“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
I did not say It’s okay.
Because it wasn’t.
I said, “We’ll find out what happened.”
He nodded.
After he left, Patricia and I stood on the porch watching his taillights disappear.
“You believe him,” she said.
“I believe he didn’t know everything.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
Inside, the house felt strangely quiet.
The next morning, Martin called at seven forty-two.
His voice was different.
More alert than usual.
“I found Charles Vane.”
I sat up in bed.
“Who is he?”
“That’s complicated.”
Patricia woke beside me.
“What happened?”
I put the phone on speaker.
Martin continued.
“Charles Vane is real. He does consulting work for distressed small businesses.”
“So Geoffrey was telling the truth.”
“About speaking with him, yes.”
“But?”
“But Charles Vane says he never represented an investor.”
Patricia sat fully upright.
“What did he represent?”
