The Poor Son-in-Law Is A Hidden Billionaire

The Man Behind The Ledger

Daniel did not sleep for the rest of the night. He sat on the edge of his bed with the phone in his hand, rereading the last message from Michael's number. He had no way of knowing whether the lawyer was safe or whether someone else held his phone. Every minute made him more anxious, but he knew that rushing into the street without a plan could deliver him straight to his enemies.

At six in the morning he called again. The phone rang several times before a man answered.

"Who is this?" Daniel demanded.

After a pause, a familiar voice replied. "Daniel, it is me."

Relief washed over him. "Michael, where have you been? I thought something had happened to you."

"Something nearly did. I was followed last night and had to switch off my phone and hide. I am using another line now. Tell me, did you receive a message from my number?"

"Yes. It told me not to go to the railway station."

Michael was silent for a moment. "I did not send it."

Daniel heard him breathe out. "Someone does not want you to find Samuel."

"Then someone has your phone. What do we do about him?"

"We still meet him, but not as we planned. Whoever is threatening us seems to know our movements before we make them. We must change the arrangements and tell nobody."

Daniel agreed, though he wondered whether even Michael could be trusted completely. He hated the thought, but his grandfather's letter had told him to trust evidence over promises.

Michael chose a small café away from the business district. Daniel arrived early and took a table near the entrance where he could watch the door. When Michael came, he wore a different jacket and carried a brown envelope.

He took out an old photograph of three men outside a large building. Daniel recognised his grandfather at once. Beside him stood a younger Victor Okafor, and the third man, a stranger, held a thick blue book under his arm.

"Who is that?"

"Peter Lawson, the lawyer who disappeared shortly before your grandfather was declared dead," Michael said. "He worked with your grandfather on the original inheritance arrangements. According to the records, he kept the blue ledger until it could be handed to Samuel, who was to deliver it to someone your grandfather trusted. The name of that person has been removed from the surviving copy of the file."

Daniel studied the photograph. "Why would my grandfather need a secret ledger if the company already kept accounts?"

"Because this was no ordinary account book. He suspected money was being moved out of the company through hidden transactions. He wanted a separate record of who was involved, how much was taken and which companies received it. If the ledger still exists, it could show who has been stealing from the Okafor Group for years."

Daniel looked at Victor in the photograph, standing close to his grandfather and smiling as if he had nothing to hide. It was hard to believe that the same man might be behind the disappearance of two lawyers and the theft of billions. "What happened to Peter?"

"No one knows. His family reported him missing, but the investigation went nowhere and was closed when the police found no evidence of a crime. I fear someone made sure it stayed that way."

"And now Samuel is gone too. If both men knew about the ledger, whoever took them must believe they know where it is."

"Exactly. That is why we must find Samuel before our enemies do."

Daniel checked his watch. Nearly ten. He still had no reliable way to reach the witness. He tried the number Samuel had used the day before, but it was switched off. As he put the phone away, a woman approached their table. She looked about thirty and carried a black handbag. She glanced at Michael, then at Daniel.

"Are you Daniel Okafor?"

"Who wants to know?"

"My name is Zara Williams. I was a financial investigator for the Okafor Group until I was dismissed six months ago, after I questioned several suspicious payments approved by senior management."

Michael's expression changed. "I remember your case. The company said you had accessed confidential accounts without permission."

"They said that because I found transactions someone wanted hidden. I reported it properly, and my supervisor told me to stop asking questions. Two weeks later I lost my job."

Daniel studied her. Her hands were steady, but her eyes kept moving to the door. "Why come to me now?"

"I heard that Chief Okafor's grandson has returned for his inheritance, and that people are trying to frighten you into giving up. I know something about the missing money. I think I can help."

Michael frowned. "How did you find us here?"

"I have watched your office since I heard about the break-in. I followed you."

"I was careful."

"So was I."

Daniel asked what evidence she had. Zara took a folded sheet from her handbag and set it on the table, one hand still on it. "A list of transfers I investigated before I was dismissed. The money passed through companies with no real operations, and each transfer was approved under a senior executive's authority."

"Whose?"

"Some were approved under Victor Okafor's name, though I could not prove he ordered them. And another name appeared again and again. I was told never to mention it."

"Whose name?" Michael asked.

Before she answered, her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and the colour drained from her face. "I must go. Someone has been calling me from an unknown number all morning."

Daniel stood. "You cannot give us this and then vanish."

"You do not understand how far these people will go." She leaned closer. "Reach Samuel by six tonight. He knows who received the blue ledger, and that person may be the only one who can clear your grandfather's name."

She pushed the folded paper across the table and hurried out. Daniel watched her vanish into the crowd, then picked up the page and opened it. Beneath the list of transactions, in bold letters at the bottom, was a name: Adrian Cole.

Daniel's stomach tightened. For weeks Adrian had humiliated him, mocked his marriage and tried to convince Amara he was a failure. Now his name appeared in the records of the company Daniel had inherited. He remembered Adrian watching him in the living room, not curious but worried that the inheritance might be real. Now it made sense.

"If this is genuine," Michael said gravely, "Adrian may know far more about your grandfather's death than he has admitted."

Daniel folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. The man trying to destroy his marriage might also be tied to the secret that had haunted his family, and if Adrian was involved, the next man Daniel confronted could be the most dangerous enemy of all.