Chapter 7 - The Man Who Signed Both SidesSamuel Voss was located inside a private clinic in New Jersey.
He had severe burns across his right hand and fresh smoke damage in his lungs.
His attorney claimed the injuries came from rescuing trapped residents at another fire.
Lena Brooks compared the chemical residue on his boots to the townhouse basement.
It matched.
Voss admitted entering the building but denied starting the fire.
“Gabriel asked me to recover the black folder.”
“Before firefighters arrived?” Ruiz asked.
“We had a controlled operation.”
“Controlled operations do not include attempted murder.”
Voss claimed Celeste changed the plan.
She discovered Julian was betraying Vale and replaced the suppressant inside one fuel can with gasoline. Julian unknowingly spread both substances.
Celeste then locked the cellar exit Gabriel prepared for Evelyn.
“Why would she kill Evelyn?” Ruiz asked.
“Because Evelyn’s death activates the Weiss claim.”
That appeared contradictory.
If Evelyn died, who inherited?
According to the hidden ledger, the claim transferred to the alternate bloodline beneficiary.
Celeste Vale.
Evelyn stared at the document.
Celeste was not merely connected to the trafficking family.
She shared the Weiss maternal line.
They were distant cousins.
Vale International had raised one branch to control the stolen collection and Gabriel had raised another branch to expose it.
The two women had been placed on opposing sides of the same inheritance battle.
Celeste’s affair with Julian gave her access to Evelyn’s death, the townhouse insurance, and the Weiss claim.
If the fire killed Evelyn, Celeste could present herself as the surviving legitimate descendant.
“Did she know?” Evelyn asked.
Voss nodded.
“Since she was eighteen.”
“Did Gabriel know?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Her father knew Celeste had a blood claim and still allowed Julian to approach her.
Voss insisted Gabriel believed Celeste could be turned against Vale.
Instead, she turned Julian.
Ruiz asked about Mateo.
Voss’s answer came slowly.
“Mateo found the adoption files before Gabriel did.”
“Did my father betray you?”
“No.”
“Did Gabriel?”
“Not originally.”
The photograph’s warning referred to Voss himself.
Vale International discovered his gambling debts and bought his loyalty. He supplied access to fire investigations, certified fraudulent losses, and helped artworks disappear.
Then Mateo learned.
Voss arranged his disappearance.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You recorded him inside Evelyn’s evidence case.”
“That message is twenty-two years old.”
Mateo suspected the police evidence vault was compromised and recorded warnings for Gabriel’s emergency archive.
Voss claimed Mateo escaped the first attempt to kill him.
After that, no one knew whether he fled, was captured, or joined another network.
Ruiz stepped toward Voss.
“You stole twenty-two years from my family.”
Voss looked genuinely ashamed.
“I told myself the network would kill more people if I didn’t remain useful.”
Ruiz did not strike him.
He turned away because he understood how easily anger could damage the case.
Voss offered one final piece of evidence.
Vale International maintained a secret storage facility beneath an abandoned ferry terminal on the Hudson. The original Mourning Girl and hundreds of trafficked artworks passed through it.
Gabriel planned to move the original there after the fire.
“Why?” Evelyn asked.
“To draw every remaining buyer into one transaction.”
“Using my survival or death as bait?”
Voss did not answer.
A federal warrant team reached the terminal.
The underground vault was empty.
Fresh tire tracks led toward the river.
On one wall, someone had written in ash:
EVELYN WAS NEVER THE LAST WEISS HEIR.
Beneath it hung a child’s photograph.
A girl around seven stood beside Gabriel Mercer.
The picture had been taken two weeks earlier.
May you like
The child looked unmistakably like Evelyn.
👉 Gabriel had been hiding another young Weiss descendant—someone who could replace Evelyn’s legal claim if she died.
