The Alder Point Ledger
A historic preservationist in Oregon discovers evidence of structural sabotage and financial fraud orchestrated by her developer husband and a corrupt official.
Fictional story. Contains themes of marital betrayal, corporate deception, and financial fraud.Chapter 1: The Cracks in the Timber
The fog off the Oregon coast always carried the heavy scent of crushed pine needles and damp tideflats. On a gray Thursday morning in October, Nora Vance stood inside the cavernous hall of the Alder Point Lodge, her hands resting against a central support beam carved from solid nineteenth-century Douglas fir. For nearly six months, she had been serving as the lead historic conservator for the building’s restoration, carefully stripping away decades of water damage to preserve one of the last remaining timber structures on the headland.
Her husband, Julian, was supposed to be handling the project’s structural assessment through his commercial development firm. Over the past nine years of their marriage, Julian had built a reputation across Tillamook County as an ambitious, persuasive negotiator who knew how to push complex real estate deals through municipal red tape. Lately, however, his tone regarding the lodge had shifted from cautious enthusiasm to quiet insistence that the structure was compromised beyond repair.