Chapter 12 - The Third Voice
Owen's recording was messy, full of traffic noise from an open study window, but the argument was clear.
Frank Daley demanded money. Richard refused.
"The girl has Rosa's files," Frank said. "You promised me she'd never find them."
"The girl is a nuisance," Richard answered. "What matters is Mercer junior."
Frank lowered his voice. "And what if the third man talks?"
"He can't," Richard said. "You made sure of that."
"I made sure he disappeared. That isn't the same thing."
Claire stopped the playback. "Who disappeared?"
Tessa remembered an old employee photo from Rosa's boxes. A young mechanic named Samuel Pike had worked the night shift. His name appeared in the newspaper's list of fire victims, but his body was never identified.
Ortiz ran records. Samuel Pike had received a new driver's license in Nevada under the name Martin Cole two months after the fire. He had paid taxes there for twenty-four years, then vanished from the system.
"Could be identity theft," Ortiz warned. "Could be him."
Ethan and Tessa drove with Ortiz to the Nevada address. It was a small house with a garden full of rusted wind chimes.
A neighbor said Martin had left three days earlier after receiving an unexpected visitor.
"Silver-haired man, fancy car," she said.
Inside the mailbox was a postcard addressed to Martin. No return address. On the front was a picture of the exact wedding venue where Margaret had fallen.
May you like
On the back, in block letters, someone had written:
YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STAY DEAD.
