Chapter 9 - The Final Audit
The storm broke two days later.
Victoria summoned Edward, Valerie, and Nancy to the main library at 4:00 PM.
The large walnut conference table was covered with stacks of printed receipts, bank statements, and spreadsheet printouts spanning the past six months. Victoria sat at the head of the table like a prosecutor preparing to deliver a final verdict.
Edward sat at the side, his expression unreadable, his hands folded calmly over his knee.
"Edward," Victoria began dramatically, slapping a thick paper stack with her palm. "I have spent forty-eight hours analyzing your household expenditures. And I have discovered a massive, unacceptable discrepancy."
Valerie frowned, leaning forward. "A discrepancy? I review those statements every Friday, Victoria. There are no discrepancies."
"That's because you weren't looking at the micro-transactions!" Victoria declared triumphantly. She pulled a yellow highlighter from her bag and pushed a paper toward Edward.
"Look here," Victoria pointed. "On July 14th, a transaction for sixty-two dollars and thirty cents at a hardware store in Paradise Valley. No receipt attached in the digital folder. On August 2nd, a cash adjustment of eighteen dollars at a local farm stand. On September 10th, an unitemized charge of one hundred and ten dollars for 'masonry supplies'."
Victoria leaned back, a triumphant, cruel smile spreading across her face.
"She has been padding small, untraceable cash and hardware purchases," Victoria accused, pointing a accusing finger at Nancy, who stood quietly near the door. "Small amounts that don't trigger corporate fraud alerts! Over six months, these unaccounted charges add up to over twelve hundred dollars! She is stealing from you, Edward!"
The room fell dead silent.
Valerie looked at the paper, her brow furrowing in deep concern.
Edward slowly reached out, picked up the spreadsheet, and examined the highlighted lines.
He didn't look angry. He looked at Nancy.
"Nancy?" Edward asked softly. "What are these charges?"
Nancy walked forward calmly. She did not bring a computer or a polished corporate report.
She placed her worn, leather-bound spiral notebook on the table directly in front of Edward.
"Page forty-two, page fifty-eight, and page seventy-one, Mr. Townsend," Nancy said quietly.
Edward opened the notebook.
On page forty-two, dated July 14th, in Nancy's neat, precise handwriting:
July 14: Paradise Valley Hardware. $62.30. Purchased anti-rust coating and brass screws for outdoor gate hinges. (Original receipt attached on back flap).
Edward turned the page. Taped neatly to the back flap was the physical, original paper receipt, stamped and itemized to the penny.
On page fifty-eight:
August 2: Roadside Organic Farm Stand. $18.00 cash. Farm stand does not accept credit cards. Paid using personal cash, reimbursed via estate card cash draw on Aug 3. Purchased fresh peaches for Mr. Townsend’s breakfast. Receipt signed by farm owner attached.
And on page seventy-one:
September 10: Desert Masonry Supply. $110.00. Purchased lime mortar to repair crumbling mortar on the north terrace wall before winter rains. Saved $850 labor fee by completing repair personally.
Edward looked up at his sister. His eyes were cold, sharp, and cut like broken ice.
"Every single penny, Victoria," Edward said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low register. "Is accounted for. With physical receipts, labor notes, and cost-benefit analysis."
Victoria’s face went completely pale. "Edward... she... she could have fabricated those notes!"
"She saved me eight hundred and fifty dollars on a masonry repair by doing it herself!" Edward shouted, slamming his hand down on the table with a sound that reverberated through the library.
Victoria jumped back in her chair.
"You came into my house," Edward continued, standing up and towering over his sister, "hoping to catch an honest woman in a lie, simply because you cannot comprehend that someone could possess authority without abusing it."
"Edward, I was just trying to protect your estate—"
"You are not protecting my estate, Victoria," Edward said flatly. "You are projecting your own greed onto a woman who has restored more value to this house in six months than you have in your entire life."
He pointed toward the doors of the library.
"Valerie," Edward ordered smoothly, "have the driver pack Miss Townsend’s bags and escort her to the airport immediately."
May you like
Victoria gasped, standing up frantically. "Edward! You are throwing your own sister out for a maid?"
"No," Edward replied, looking her dead in the eye. "I am asking a toxic guest to leave my home."
