Chapter 6 - The Man with the Badge
The man at the end of the storage aisle wore a police badge on a chain around his neck. He hadn't bothered to show it.
"Detective Nolan Weller," he said. "That bag contains evidence in an active investigation."
"An investigation that closed three years ago?" Naomi asked.
Weller smiled without warmth. "You've had an exciting night. Don't make it worse."
Tess shifted behind a stack of moving boxes. Naomi tightened her grip on the canvas handles. She could hear the little recorder ticking as it replayed her mother's voice inside the bag.
"Where's your warrant?" Naomi said.
"In my car."
"Then go get it."
Weller took a step forward. Tess kicked a rolling cart into his knees. Naomi darted past him, knocking over a bucket of old hangers as she ran. Weller grabbed her sleeve, but the thin fabric ripped in his fist. She and Tess burst out a rear door and sprinted through the print shop, where two workers stared as they passed.
"Call nine-one-one!" Tess shouted.
"He is nine-one-one!" Naomi yelled back.
They escaped through the loading dock. Naomi shook so badly Tess had to drive.
June answered on the second ring. When Naomi described Weller, the reporter swore.
"He signed the first fire report," June said. "He was the officer who told the papers your mom started it."
"And now he's chasing her notes."
"I can publish that. But we need someone who understands what those notes mean. Eli Ward's daughter isn't missing. She's safe with her aunt. He was trying to scare us off."
"Then why is he scared?"
June hesitated. "His wife died last year. Their daughter is all he has."
Naomi opened Elena's notebook. Each page held dates, room numbers, complaints that had gone unanswered. Near the back, a name was circled three times: ELI WARD. Under it, Elena had written: He said there are two people who can hold the doors shut. Find out who.
June gave them an address in the suburbs. "I finally reached him. He'll talk for ten minutes. No recordings."
May you like
Naomi looked at the last line in her mother's handwriting.
One of them came to Briar House tonight.
