Chapter 5 - The Vance Estate
The Rolls-Royce glided silently through the wrought-iron gates of the Vance estate in the Garden District, stopping before a massive three-story Greek Revival mansion surrounded by ancient live oaks and Spanish moss.
Inside the private study, lined with floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves and historical maps of Louisiana, Lorenzo poured two glasses of aged cognac.
He handed one to Camille, who sat in a high-backed leather armchair, still wearing her gray uniform shirt, but carrying herself like royalty.
"Your father, Arthur Thibodeaux, was the finest legal archivist in the South," Lorenzo said, taking a seat across from her. "Ten years ago, when the city was attempting to seize my family's historic riverfront properties through eminent domain, Arthur found the original 1790 Spanish land grants that proved our ownership."
"And that's why he was killed, wasn't it?" Camille asked, setting her cognac down untasted. "It wasn't a random hit-and-run."
Lorenzo's expression turned somber. "Arthur found something else in the municipal archives three weeks before his death. Something involving the Whitfield family and the current mayor's office."
Camille leaned forward. "What did he find?"
"The Whitfields didn't just steal my family's manifest," Lorenzo revealed, opening a brass safe hidden behind a wall painting. He pulled out a yellowed folder and laid it on the desk between them. "They have been systematically falsifying historical land titles across Orleans Parish for thirty years, driving long-time local families out of their homes and selling the land to foreign investment cartels."
Camille's breath hitched as she opened the folder. The handwriting on the top document belonged to her father.
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"My father was building a RICO case against Preston's family," Camille whispered, tears finally prickling the corners of her eyes. "He was going to expose them."
"He was two days away from filing the papers when a black SUV struck him on Magazine Street," Lorenzo said quietly. "Preston Whitfield II paid the driver. And his son was sent to retrieve the evidence Arthur had hidden."
