David looked down at the marble floor near the base of the staircase.
Halfway under a small plastic dollhouse was a sleek black leather notebook with gold edges.
Evelyn: Don't touch that!
Evelyn lunged forward, her high heels clicking loudly against the marble floor as she reached for the book.
David stepped forward and blocked her path with his shoulder, sending her staggering back again.
David: Back off, Evelyn!
Evelyn: That is my private personal diary! You have no legal right to read my private journal!
David: Anything on my marble floor during a crime investigation is open to review.
David knelt down, picked up the black notebook, and flipped open the first cover page.
Written in neat cursive handwriting was a list of offshore account numbers, wire transfer dates, and corporate names.
David: Cayman Islands Holdings... Zurich Private Trust... What are these accounts, Evelyn?
Evelyn: They are my family's personal savings accounts from before we got married!
David: These wire transfers started three months ago. The exact week I gave you authorization over the household operational fund.
Lily: She used to talk to a man named Marcus on her phone every night when you were at the office, Daddy.
David: Marcus? Marcus Sterling, my chief financial officer?
Evelyn: Lily is making up names! She doesn't know what she's talking about!
Lily: He came to the house last Tuesday when you were in New York! He had a big leather bag!
David: Marcus came to my house while I was out of state?
Evelyn: He was dropping off corporate tax documents for you to sign when you returned!
David: My tax documents are delivered to my corporate tower, never to my private residence.
David flipped to the middle section of the black ledger.
A folded bank receipt fell out of the pages, fluttering down onto the floor before David caught it.
David: Four hundred thousand dollars transferred from the Vance Foundation account to an account named Evelyn Reed LLC.
Evelyn: That was for the charity gala expenses!
David: The charity gala budget was fifty thousand dollars, Evelyn! I approved it myself!
Evelyn: We expanded the venue! We ordered imported flowers and champagne!
David: You embezzled three hundred and fifty thousand dollars from a children's cancer foundation!
Lily: Is that why she hit me, Daddy? Because I found her little black book under her vanity?
David: Is that where you found this, Lily?
Lily: Yes. It was stuck behind her makeup mirror. I thought it was a coloring book, so I put it in my handbag.
David: You saved this family millions of dollars today, my brave little girl.
Evelyn's breathing became shallow and rapid as she backed toward the grand front entrance doors.
Evelyn: David, please... we can fix this! We don't have to ruin our marriage over financial misunderstandings!
David: Misunderstandings? You struck my daughter, stole from a children's charity, and plotted to send my child to Europe to steal her inheritance!
Evelyn: I was desperate! My father's estate was going into foreclosure!
David: You lied about your family's wealth from the very first day we met!
Evelyn: I loved you, David! I really loved you!
David: You loved my bank account. And now you're going to pay for every single cent you touched.