I could not promise him an easy life.

But I could promise that the adults around him would not use him as a prize.

PART 16

The first decisive breakthrough in the Mercer records came from a storage facility, not an anonymous leak.

A former accountant who had worked for the original transport partnership contacted Eleanor after receiving her lawyer’s preservation notice.

He had retained several boxes of duplicate ledgers when the business changed hands.

He had done so because the company’s record-retention instructions had confused him and he wanted a reference for tax questions.