Mara Holloway’s Last Investigation
Chapter 03 - Mara Holloway’s Last Investigation
Mara Holloway had been the chief auditor of the family’s charitable network.
She believed a children’s foundation should be measured by the children it reached, not the galas it hosted.
Six years earlier, she discovered that the Holloway Children’s Trust was paying millions to private foster agencies for placements that did not exist.
The largest contractor was Crowne Family Services.
Vanessa chaired its donor board.
Her mother approved many of its guardianship petitions.
When Mara raised concerns, the board accused her of unstable behavior and financial misconduct.
Vanessa told Adrian that Mara had stolen foundation money and fled.
A month later, Mara’s car was found burned beside an abandoned highway.
Police assumed she died inside it, although no verified remains were recovered.
Adrian accepted the conclusion.
He had been twenty-nine, running the hotel company after their father’s stroke, and depending on Vanessa for every legal update.
Mara’s name was removed from the foundation.
Vanessa replaced her.
Now Adrian examined the old case through a different lens.
The missing money had continued after Mara disappeared.
Crowne Family Services expanded into three states.
Starlight House received more than ten million dollars for children whose identities appeared under multiple files.
Sophie’s record listed three different birthplaces.
Her mother was alternately described as deceased, unknown, and legally unfit.
None of the files named Mara Holloway.
The note inside the locket mentioned the North Archive.
Holloway Hall had a north wing sealed after a fire twenty years earlier.
Adrian’s grandfather built a records vault beneath it before the family company became public.
Vanessa had insisted the wing remain closed for wedding renovations.
She claimed the structure was unsafe.
May you like
The wedding ring missing from the ceremony box was the key to that archive.
And according to the security log, Vanessa had removed it at 3:14 that afternoon.
