Chapter 26 - A Name in the Ledger We returned home.
Susan helped us examine the Northstar documents.
The money trail was enormous.
But one account stood out.
A trust created in 1998.
Its beneficiary:
Claire Carter.
Noah stared at the document.
"Why would Mom have a secret trust?"
"I don't know."
Then we found another page.
The trust contained no money.
It contained ownership rights.
Rights to a company that technically no longer existed.
A company called Northstar Holdings.
And whoever controlled Northstar Holdings had access to a network of properties and accounts worth hundreds of millions.
My father had hidden it.
Claire had discovered it.
Vanessa and Elliot had tried to steal it.
But there was one final line.
Beneficiary control transfers at age thirteen.
Noah looked at me.
"I'm thirteen."
I nodded.
Suddenly, Claire's entire plan made sense.
The thirteen months.
The thirteenth birthday.
The archive.
The token.
She hadn't simply prepared evidence.
She had prepared Noah.
Because she knew the truth would eventually become his inheritance.
Then the phone rang.
Unknown number.
A woman's voice answered.
"Daniel?"
I froze.
It was a voice I had heard only once.
On an old recording.
Claire's voice.
But older.
Softer.
"Who is this?"
The woman whispered:
May you like
"Someone your sister wanted you to find."
Then she hung up.
