The Files He Couldn’t Make Disappear
Three weeks before the divorce hearing, my attorney, Jocelyn Park, had hired a forensic accountant named Sloane Mercer to examine several confusing financial disclosures.
Sloane had discovered transfers involving the Rourke Family Children’s Foundation, a respected charitable organization established decades earlier.
The foundation publicly raised money for children’s medical programs, temporary housing for families, and nutrition projects.
Lenore appeared in photographs at almost every fundraiser.
Camden served as vice chair.
The family name was printed everywhere.
But the financial records told a much less polished story.
Large amounts of money had moved from the foundation into companies connected to Rourke family interests.
One transfer exceeded $600,000.
Another went toward a property partnership.
Hundreds of thousands more traveled through investment companies before appearing in expensive real estate transactions.
There were also questionable travel and hospitality expenses.
Individually, every payment had an innocent-sounding description.
Consulting.
Program development.
Property management.
Strategic investment.
Together, they created a pattern that Sloane could not ignore.
Every relevant document had already been copied into secure storage.
My attorney had another copy.
Sloane had working records.
Camden had destroyed a machine.
He had not destroyed the evidence.
And by entering my home and damaging it, he had created an entirely new problem for himself.
A Name That Didn’t Belong
The next morning, Jocelyn and I reviewed the foundation’s archived board records.
That was when we noticed Camden’s younger sister.
Maris Rourke.
Maris was a pediatric cardiologist in Boston and the only member of Camden’s family I had genuinely liked.
