Chapter 9 - The River Warehouse

Dad pulled into the first parking lot and turned off the engine.

“What happened at the warehouse?” I asked.

He stared through the windshield. “A fire. Seventeen years ago.”

“Was somebody hurt?”

“A night watchman. He survived, but he lost his hearing in one ear.” Dad pressed his hands together. “Walter blamed me for faulty equipment. I believed him. I signed away my claims because I thought I was responsible.”

Monica asked, “Was there an investigation?”

“Only the company investigation. The fire marshal's report called it electrical, cause undetermined.”

We drove to the county records office and found the original fire report. Two pages were missing from the archived scan. A retired inspector named June Calder had signed the final page. We reached her by phone and met her at a diner outside town.

“I remember that job,” Calder said. “They wanted it wrapped fast. Your partner's lawyer kept insisting the camera system had malfunctioned.”

“Had it?” Dad asked.

“No. I found a maintenance log that showed the cameras were unplugged three hours before the fire.”

“Who signed the log?” I asked.

“Walter's operations manager. Preston Keene's father.”

I pulled up a photograph of Preston, Daniel's driver. Calder nodded. “Looks just like his dad.”

Calder handed Monica a faded photocopy she'd kept in her personal records. In a handwritten margin was a note: AUDIO TAPE REMOVED BY OWNER.

A line from Nora's note came back to me. Sometimes Evelyn hides things in the flowers.

That night, Ellis called to say Nora had been located alive at a motel two counties away. Her injuries were minor, but she was terrified. She would speak only if I came with an investigator.

“Is Preston there?” I asked.

“No,” Ellis said. “We still can't locate him.”

For the first time that day, hope broke through my exhaustion. Nora could tell us what was happening. Then Ellis added, “There's something you need to understand. Nora says your husband wasn't the person who ordered her followed.”

“Who was?”

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“Walter Harrington. And he says he has proof your father started that warehouse fire.”