Chapter 5 - THE PAPER TRAIL
Isabelle Corbo’s face went entirely red as Sergeant Miller clicked the heavy cuffs onto her wrists.
"You can't do this to me!" Isabelle shrieked, kicking her heels against the linoleum floor as Miller led her to a chair. "Do you have any idea who Victor Dubois is?! He sits on the mayor’s oversight committee! He’ll have your badge by morning, Miller! And yours too, Vance!"
"Victor Dubois can try," I replied, pulling up a chair across from her desk. "Now, where is the physical ledger Mia mentioned?"
Isabelle spat on the floor, remaining dead silent.
I turned to Caleb Stone, who was standing awkwardly by the doorway, looking desperate to avoid going to jail himself. "Officer Stone. Check the lower drawer of that executive desk. Second key on that ring near the phone."
Caleb moved instantly, eager to comply. He unlocked the thick mahogany drawer, reaching past corporate binders until his hands found a heavy black leather ledger. He pulled it out and handed it to me with both hands, as if offering a truce.
"Here, Chief Vance," Caleb said quickly.
I opened the ledger. Page after page was filled with meticulous, handwritten notes. Dates, inventory codes, market values, and wire transfer reference numbers made out to a shell corporation called Vanguard Logistics LLC.
"Look at this, Sarge," I said, showing the pages to Miller. "Selena Dubois hasn't just been shoplifting. This has been going on for three years. Over two million dollars in luxury goods written off as 'internal shrink,' then settled via off-market bank transfers."
Miller shook his head in disgust. "This isn't retail theft. This is a multi-million-dollar money laundering scheme."
At that exact moment, the private elevator doors opened again. Three men in sharp black suits stepped out, led by a tall, sleek man in his late fifties with silver hair and a golden signet ring on his right hand.
It was Victor Dubois himself.
Beside him stood his daughter, Selena, still wearing her beige winter coat, holding a designer handbag in one hand and looking utterly unbothered. Behind them was a high-powered corporate attorney carrying a leather briefcase.
"What is the meaning of this commotion?" Victor Dubois demanded, his voice echoing authoritatively through the office. "Why is my store manager in handcuffs?"
Selena looked at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Dad, that's her. That's the woman who caused a scene on the floor."
I stood up slowly from the desk, clutching the black ledger in my hand.
"Mr. Dubois," I said smoothly. "You arrived remarkably fast. Almost as if Ms. Corbo called you the moment she realized her cover-up was falling apart."
Victor Dubois looked down his nose at me, his eyes cold and predatory. "And who are you supposed to be? Some low-level investigator?"
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Sergeant Miller stepped forward, his chest out. "This is Chief Elena Vance of the Brook Haven Police Department, Mr. Dubois. And you just walked into a active crime scene."
Victor didn't even flinch. He let out a soft, condescending laugh, adjusting his silk tie. "A Brook Haven chief? You're out of your jurisdiction, Chief Vance. This is Metro territory. And in this city, I suggest you watch your step before you find your pension revoked."
