Then she reached the final page.
A list of names appeared.
Some were familiar.
Others were not.
Beside each name were amounts of money, company records, and references to old financial transactions.
At the bottom was a sentence:
These individuals possess information concerning the disappearance of William Whitmore's original business records.
Olivia looked at Samuel.
"Who are they?"
Samuel adjusted his glasses.
"Employees, former partners, accountants, and people who worked with Arthur Collins."
"Are any of them still alive?"
"Most of them."
"And Richard?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Richard is the most important person on that list."
Olivia frowned.
"I thought Richard was involved."
"He was. But not in the way you believe."
Samuel removed another photograph.
It showed Richard standing outside a police station.
The date was three days after Daniel's death.
"He came to me shortly after the funeral," Samuel explained. "He wanted to give me evidence against Arthur. But he was terrified. Arthur had threatened his mother, and Richard believed he would be responsible if anything happened to her."
Margaret looked at the photograph.
"Then Eleanor..."
Samuel nodded.
"Eleanor had discovered the financial crimes before anyone else. She had been collecting evidence for years. Richard knew what she was doing, but he didn't understand how far Arthur was willing to go."
Olivia remembered the old photograph inside the frame.
Daniel.
Margaret.
Eleanor.
Three people who had known something terrible was happening.
Three people who had tried to stop it.
"Did Richard kill Eleanor?" she asked.
Samuel shook his head.
"No. The investigation into her death was reopened privately after Daniel's death. We found evidence suggesting that her car had been tampered with."
Olivia felt sick.
"Then who did it?"
Samuel looked at Thomas.
Thomas immediately lowered his eyes.
"Arthur Collins arranged it," Samuel said. "But he had help."
"From whom?"
Samuel placed another document on the table.
It was a photograph of a man entering a garage.
Olivia recognized him immediately.
It was the same man she had seen in Daniel's old business photographs.
But there was something different about this picture.
The man was not alone.
Standing beside him was someone Olivia had never expected to see.
Samuel spoke quietly.
"This is the person who has been helping Arthur hide his involvement for more than twenty years."
Olivia stared at the photograph.
It was a woman.
An elegant woman in her fifties, wearing a cream-colored coat.
Her face was familiar.
Very familiar.
Margaret slowly reached for the photograph.
Then she whispered:
"No. It cannot be her."
Olivia looked at her.
"Who is she?"
Margaret's hands began trembling.
"Her name is Victoria Collins."
Samuel nodded.
"Arthur's wife."
Thomas looked confused.
"What's so surprising about that?"
Margaret slowly raised her eyes.
"Because Victoria was my closest friend."
Silence.
Olivia looked at the photograph again.
For a moment, she remembered the stories Margaret had told about a woman who used to visit their house when Daniel was young.
A woman who brought Christmas presents.
A woman who helped Margaret through difficult years.
A woman who had attended William's funeral and held her hand while she cried.
Victoria Collins.
The same woman who had comforted Margaret when her husband died.
The same woman who had later welcomed Daniel into her family.
And the same woman who had stood beside Olivia at Daniel's funeral.
"She knew?" Olivia whispered.
Margaret nodded slowly.
"I trusted her with everything."
Samuel opened another folder.
"There's more."
He removed a printed email.
It had been sent from an account registered under Victoria's name.
The message was dated the evening before Daniel's accident.
There were only two lines.
Daniel has found the documents.
Make sure he never gets the chance to use them.
Olivia stared at the screen.
Her hands became cold.
"She ordered it?"
Samuel shook his head.
"We cannot establish that from this email alone. But it is important evidence."
Thomas leaned forward.
"Where is Victoria now?"
Samuel looked toward the café entrance.
"She is still living in the Collins family estate."
Olivia stood.
"Then we're going there."
Samuel immediately shook his head.
"That would be a mistake."
"Why?"
"Because Victoria knows the documents are missing. If she discovers that you have them, she may destroy whatever evidence remains."
Olivia looked at the photograph of Daniel.
For three years, she had believed her husband's death was a tragic accident.
Now she was standing in a café on Christmas Day, surrounded by evidence of a conspiracy that had begun before she was even married.
She looked at Margaret.
The older woman was crying quietly.
Olivia reached across the table and held her hand.
"We're going to finish what Daniel started."
Margaret nodded.
But Samuel was not finished.
He opened his briefcase one final time and removed a small USB drive.
"There's something else."
Olivia looked at it.
"What is that?"
"A recording Daniel sent me shortly before he died."
"Why didn't you give it to me earlier?"
"Because I was instructed to release it only after the original documents were recovered."
Thomas stared at the USB drive.
"What's on it?"
Samuel looked at Olivia.
"Daniel's final message."
Her heart began pounding.
"Can we listen to it?"
Samuel nodded.
He opened his laptop and connected the drive.
A video file appeared.
The date was visible in the corner.
Three years earlier.
The screen flickered.
Then Daniel appeared.
He was sitting in his office, wearing the blue shirt Olivia had bought him for his birthday.
His hair was slightly untidy, and he looked exhausted.
But he was alive.
Olivia immediately covered her mouth.
"Daniel..."
The recording began.
"My name is Daniel Whitmore. If this recording is being watched, it means something has happened to me."
He paused and looked directly into the camera.
"Olivia, if you're watching this, I need you to know that I love you. I am sorry I didn't tell you everything sooner."
His eyes moved briefly toward something outside the frame.
Then he continued.
"I discovered that my father was killed because he refused to participate in a financial scheme involving Arthur Collins. I also discovered that the same people have been using our family name to hide illegal transactions for decades."