Chapter 9 — The Facade

Forty-eight hours later, Fitzroy brought me the preliminary findings, and the Pembrook family’s wealth turned out to be a stage set.

Pembrook Holdings was drowning — defaulted credit lines, real estate double-mortgaged, millions sunk into insolvent shell developments.

Dunstan had personal gambling debts scattered across private rooms all over the city.

The antique furniture and the oil paintings were the last props of a production that had run out of money years ago and kept the lights on by finding new people to bleed.

It reframed the entire estate for me, that audit.