Chapter 5 - THE GUEST WHO FINALLY TALKED
One of Sabrina’s New Year’s guests contacted Wyatt’s attorney two days later.
His name was Colin Marsh.
Forty-eight.
Corporate lender.
He had known Sabrina through business for years.
Colin did not see Wyatt fall down the basement stairs.
He did not know when the chain was attached.
But he had seen enough upstairs to become uncomfortable before Abraham arrived.
Sabrina told guests Wyatt was “detoxing from pain medication.”
That was why he could not attend the party.
She said he had become unpredictable after the knee injury.
Then she joked that locking the basement was “for everyone’s safety.”
People laughed.
Colin did too.
He felt ashamed admitting that.
Later, he followed Sabrina downstairs because she carried a bowl of rice and said:
“Time to feed the hostage.”
Again, people thought it was a joke.
Until they saw Wyatt.
“Why didn’t you call police?” Abraham asked when Colin agreed to speak with them.
Colin looked sick.
“I don’t have a good answer.”
“Try.”
“I thought maybe this was some horrible private arrangement. Wyatt was conscious. Sabrina was acting like she was in control. Nobody else moved.”
There it was.
Social proof.
Cruelty could survive remarkably long when everyone waited for someone else to name it.
Colin had another piece.
Earlier that evening, he heard Sabrina arguing with a man named Edward Pike near the bar.
Pike was one of the Redfern investors.
Colin remembered one sentence.
“If he doesn’t sign tonight, Blackridge goes directly to him Monday.”
Monday again.
A deadline.
Wyatt explained.
Blackridge had become suspicious about the Redfern structure.
Its attorneys wanted direct confirmation from Mercer’s majority owner before proceeding.
Wyatt.
Sabrina had spent weeks representing that Wyatt supported Redfern.
He did not.
If Wyatt spoke directly to Blackridge on Monday, the private investor group could lose its chance to insert itself between Mercer and the buyer.
“Why does Redfern need to be in the middle?” Abraham asked.
Wyatt looked exhausted.
“That’s what I couldn’t figure out.”
Thirty-one million from Blackridge.
Nineteen million valuation through Redfern.
Someone stood to capture a massive difference.
The obvious answer was greed.
But Sabrina already knew Wyatt would never voluntarily sell twelve million dollars of value cheaply.
May you like
So why build a transaction he would reject?
Unless the valuation everyone was comparing was not actually measuring the same thing.
