He had accessed the household inventory database twice.
And there were unexplained security overrides.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
This was not part of his original experiment.
Something else was happening.
He opened another file.
Several expensive items had gone missing from the house over the previous six months.
Nothing dramatic.
A watch.
A silver service.
Two pieces of antique jewelry.
A bottle of rare wine.
Each disappearance had been categorized as inventory error.
Adrian frowned.
Then he saw the authorization codes.
Victor's credentials.
He sat still.
Suddenly the nervous glances made sense.
The pocket.
The watch.
The aggression.
Victor wasn't simply rude.
He was hiding something.
Adrian switched off the phone.
He looked toward the security booth.
Victor was staring directly at him.
Their eyes met.
Victor quickly looked away.
Adrian smiled faintly.
The experiment had just become an investigation.
That afternoon, Grace returned.
She brought another cup of coffee.
"You don't have to keep doing this," Adrian said.
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because I want to."
She sat on the stone bench several feet away.
For the first time, Adrian noticed how tired she looked.
"You work too much."
Grace laughed.
"You sound like my brother."
"He's right."
"He's nineteen. He thinks everyone should work less."
"Maybe he's smarter than most people."
She smiled.
Then she became serious.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Are you really homeless?"
Adrian paused.
"No."
Grace looked at him.
"I knew it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"You knew?"
"Not at first."
"What gave me away?"
"Your hands."
Adrian looked at them.
"What about them?"
"They're dirty, but they're not the hands of someone who's been living outside for years."
He stared at her.
Grace continued.
"And you watch everything."
"What do you mean?"
"You look at cameras. Doors. people. exits."
Adrian smiled.
"Maybe I'm paranoid."
"Maybe."
She stood.
"Whatever you're doing here, be careful."
"Why?"
She looked toward the security booth.
"Because Victor has been acting strange lately."
Adrian's smile disappeared.
"What kind of strange?"
"He gets angry when people ask questions."
"About what?"
Grace lowered her voice.
"Missing things."
Before Adrian could respond, a black SUV entered the estate.
Two men stepped out.
Neither wore uniforms.
They walked directly toward the security booth.
Victor came outside.
He spoke with them for several minutes.
Then one of the men handed Victor a small envelope.
Victor put it into his jacket.
Adrian watched.
Grace whispered:
"Those men have been here before."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know."
Adrian stood.
For the first time since beginning his disguise, he felt something stronger than curiosity.
Danger.
He turned toward the mansion.
His mansion.
His employees.
His company.
His name.
Someone had been stealing from him.
And someone else was helping them.
Adrian looked at Victor.
Victor was staring back.
Neither man moved.
Then Victor slowly smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
It was a warning.
What the Billionaire Didn't Know
The next morning, Adrian remained outside.
He could have ended the experiment.
He could have walked into the mansion, revealed himself, fired Victor, called the police, and demanded an explanation.
But he didn't.
Because he wanted to know how deep the problem went.
He had learned one thing during forty years in business.
A visible problem was rarely the real problem.
The real problem was usually hiding underneath it.
At 8:15 a.m., a delivery truck arrived.
Victor inspected the manifest.
Then he waved the driver through.
Adrian noticed something strange.
The truck was supposed to deliver twelve cases of premium wine.
But only eight cases were unloaded.
Victor signed for twelve.
Four disappeared.
Adrian took a photograph.
Then another.
At 9:00 a.m., a second truck arrived.
This time it carried household electronics.
Again, Victor signed the entire shipment.
Again, part of it disappeared.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
This was systematic.
Not accidental.
He returned to the cedar tree.
Grace found him there.
"You look angry."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because someone is stealing."
She stared.
"From the house?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I've been watching."
Grace sat beside him.
"Victor?"
Adrian nodded.
"Are you sure?"
"No."
"Then don't accuse him yet."
Adrian looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because if he's involved, he'll know."
"And if he's not?"
"Then you've hurt someone innocent."
Adrian was silent.
Grace smiled.
"You see?"
"What?"
"You don't trust people."
Adrian almost laughed.
"That's one way to put it."
"What's the other?"
"I've learned not to."
She looked toward the mansion.
"Maybe you learned it from the wrong people."
The sentence struck him harder than she knew.
That afternoon, Adrian secretly contacted Daniel.
He did not reveal his location.
He simply sent one message.
Investigate Victor Haines. Quietly.
Daniel responded immediately.
Understood.
Two hours later:
Found irregularities.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Send everything.
A few minutes passed.
Then the files arrived.
Victor had financial problems.
Large ones.
Credit card debt.
Gambling losses.
Private loans.
But that wasn't the worst part.
Six months earlier, Victor had contacted a private security company owned by a man named Raymond Cross.
Raymond Cross.
Adrian knew the name.
Cross had once tried to buy a controlling interest in Whitmore Global Holdings.
Adrian had rejected him.
Cross had threatened litigation.
Then disappeared.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Could Cross be behind the thefts?
He didn't know.
But there was another file.
A photograph.
Victor meeting Raymond Cross outside a restaurant.
The date was two weeks earlier.
Adrian's pulse quickened.