Chapter 69
Examining them step by step, she soon discovered something unusual.
“The large sums of money the Grand Dame spent… I haven't checked them all, but were they all for paintings?”
“Yes? How did you know that?”
So I was right.
According to the documents Georges had organized, large sums of money had been consistently withdrawn from March to early October of this year.
The user was the Grand Dame, and upon checking each expenditure, the locations were mostly galleries.
“I heard that Milena Haus recently purchased six, no, seven paintings by Gray Holmes. But looking at the dates, it seems she had been consistently purchasing paintings even before that.”
“Yes. The parts I’ve marked in red are expenditures at domestic and international galleries. There were also cases where payment was made with real estate instead of cash, like the day she acquired eight pieces in bulk from the Blue Haus.”
Lanslo, who had been leaning back comfortably in his chair, slowly sat up. He closed the distance between himself and Anita and began to look over the documents she was examining.
“That’s not all. I’ve been running around the Chalon area looking into it, and there were instances where she purchased jewelry or expensive foreign decorative items under the pretext of maintaining personal dignity or for the upkeep of the Patronage of Eden, and then used those items to pay for the paintings.”
He showed Anita the neatly organized receipts in his notebook.
<April 1, Platinum Vase - 600 rid - Veronica Edenbahir - Maintenance for the Patronage of Eden>
<April 1, Emerald Vase - 800 rid - Veronica Edenbahir - Maintenance for the Patronage of Eden>
<April 1, Sapphire Vase - 800 rid - Veronica Edenbahir - Maintenance for the Patronage of Eden>
The Patronage of Eden was a salon for artists run by the Grand Dame.
“What makes you so sure this list is payment for the paintings?”
“I visited the Patronage of Eden myself to confirm. Not a single one of the decorative items listed in the ledger was there. Conversely, when I went around to the galleries where the Grand Dame purchased the paintings and checked their purchase lists, there were several paintings that weren't recorded in her ledger. It was recorded as a trade in kind, not a cash transaction.”
He showed her another confirmation slip that had been organized separately. It was a transaction confirmation he had received in his capacity as the property manager for the Ducal House of Edenbachir.
<April 7, Gauss Ben (artist)/Nuaza and His Friends (title) - Veronica Edenbahir - Trade in kind>
<April 7, Gauss Ben (artist)/The Sleeping Nuaza (title) - Veronica Edenbahir - Trade in kind>
In other words, she was laundering money.
‘Why go through such a complicated process just to buy paintings?’
Georges added that before March, she had never gone around to various galleries buying so many different paintings like this. At most, she would buy works from artists belonging to her own Patronage of Eden, and that was it.
“This can only be taken to mean she has something to hide.”
“Yes. Looking at the date when this mass purchasing of paintings began, it was March 12th of this spring. So I looked up all the newspaper articles from March 1st to the 12th… and a few articles stood out.”
Georges showed them another scrapbook of articles.
Aside from the articles that directly mentioned the Grand Dame, they were all related to culture and the arts. Among them, one article was particularly noticeable.
<The Duchess of Fogben, along with Countess Milena, will attend the Chalon Arts Festival to be held this autumn…>
‘The Duchess of Fogben.’
It was a name she had heard from Countess Milena.
The Duchess of Fogben was from the Hespain Kingdom, the Queen’s sister and Prince Maxim’s aunt.
She was known as the godmother of the cultural world before Countess Milena, and her artistic sense was so exceptional that she had provided the broad framework for the architectural design of Milena Haus.
Lanslo's eyes were also fixed on the article, his face deep in thought.
“Didn’t I mention I visited the Patronage of Eden myself? I checked and recorded the artists’ names and their works one by one, but a few pieces were missing. I don't think she would have kept them for her personal collection. I was afraid I'd arouse suspicion if I pried, so I haven't yet investigated where they were moved…”
“The Cloud Hotel.”
Anita and Georges’s heads turned toward Lanslo.
“…Excuse me?”
Lanslo added, his gaze still fixed on the article about the Duchess of Fogben.
“Have you investigated the Cloud Hotel?”
“No. Is that place related to this matter?”
“It could be.”
“Hmm. Please wait a moment. The name sounds familiar, so I might have made a note of it somewhere.”
Why did he suddenly bring up the Cloud Hotel?
‘It’s the most luxurious hotel in Chalon, but…’
The Cloud Hotel was not mentioned in the headlines of the articles Georges had compiled. She wondered how he had made the connection.
After rummaging through the files on the bookshelf for over ten minutes, Georges returned to the table, his face bright.
“Ah! Here it is. There was a time when the Grand Dame paid for an acquaintance’s stay at the Cloud Hotel. The date is June 2nd. The acquaintance’s name is… Vlad McCoy.”
What?
“Did you just say Vlad McCoy?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, let me see.”
Anita took the document from him and checked the part Georges’s finger was pointing to.
Vlad McCoy. The name was written there, clear as day.
‘This… no, it’s not something to be so flustered about. Vlad McCoy was said to be cooperating with Viscount Fior, Prince Reinhardt’s twin brother…’
It wouldn’t be strange at all for him to be connected to the Grand Dame, another of Prince Reinhardt’s collaborators.
Perhaps because she'd already been disappointed as much as she could be, it wasn't as shocking as before.
Lanslo asked Georges.
“The amount?”
“It’s quite a large sum. It was for the accommodation of a total of twenty people, including Vlad McCoy, for two months.”
“So. Is that all you've found regarding the Grand Dame's use of assets? I was told there was something unusual.”
This information alone was valuable enough for Anita.
The existence of a connection between Vlad McCoy and the Grand Dame meant there was a high probability that the Grand Dame knew her father’s whereabouts.
But as if Lanslo's words had hit the mark, Georges hesitated before slowly opening his mouth.
“…Actually, the fact that the Grand Dame purchased numerous works of art is not that surprising. I don’t know much about high society, and since quitting my work as a lawyer, I've walled myself off from politics, so I lack the ability to speculate on the Grand Dame's movements.”
“Then what is surprising?”
“These ledgers I’ve just shown you, Madam. The problem is that these ledgers are too well-organized.”
It was a statement that Anita found difficult to understand at first.
“What do you mean, it’s a problem that they’re well-organized?”
“To put it simply, Madam, the assets siphoned off by Norman and Matilda have ambiguous uses. To give a few examples, Matilda once spent 100 rid giving alms to a beggar, and Norman once spent 300 rid to buy a necklace as a wedding gift for his lover's cousin's wife's friend.”
It was a rather amusing example, but not at all surprising. They, especially Norman, were exactly the type of people to keep such messy records.
“Siphoning off small amounts of money like this, you can easily build a mansion. But the purpose and date of every sum the Grand Dame spent are all clearly and well-documented, and she even collected all the receipts.”
“But it’s hard to say the ledgers are well-organized when… the Grand Dame has a history of laundering money.”
“You call it money laundering, but don't the amounts and dates line up too perfectly? This means she had no intention of hiding it in the first place.”
Intentional money laundering.
‘Is it a device meant to make it look like she's hiding something?’
“And paintings are especially easy to trace, aren’t they? As long as the artist themselves can confirm the authenticity, you can see exactly where it moved from and to.”
As the detailed explanation continued, Lanslo, who had finished his milk tea, cut to the chase.
“So, what is it you wanted to say?”
At that, Georges faltered once more. Lanslo scoffed lightly.
“You’ve said everything but the main point. You’re needlessly dragging this out. I won't get angry even if you curse me to be run over by a carriage wheel tomorrow, so just say it.”
Georges moistened his throat with plain water and carefully began.
“If I may venture a guess… I believe His Grace the Duke may be falsely accused of something.”
What he meant by a false accusation, Anita had a vague—no, a definite—idea.
“You think it's a ledger for show.”
“Yes. I asked the previous property manager, and he said the Grand Dame has a copy of this ledger. To put it bluntly, if the Grand Dame were to sell all those paintings and use the money for some illicit purpose…”
Depending on that purpose, it could lead to charges as serious as treason.
Even if the Grand Dame was the mastermind, the result would be that the entire Ducal House of Edenbachir had conspired together.
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