Chapter 17 - HARBOR POINT
Harbor Point had been closed since the investigation reopened.
Police surrounded the site before Adrian arrived.
Richard's car sat near the old east platform.
He stood alone above the harbor holding a leather portfolio.
Ortiz ordered Adrian to stay back.
Richard shouted first.
"You brought police to a family conversation?"
Adrian stepped into the open.
"You stopped making this a family conversation fourteen months ago."
Richard laughed.
"You think Daniel was some saint because he bought formula and copied reports?"
"No. I think he was my brother."
That landed.
Richard's face tightened.
"Thomas chose you."
"Thomas hid him. That's not the same thing."
Richard opened the portfolio.
Inside were original safety logs.
"These destroy Whitmore."
"Then Whitmore gets destroyed."
Richard stared at him as if he had spoken another language.
"You don't mean that."
"If the company needs dead engineers and fake concrete to survive, I do."
Richard looked toward the water.
Then he admitted the meeting.
He had confronted Daniel that morning.
He offered money again.
Daniel refused.
They argued.
Richard left.
"Did you cut his harness?" Adrian asked.
"No."
"Did you order anyone to?"
"No."
Ortiz called out, "Then who switched it?"
Richard turned toward her.
"After the fall, I ordered the evidence changed because the original harness had passed inspection. If that became public, the police would ask why it failed."
Adrian felt sick.
"So you didn't know why he fell. You just buried the question."
Richard's voice cracked.
"I thought someone on the site had tampered with it. I thought the company would collapse."
"Who?"
Richard looked at him.
"Seth Nolan."
But Seth was already in custody.
Ortiz had interviewed him.
Seth denied touching Daniel's harness.
Then Richard gave them the final name.
"Martin Caldwell. Mara's father."
Adrian froze.
Martin Caldwell had supposedly died two years earlier.
May you like
Richard shook his head.
"No. He disappeared."
