Chapter 2 - The Ghost Warehouse
Arthur let out a loud, patronizing sigh. "Your Honor, this is exactly the kind of hysterical delusion I was referring to. She is unfit."
"Sit down, Mr. Sterling," Judge Vance snapped. He looked at me. "Proceed."
I unlocked Julian's box. Inside was a black leather ledger, a stack of encrypted hard drives, and a bundle of shipping manifests. But I didn't hand them to the judge yet.
"Your Honor, Sterling Logistics handles high-value estate transfers for wealthy clients," I began, standing up. "Three months before my husband died, he discovered a discrepancy in the company's routing software. A ghost warehouse. A facility not listed on any official tax documents, located just outside of county lines."
Richard, Arthur’s lawyer, jumped up. "Objection! Relevance!"
"Overruled. Let her speak," the judge ordered.
"Julian realized that high-value items—antiques, jewelry, bearer bonds—were being systematically marked as 'lost in transit' and routed to this ghost warehouse," I continued, my voice echoing in the silent room. "My husband was compiling evidence to go to the FBI. He died in a car accident before he could."
Arthur’s face went completely white. The arrogant smirk was replaced by raw, naked panic.
"I request that the court allow the evidence gathered by the state police this morning to be brought inside," I said, nodding to the back doors.
May you like
The heavy oak doors swung open. Two uniformed court clerks, accompanied by an NYPD detective, wheeled in six heavy, sealed plastic crates. Stamped on the side of each crate was the Sterling Logistics logo.
"What is the meaning of this?" Richard demanded, looking frantically at his client. But Arthur was frozen, his eyes glued to the crates.
