Page 101 of Keller

One of these people told Parsale to reroute those containers. One of them knew what was coming in and didn't want it traced.

I click on the related-entity sweep function and enter Stone Intermodal's primary identifiers. The system begins pulling connections and subsidiary companies.

The progress bar inches forward, so I take a sip of coffee and wait. The Xerox machine down the hall is still hard at work. Footsteps pass my closed door.

A text comes through from Keller.

Thinking about you.

My chest warms. I type back quickly.

Same. Missing you already.

I set the phone face down and return my attention to the screen.

The sweep completes, and a cascade of linked entities populates the results panel. I start reading.

The related-entity results fill my screen. It's the usual corporate architecture for a shipping operation this size.

I scroll past Stone Intermodal's business entities because I've already mapped them. What I need is the personal financial ecosystem. The places where Robert Stone's money moved outside company channels.

I adjust my search parameters and search back sixty days before his death. I want to look at his personal accounts only. Maybe there's something there.

The system churns, and a new set of results populates.

Personal checking at First Gulf Bank. Brokerage account at Merrill. Two trust distributions logged in August. A charitable vehicle I haven't seen before.

The Eleanor Stone Historic Preservation Trust.

Eleanor Stone. That's Keller's mom. She's been gone for seventeen years, but he still has an operating trust in her name. I wonder what he uses that for?

I click on the entity profile. The charter language is narrow and clean. It's a historic preservation trust named for Robert's late wife, established twenty-three years ago, so before her death.

I pull up the transaction history.

There's nothing for fifteen years until a single transaction on September 29th, approximately two weeks before Robert Stone's death. A $10,000 wire transfer. I pull it up to see where it went.

Recipient: Maris Intelligence Group.

Memo line: "Strategic Advisory Retainer."

My coffee goes cold in my hand.

I verify the transaction log. Amount confirmed, routing confirmed, trustee authorization under Robert Stone's personal credentials.

Maris Intelligence Group. The name doesn't ring a bell, so I open a new tab and run a basic search.

Maritime risk consulting specializes in due diligence investigations and asset protection for shipping companies and port operators.

I read the description twice.

A historic preservation trust dedicated to Orleans Parish buildings, dormant for fifteen years, is suddenly hiring a maritime risk consulting firm….

The two things don't connect.

Historic preservation has nothing to do with shipping lanes or cargo security. The trust charter doesn't authorize maritime exposure. The scope is buildings, architecture, bricks, and mortar.

So why this payment? Why now?