Chapter 4 - The Demolition of Richard Sterling
The collapse of Richard Sterling’s empire was swift, merciless, and completely public.
When Harold Finch reviewed the unsealed federal indictments linking Richard’s shell companies directly to bank fraud, identity theft, and corporate grand larceny, he slowly gathered his files, packed his briefcase, and walked out of the room without looking at his client once.
“Harold! Harold, don't leave!” Richard screamed, his voice cracking into a high, humiliated shriek as the two federal marshals stepped behind his chair.
“Richard Sterling,” the lead marshal announced, pulling a set of heavy steel handcuffs from his tactical belt. “You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, bank fraud, and felony reckless endangerment of an expectant mother.”
Richard tried to wrench his arms free, but the marshals pinned him against the obsidian glass wall, clicking the cuffs tightly around his wrists.
His face was pressed flat against the glass, overlooking the sprawling city skyline he had spent a decade trying to conquer. Down below on Michigan Avenue, television news vans were already assembling, their broadcast satellite dishes aimed toward the Grand Belmont after Martin Vance released the unsealed indictments to the press.
“Claire, please!” Richard wept, turning his head frantically as they dragged him toward the private elevator. “We’re having a baby! Think of our daughter! She needs a father with an honorable name!”
I stood up, walking slowly across the plush rug until I was standing inches from him. I looked at the man who had ordered me to pick up my nursing bras off a public marble floor while fifty strangers watched.
“My daughter has an honorable name, Richard,” I whispered, my voice clear as ice. “Her name is Victoria Crawford. And your name is being stripped from the city by noon.”
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By 2:00 p.m., the signage on the Sterling Tower four blocks away was being removed by crane operators under court order. Every personal bank account, luxury vehicle lease, and country club membership tied to Richard had been liquidated or frozen.
The man who had tried to leave me homeless and penniless on the street was sitting in a six-by-eight holding cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting trial without bail.
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