POV: Iris Hartwell
Iris settled onto the couch carefully, like it might dissolve beneath her.
Julian sat across from her with his laptop, files spread on the coffee table between them. The physical distance was deliberate, close enough to communicate, far enough to maintain boundaries. She understood this spacing. Had become fluent in the architecture of distance over the past weeks.
"I know people connected to Daniel's death," he said without preamble. "Not who killed him directly, but people involved in the networks that led to his murder. I've been investigating those connections."
He turned the laptop toward her. Pulled up documents. Financial records. Communications. A timeline.
"The shell company,Meridian Holdings, was set up by someone working in those networks. I hired him to trace Daniel's associations. Who he owed money to. What situations he'd gotten himself into. What obligations he'd created."
