Chapter 7 - THE LIE THAT BUILT A FASHION EMPIRE
Sabine Voss had become famous by telling the world she created her signature dress while studying alone in Paris.
Now archived videos showed Anna Ror developing the technique in a Dorchester sewing room.
But the stolen design was only the beginning.
The next discovery came from the Second Thread Foundation's annual reports.
Billy sat at her kitchen table while Marisol Quantero reviewed the documents with her.
The foundation claimed to support young designers from low-income families.
It publicized scholarships.
Mentorship programs.
Equipment grants.
And opportunities for new talent to enter the fashion industry.
But several recipients listed in the annual reports didn't appear to exist.
One scholarship had been awarded to a student whose college had no record of her.
Another went to a design studio that closed years earlier.
A third listed an address belonging to an empty warehouse.
Marisol stared at the pages.
"That's not normal."
Billy shook her head.
"No."
"How did you find this?"
"Anna's files."
Billy opened the thick folder she'd hidden for years beneath her grandmother's sewing machine.
Inside were copies of foundation invoices, company registrations, and names Anna had circled before she died.
"She was investigating them," Marisol whispered.
Billy nodded.
"She thought Sabine was using designers' work without paying them."
Then Billy found something she'd overlooked.
A handwritten list.
Twelve names.
Beside each name was a date and an amount of money.
Every name belonged to a young designer.
And each designer had submitted work to the Second Thread Foundation shortly before Sabine released another collection.
Marisol covered her mouth.
"She wasn't only stealing from Anna."
Billy shook her head.
"No."
Outside, a car slowed near the house.
Billy instinctively looked toward the window.
Then she remembered Rafe's warning.
His uncle's financial network could be much larger than one fashion label.
She called Elaine Porter.
By evening, an independent review had identified suspicious payments routed through several foundation-related companies.
The records didn't yet prove theft from every designer.
But they established a pattern investigators needed to examine.
Then Billy received an email.
The sender used an unfamiliar address.
The subject line read:
ANNA DIDN'T DIE BECAUSE OF THE DRESS.
Billy opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Anna stood beside a young woman outside a warehouse.
The woman held a baby.
And beneath the photograph was a message.
Your sister discovered what happened to the missing scholarship money.
But the person who tried to stop her wasn't Sabine.
Billy stared at the final sentence.
It was someone inside the Windmir Hotel.
May you like
Then came a name.
GIDEON PUIT.
