Chapter 31 - The Unmarked Package
On a quiet Tuesday afternoon in late August, Ethan sat alone in his Greenwich study reviewing quarterly foundation reports.
A mail delivery truck pulled away from the main gate, leaving a small wooden box on the front porch table.
Ethan walked outside to retrieve the package, noticing there was no return address or postal tracking barcode on the wood.
Inside the box lay a antique brass pocket watch, its glass cover cracked down the center in a distinct diagonal shape.
Ethan opened the watch casing, finding an old black-and-white photograph of his grandfather standing next to a mystery man in 1950.
Tucked behind the photograph was a faded piece of stationary paper containing a short, handwritten message in dark blue ink.
"Ethan Vance, you believe the syndicate began with Veronica, but your grandfather was its original founder in 1948."
"The real family fortune was never in oil or hotels... it is buried beneath the floorboards of your Greenwich mansion."
May you like
"Look under the third marble slab in the kitchen where your daughter stood ten years ago, if you dare to know the truth."
Ethan froze, his heart dropping into a cold abyss as his eyes locked onto the white marble floor of the adjacent kitchen...
