Eva whispers, “And I just happened to oppose the resort project.”
“Exactly,” he says. “The tunnel stayed safe.”
Eva exhales. “So, Kurt Ozzi wanted me in charge, huh?”
“That’s our working theory.”
My fists clench on the table. “You’re making it sound like she handed him what he wanted.”
“No, I’m saying he adapted. He engineered the circumstances and let them play out.”
“He bet on a teenage duchess,” Eva sums up, “and on a widow whose stance played into his hands.”
Von Dietz nods. “And when he realized he might lose his bet, he ensured that Judge Vautrin, who was set to rule for Monsieur Castellane, stepped down.”
Eva’s gasp cuts through the room. My chest constricts. For once, we’re equally blindsided.
I grip the edge of the table. “You’re telling me Vautrin didn’t recuse himself for personal reasons?”
“He received credible threats, Monsieur Castellane. “
Eva shifts in her chair. “Threats? To his physical safety?”
“His and his family’s,” Von Dietz confirms. “Very specific and perfectly timed.”
I slam my palm on the table. “Son of a?—”
Eva murmurs with a humorless smile, “Ozzi was probably as disappointed as I was to discover Geoffroy had left no will, and the estate would go to Alex.”
“He assumed Your Grace and Lady Millicent would be more malleable than Monsieur Castellane,” Von Dietz says. “Short-term, your stance preserved his tunnel. Long-term, he expected the estate to falter under you, making a takeover easier.”
There’s an edge in Eva’s voice. “Isn’t it ironic that his sexist expectations led him to favor a feminist judge?”
“I see the irony,” Von Dietz says. “Ozzi knew Judge Sarrazin was on the rotation list for Rohinn. He was aware of her strong opinions. He also knew that being the mother of a teenage girl would make her much more likely to rule for you.”
I lock eyes with Von Dietz. “What made you realize Vautrin had been forced out?”
“After stepping down, he came to see me.”
Eva’s head snaps up. “He what?”
“He came here,” Von Dietz says. “He told me about the threats to his family and asked for a special security detail.”
Eva fixes on him. “And you gave it, I hope?”
“Of course. They’ve been under discreet protection.”
“What ties Ozzi to those threats?” I ask.
Von Dietz doesn’t hesitate. “First, motive. He had plenty. Vautrin on the case meant a ruling in your favor, Monsieur Castellane. Ozzi couldn’t allow that.”
Eva swallows hard.
“Second,” Von Dietz continues, “it matches his modus operandi. The sniper Tobias Brunner? Ozzi had kidnapped his wife and daughter to force his hand against Princess Felicia. Family pressure is his tactic of choice.”
I watch Eva stare at the table.
“Finally,” Von Dietz says, “we traced the call patterns of the burner phone used to deliver the threats against the judge. It pinged repeatedly near one of Ozzi’s properties in Switzerland around the time of the calls.”
