Chương 8
“It helps us create an accurate record.”
“Can I record too?”
A pause.
“You may want to consult an attorney before creating your own recording,” Alison said.
“Why?”
“State laws differ.”
“Are you recording now?”
“No.”
Leah opened a notebook.
Alison asked her to begin when she entered the store. Leah corrected her.
“It began at the pharmacy counter.”
“All right.”
“The technician handed me the bag. Todd was behind her.”
“What was he doing?”
“Watching the register.”
“Did that seem unusual?”
“I didn’t know who he was then.”
She described paying with a debit card, folding the receipt, and placing it inside the bag. Todd had asked the pharmacy technician whether the tag was dead. The technician said yes without looking up. Todd tapped the counter twice with his fingers and walked away.
At the exit, the alarm sounded.
Leah turned. Todd was already moving toward her from customer service.
Alison interrupted. “You’re certain he was moving before you turned?”
“I saw him in the reflection on the door.”
“That detail wasn’t in the police statement.”
“The officer didn’t ask.”
“Did you tell Mr. Kane?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t know it mattered.”
Alison’s questions became more specific. How far had Todd been from the exit? Which hand touched the bag? Had Leah raised her voice? Had she used profanity? Had Marcus appeared angry before the bag tore?
Leah answered until the questions began reshaping the event into a test she had not known she was taking.
Then she asked, “How many customers did Todd accuse of theft in the last year?”
“I don’t have that information.”
“Can you get it?”
“Our investigation will review relevant history.”
“How many paid civil recovery?”
“I can’t discuss other customers.”
“How many complaints named him?”
“I can’t discuss confidential records.”
“Can you tell me whether I’m the first?”
Alison’s voice softened. “I don’t want you to draw conclusions from incomplete information.”
“That sounds like no.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No. You said the smallest part.”
The phrase came out in Marcus’s voice, and Leah hated that she found comfort in it.
After the interview, Alison emailed a consent form allowing Northway to obtain Leah’s medical information “to evaluate claimed physical or emotional harm.” Leah did not sign it.
Instead, she called a lawyer.
The first attorney wanted a five-thousand-dollar retainer. The second said the case might be worth less than the cost of pursuing it unless Leah had a documented injury. The third, Miriam Cho, asked three questions before discussing money.
“Do you want compensation, correction, or exposure?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you need to keep shopping at that store?”
“No.”
“Are you prepared for people to accuse you of lying even after proof appears?”
Leah looked at the frozen image on her laptop. Marcus’s body blocked most of hers. Only one eye and part of her cheek were visible.
“They already do,” she said.
Miriam agreed to meet.
Marcus did not hear from Leah for four days.
He respected her demand by not calling, which felt less like respect than standing outside a burning garage because the owner had not given him permission to enter. He went to work. He replaced tires, rebuilt a carburetor, and listened to Odessa complain about customers who purchased motorcycles taller than their judgment.
On Friday, a Northway attorney called the shop and asked whether Marcus would provide his original phone to a digital-evidence consultant.
“No.”
“We can arrange a secure copy.”
“No.”
“The recording you distributed may contain proprietary system information.”
“I didn’t distribute it.”
“You played it in a public store.”
“That’s not distribution.”
“Mr. Kane, we’re trying to authenticate the audio.”
“Call your employee who sent it.”
“The employee is a third-party compliance contractor.”
“Then call the contractor.”
“We have.”
“And?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss an active review.”
Marcus laughed. “You people have a whole language for saying nothing.”
The attorney’s voice cooled. “You should be aware that knowingly circulating altered material could create liability.”
“Are you saying I altered it?”
“I’m advising you not to make public representations until authentication is complete.”
“You called me.”
“Yes.”
“You found the number somehow.”
“It was provided in the incident report.”
“So the police report is real, but your own recording might be fake.”
The attorney ended the call.
Marcus called Leah before he could stop himself.
She answered on the sixth ring. “What happened?”
The lack of greeting told him she expected bad news.
He described the attorney’s call.
“You didn’t give them the phone?”
“No.”
“You should give it to Miriam.”
“Who’s Miriam?”
“My lawyer.”
The word changed his posture.
“You hired a lawyer?”
“I talked to one.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were not speaking to me.”
“You told me to leave you alone.”
“And you did.”
“You’re angry that I listened?”
“I’m not angry.”
“You sound angry.”
“I’m tired.”
He sat on a stool beside the workbench. Odessa looked over from the office and quietly closed the door.
Leah said, “Miriam wants to meet you Monday.”
“I’ll be there.”
“She wants the phone.”
“She can copy it.”
“She also wants you not to talk to reporters.”
“I haven’t.”
“Or Northway.”
“They called me.”
“You can hang up.”
Marcus glanced at the socket wrench in his hand. “You sound like a lawyer.”
“I sound like somebody who doesn’t want you making decisions with my name in them.”
He set the wrench down. “All right.”
Another silence.
Leah said, “Marisol found a fourth person.”
“Tell Miriam.”
“I did.”
“Good.”
“You could ask me what happened.”
“What happened?”
May you like
The fourth person was Devin’s older brother.
Devin had contacted Leah from a new email address after his shift. His brother, Caleb, had worked at Northway the previous spring. Todd instructed him to log suspected theft recoveries under Todd’s employee number whenever Todd supervised the stop. Caleb refused after an elderly man was accused of hiding batteries that were later found beneath a shelf. Two weeks later, Caleb’s hours were cut. He quit.
