Chapter 4 - NORTHLINE SUPPLY
Nora insisted that Fiona stay somewhere other than her run-down room until they understood how Robert would react to losing control of the house narrative. Fiona resisted out of habit more than reason. Being protected felt uncomfortably close to being managed, and Robert had made a career of making both words sound the same. In the end, Douglas arranged two nights at a modest extended-stay hotel under Commonwealth’s corporate account, and Fiona accepted because the mahogany box could not be protected by pride alone.
The next morning, a forensic technician imaged Fiona’s old laptop. The company spreadsheets were still there, hidden inside a sync folder she had forgotten existed. Most were ordinary vendor reconciliations from her last three months at Palmer Logistics, but one workbook contained a tab labeled NS-REVIEW that Fiona did not remember creating. It listed Northline Supply invoices, shipment references and receiving approvals.
The numbers did not reconcile.
Northline billed Palmer Logistics for warehouse equipment, snow-removal contracts, fuel surcharges and software support. The problem was that several invoices referenced service dates when Palmer Logistics facilities were closed or equipment that belonged to other vendors. Fiona had flagged duplicates in yellow and typed questions into the margin.
Who approved PO-4487?
Why no receiving ticket?
Same bank routing as M.R. personal?
She stared at that last note. “M.R.” could mean Malcolm Reed, Northline’s listed owner. It could also mean something else.
Nora searched state records. Malcolm Reed filed for bankruptcy five years earlier and had no visible assets capable of supporting Northline’s supposed scale. Yet Palmer Logistics had paid Northline nearly $2.8 million over six years.
Fiona’s firing file claimed she caused a discrepancy of $214,000 through negligent duplicate approvals. The spreadsheet showed the duplicates predated her access and continued after Robert transferred her to vendor review.
That was the first proof that Robert’s accusation had been false.
It did not yet prove he personally benefited.
Douglas then obtained old suspicious-activity notes from Commonwealth, where Palmer Logistics maintained operating accounts. Bank staff had flagged recurring payments from Palmer Logistics to Northline followed by smaller transfers into a private investment account associated with Savannah Palmer.
Fiona felt anger arrive more slowly than expected.
Savannah had not merely mocked her in a red cashmere sweater while holding champagne.
She had been receiving money through the same vendor trail Fiona was blamed for mishandling.
Nora contacted Malcolm Reed through bankruptcy counsel. Malcolm initially denied any current connection to Northline beyond legacy ownership. When Nora mentioned Walter Palmer’s sealed file, Malcolm agreed to a phone call but refused to meet. His story was carefully limited: Robert asked him years earlier to keep Northline active for “special procurement” because some vendors required discretion. Malcolm received a monthly administrative fee and signed documents Robert’s office prepared.
“Did Savannah receive money from Northline?” Nora asked.
Malcolm hesitated.
“I don’t know what Robert did after funds left.”
That was not a denial.
The complication arrived when Robert’s attorney sent Fiona a cease-and-desist letter. It accused her of stealing confidential company records, attempting to extort her family after being removed from Christmas gatherings for disruptive behavior and unlawfully claiming trust rights based on documents Walter allegedly executed while cognitively declining.
Robert was not denying the box existed.
He was attacking Walter’s capacity.
That shifted the inheritance fight into familiar territory. If Robert could persuade a court Walter lacked capacity when creating the trusts or later amendments, Fiona’s leverage over the house and shares might weaken.
Nora was ready. Walter had anticipated the argument and recorded capacity evaluations near each major trust amendment. The house transfer looked secure. The company-share amendment had more risk because it occurred later, when Walter’s health had begun failing.
Then Douglas received an alert from Commonwealth’s compliance department. Someone attempted to access Walter Palmer’s archived safe-deposit records using old family credentials and a notarized request signed by Robert.
Attached was an affidavit stating Fiona had stolen the mahogany box.
The affidavit included a photograph of the box.
Only three people had seen the photograph Fiona sent: Fiona, Douglas and whoever had access to her phone.
She checked her messages.
The photo had gone to Douglas.
It had also auto-synced to a shared family cloud album she forgot still existed from years earlier.
Savannah had commented under it thirty minutes after Fiona sent it:
Grandpa’s trash won’t save you.
May you like
The family now knew which box Fiona had.
The next question was what they believed still remained inside.
