottom of her desk.

My eyes followed her gaze.

The small brass key she had taken from her pocket earlier was still lying near the telephone.

The phone suddenly lit up again, the screen casting a bright blue glow across her face.

The name on the screen was different this time.

It was the personal line of the Sterling family’s chief financial officer.

No one moved to answer it.

We all stood in the dim light of the library, waiting for her to speak.

The phone on the mahogany desk vibrated, its brass feet buzzing against the polished wood.