Chapter 15 - The Man Behind the Camera

The voice belonged to Victor Hales. Ethan knew it before Price named him.

In the video, Victor stood inside the blue room holding a set of invoices. Sloane checked the door and told him that Caleb was upstairs asleep.

"We can still undo this," Victor said.

"You can return the money?" she asked.

"I can stop the transfer. I can't erase the first one."

"Then keep billing the treatment center. Ethan signs anything when he thinks it's for his son."

Price paused the footage.

"This doesn't prove every part of the earlier fraud on its own," he said. "But it gives us grounds to seek additional records and interview Hales."

"What about the threat to Caleb?" Isabel demanded.

"We're investigating whether they used his fear to control him."

Olivia helped him produce the full trust records. The attempted four-million-dollar withdrawal was frozen. The original charity funds had been routed through Victor's consulting firm before vanishing into accounts tied to Haven Ridge.

Lucille agreed to give a statement about the blue room and the courier receipt. Dr. Fenwick provided his actual recommendations, directly contradicting the invoices used to justify Caleb's confinement.

Sloane refused another interview.

Instead, she gave a statement to a local television station accusing Isabel of manipulating her son and Ethan of having a nervous breakdown.

Isabel watched ten seconds before switching the screen off.

"She wants us to argue in public," she said.

"And we're not going to," Ethan answered.

Later that evening, Victor contacted Olivia through his attorney. He was willing to turn over bank records, but only if prosecutors agreed to discuss his own criminal exposure.

"He wants a deal," Olivia explained.

"Will he tell the truth?" Isabel asked.

"He'll probably tell the parts he can prove. That's why we need the documents."

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Minutes later, a sealed package arrived at Olivia's office. Inside was a ledger, a flash drive, and one page marked in red: AUTHORIZATION — ETHAN WHITLOCK.

Under Ethan's name was a handwritten note from Victor: HE KNEW MORE THAN HE ADMITS.