Thomas knew the woman’s name.
Ruth Morgan.
He had met her once at a benefit dinner, before her health began to fail.
She had warned him about a missing ledger and asked him to promise that if someone ever tried to sell the Waverly Room, he would examine more than the seller’s glossy financial statements.
For years he had believed Ruth’s warning was born of a disagreement with management.
Now the disputed signature had made that assumption impossible to maintain.
“We need to find her children,” Thomas told Audrey.
Audrey looked up from her notes.
“One of them was standing beside you last night.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Claire Morgan.”
“Yes.”
“I knew the surname sounded familiar.”
“You didn’t recognize her?”
“The last time I saw her, she was eight and had a missing front tooth.”
Audrey rotated a photocopy of the certificate toward him.
“Then she needs to know what her mother was trying to protect.
But we need to know whether this is a forged document before we tell her anyone stole something.”
Thomas agreed.
The restaurant purchase remained on hold.
Nothing had been won except time, and time was valuable only if they used it carefully.
Claire called Audrey from the public library because she was afraid Victor might have given her number to the other restaurant managers in his professional circle.
She had already applied at three hotels, a bakery, and a hospital cafeteria.
The hospital manager offered her an interview for Thursday.
None of those places could start paying her before rent came due, but applying made her feel less helpless.
Audrey answered on the second ring.
She did not ask Claire to explain how she had found the number or how long it had taken her to decide.
Instead, she asked whether Claire would feel comfortable meeting at a neutral place.
Claire chose the library’s upstairs reading room.
Thomas arrived carrying a brown envelope and walked slowly past the returns desk.
He looked as tired in daylight as he had in the dining room.
“I owe you an apology,” he told her.
“I did not recognize your connection to the restaurant when I spoke to you.”
Claire’s shoulders tightened.
“What connection?”
Thomas told her about Mara Armitage and the long-standing disagreement concerning ownership of the Waverly Room.
He placed a certified copy of an old company record on the table.
The paper listed several original participants in a community dining venture established after the warehouse was renovated.
Leon Armitage held the operating interest, Mara had contributed the building lease, and a small profit-sharing pool had been reserved for the founding kitchen and service team.
Next to that provision was Ruth Morgan’s name.
