Chapter 10 - THE OTHER NAME
Owen Bell met Hart and me at his lawyer's office. He looked exhausted, but he kept his back straight when he handed over a folder of service records.
“The fan failed twice in testing,” he said. “I recommended a shutdown until replacement parts arrived. Heller signed the warning. Then my boss ordered me to mark the job completed.”
“Your boss?” Hart asked.
“Charles Cole.”
His documents included dated service requests and a copy of an email directing technicians not to discuss the fault with cadets. Hart documented where each page came from and arranged to verify the originals.
“Who's the second student?” I asked.
“Tyler Grant. He was inside with Ben when the alarm started. He had trouble breathing, too. They made him sign a statement that the room was normal.”
Drew's nervous friend. The one who kept looking behind him in the courtyard.
We located Tyler at his aunt's house. He was sitting on the porch with an overnight bag and a look of pure panic.
“I didn't do anything,” he said before we reached the steps.
“Maybe not,” Hart replied. “But you saw something. We'd like your account, in your own words.”
His aunt, a paramedic, sat beside him as he spoke.
“Ben yelled that the exit was stuck. Ryan said the drill wasn't over. Heller told us to stay at our stations. I thought someone would get Ben out. Then he stopped answering.”
Tyler rubbed the heel of one hand over his eyes.
“Ryan said if we reported the alarm, the academy would lose its grant and we'd all lose our futures.”
“Who drafted your statement?” Hart asked.
Tyler reached into his bag and pulled out a printed page.
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At the bottom, beneath his signature, was a sentence he swore hadn't been there when he signed.
THE CADET REFUSED AN OFFER OF IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.
