She stopped, her chest heaving as she drew in a sharp breath.

“And you took them,” Investigator Vance said, writing in his notebook.

“I took them,” Miranda said, her shoulders suddenly dropping.

The admission seemed to drain the strength from her spine.

“I put them in the vault downstairs first, then I moved them here.”

“I needed them where I could see them, where I could ensure no one would ever find them.”

“And Nathaniel Vale helped you,” I said.

Miranda gave a bitter laugh.

“Nathaniel was greedy,” she said. “He wanted his partnership secured.”

“It took very little to buy his silence.”

“A few wire transfers to an account in the Caymans, and he drafted the amended version.”

“The version that left everything to me, and then to Julian.”

Julian walked over to the desk, his movements slow and mechanical.

He picked up the small brass key.

Miranda reached out a hand to stop him, but she paused, letting her arm fall back to her side.

“Do not do this, Julian,” she whispered.

“We have to do this,” Julian said.