Chapter 5 - R. MERCER
Grand Meridian refused the request.
No address released.
No guardian contact.
No photograph.
Marcus had been called because his name remained attached to the restricted incident file.
Grace's attorney had been notified because of a 2020 amendment to the privacy instructions.
That was what triggered the letter Walter received.
“So who asked?”
Walter demanded.
Marcus turned the screen.
The requester was represented by Mercer Estate Counsel.
Authorization:
R. MERCER
Vanessa immediately said:
“Rebecca.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You know her?”
“Everyone knows Rebecca Mercer.”
Julia's younger sister.
Forty-four now.
Board member of the family foundation.
Rarely in New York.
Vanessa had met her twice at charity dinners.
She remembered one thing.
Rebecca and Henry Mercer had barely spoken during the last years of his life.
Henry died two months earlier.
That timing mattered.
“His estate opens.”
Vanessa said.
“Rebecca finds Julia's old papers.”
Marcus nodded.
“Possibly.”
Walter looked furious.
“Why would she want Ethan's address?”
“No idea.”
“Then call her.”
Marcus said:
“Already did.”
Walter stared.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“And?”
“She said she never asked for an address.”
There.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“Someone used her name?”
“She authorized her lawyer to request Julia's protected correspondence.”
“Not Ethan?”
“According to her.”
Marcus showed them Rebecca's actual instruction.
Request copies of any correspondence or property belonging to Julia Mercer held in restricted hotel custody. No request for minor information.
Different.
Somewhere between Rebecca and the hotel, the request expanded.
Marcus did not know whether:
a lawyer added it,
an estate administrator assumed it,
or Rebecca was lying.
Walter picked up his bag.
“We're leaving.”
Marcus stood.
“No.”
“Watch me.”
“If someone is actively looking for Ethan, walking him straight back through the lobby without knowing who sent that request is exactly what Grace was trying to prevent.”
Walter stopped.
Vanessa said:
“Funny.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
Walter asked.
“Ten minutes ago I was trying to throw you out.”
“No one forgot.”
“I'm aware.”
She looked uncomfortable.
“I'm saying if my father touched this file in 2018, I can ask him what R. Mercer means.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Do not call him from here.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know who knows we're together.”
Vanessa stared.
Then:
“You really do enjoy making everything sound sinister.”
Marcus looked at her.
“I spent twenty years in hotel security.”
“Exactly.”
Fair.
Walter's phone rang.
Grace's attorney.
Aaron Feld.
Walter answered.
Put it on speaker after asking permission.
Aaron had just discovered something in Grace's estate file.
Her 2020 privacy amendment was not just:
Notify me if anyone requests 1908.
There was another instruction.
If any Mercer representative asks for Ethan's location, release Claim Card 19-B to Walter Hayes.
Walter froze.
“What claim card?”
Aaron said:
“I assumed you had it.”
Walter looked at his bag.
He had not checked the side pocket since Grace died.
It was where she used to put receipts when she borrowed his car.
He opened it.
Nothing.
Then the small inside zipper.
His fingers found a stiff rectangle.
Old plastic.
Black stripe.
Gold hotel lettering worn nearly away.
BELLMONT HOUSE — PRIVATE PROPERTY CLAIM 19-B
Marcus stopped breathing normally.
Vanessa noticed.
“What is it?”
Marcus looked at Walter.
“That card opens nothing.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
“It identifies something.”
“What?”
Marcus took a long time.
“A guest property vault box.”
Walter stared.
“Julia's?”
Marcus nodded.
May you like
Grace had left Walter the claim.
And somebody had reopened Julia's file three days before Grace's contingency sent him back to the hotel.
