Chương 9
"Why would a witness statement disappear?"
Daniel did not answer.
He did not want to give her a guess and accidentally turn it into a fact.
That was one of the first things he had learned since opening Mara's files.
A person could destroy the truth without ever saying a lie.
Sometimes all they had to do was remove something important.
Daniel picked up the phone and searched Linda Avery's name.
There were several results.
A business profile.
An old address.
A mention in a local community newsletter.
Nothing about the accident.
Nothing about the missing statement.
"She vanished," Emma said.
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"Not vanished."
She pointed at the screen.
"Her business closed eight months ago."
Daniel looked closer.
Linda Avery had owned a small accounting office.
The office had closed three months after Mara died.
The notice said she was retiring.
Daniel read it twice.
"She retired at forty-six?"
Emma shrugged.
"Maybe she wanted to."
"Maybe."
But Daniel did not believe in maybe anymore.
Not when the timing kept lining up.
He went back to the document.
The signature at the bottom was Mara's.
Not a printed name.
A handwritten note.
"Review pending."
Daniel remembered something.
A conversation.
Not a major one.
Not something he had thought mattered.
Mara standing in the kitchen while chopping vegetables.
Her phone beside her.
Her face serious.
He had asked what was wrong.
She had said, "I am trying to figure out whether someone made a mistake or whether someone wants me to think it was a mistake."
He had laughed.
Not loudly.
Just enough to show he did not understand.
She had looked at him for a long second.
Then she changed the subject.
At the time, he thought she was being dramatic.
Now the memory felt like an accusation.
Emma noticed him staring at nothing.
"What?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Your mom tried to tell me."
Emma did not say anything.
That silence was worse than blame.
"I didn't listen."
She sat down across from him.
"You listened."
Daniel looked at her.
"You just didn't believe her."
The honesty hurt.
But it also felt fair.
He looked back at the photograph.
"I need to find out who removed Linda's statement."
Emma nodded.
"How?"
Daniel almost gave the same answer as before.
I don't know.
He stopped himself.
"I start with the original file."
"You already have it."
"No."
He tapped the document.
"I have a copy someone wanted saved."
He pointed to the screen.
"I need the version that everyone else wanted gone."
The transportation office opened at eight.
Daniel arrived at seven forty-five.
He parked across the street and watched people enter.
He hated how suspicious he had become.
Every person carrying a folder seemed like they might be hiding something.
Every person looking at their phone seemed like they might be reporting his location.
He knew fear could make ordinary things look dangerous.
He also knew ordinary things sometimes were dangerous.
That was the part he could not separate anymore.
Inside, the same receptionist looked up when she saw him.
Her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Concern.
"You came back."
Daniel nodded.
"I need to ask about the original accident file."
She glanced around.
"Mr. Mercer."
"I know."
"No."
Her voice lowered.
"You don't know."
Daniel stopped.
The receptionist looked uncomfortable.
"I should not have talked to you yesterday."
"Why?"
"Because now people know I did."
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
"Who knows?"
She looked away.
"I don't know."
The answer sounded familiar.
Too familiar.
"Did someone talk to you?"
She pressed her lips together.
That was enough.
"Who?"
"I can't tell you."
"Can't or won't?"
Her eyes hardened.
"I have a job."
Daniel softened slightly.
Because that was the truth.
People did not always stay silent because they were cruel.
Sometimes they stayed silent because they were afraid of what speaking would cost them.
"I am not asking you to risk your job."
She looked at him.
"Yes, you are."
Daniel had no response.
The receptionist opened a drawer and pulled out a small envelope.
She slid it across the counter.
"I found this after you left yesterday."
Daniel did not touch it.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
"Then why give it to me?"
"Because it had your wife's name on it."
Daniel picked it up.
The envelope was sealed.
His name was written on the front.
Not Daniel.
Not Mr. Mercer.
Just D.
The same way Mara used to label things around the house.
He looked at the receptionist.
"Where did you find this?"
"Under a stack of old requests."
"Why was it there?"
She looked at him.
"Because someone put it there."
Daniel carried the envelope outside.
He opened it in his car.
Inside was a single page.
A list of dates.
Names.
Locations.
At the bottom was one sentence.
The person who changed the report was not the person who ordered the change.
Daniel read the line several times.
Then he saw a name.
A name he had not expected.
Not Harlan Vale.
Not Linda Avery.
Not anyone connected to the transportation company.
His own employer.
Mercer and Cole Construction.
Daniel stopped breathing for a moment.
His father's old company.
The company he had worked at for fourteen years.
The company where Mara had met him.
The company where everyone knew everyone.
The company where he had spent years believing he understood the people around him.
His phone rang.
Rachel.
He answered immediately.
"Rachel."
"Daniel."
Her voice sounded different.
Urgent.
"Where are you?"
"At the transportation office."
A pause.
"You shouldn't be there."
He looked at the paper.
"What happened?"
"I found something."
"So did I."
"No."
Rachel's voice dropped.
"I mean I found something about Mara."
Daniel sat up.
"What?"
"She wasn't only investigating the accident."
"What else?"
"She was investigating someone inside your company."
The words landed before he was ready for them.
Daniel looked again at the paper.
Mercer and Cole Construction.
"What do you know?"
May you like
"Not enough."
"Rachel."
