Chapter 16 - The Storage Unit
The storage unit sat behind a row of auto shops, under a flickering security light. Police had secured the entrance, but the roll-up door had been bent and the lock cut cleanly through.
Mom refused to go inside until Investigator Brooks had photographed everything. Arthur stayed beside her while I waited in the car with a female officer.
The unit looked almost empty. A folding chair, two plastic bins, a dusty lamp, and a cardboard box sat along the back wall. The cardboard box was open.
"The ledger," Mom whispered.
It was gone.
For a moment, she looked as if she might collapse. Then she pressed her lips together and started checking the bins herself. In the second one, she found a small envelope taped beneath the plastic rim.
Inside was a single page of numbers and a note written in her hand.
If the ledger is missing, follow the money to Bellmark. The payments tell the same story.
Investigator Brooks examined the page. It listed dates, account numbers, and the names of three companies that had received transfers after the warehouse fire. One was Bellmark Advisory. Another was a firm linked to Deputy Chief Pike. The third had been dissolved years earlier, but its account was still active.
Arthur's phone rang. The bank had flagged a large withdrawal from that account just minutes earlier.
"Can they stop it?" he asked.
"They're trying," Brooks replied. "But whoever made the request has valid credentials."
Mom stared at the numbers.
"Daniel had access to all three accounts."
"Not anymore," Arthur said.
"Then someone gave him theirs."
The officer beside the door called out. She had found a small envelope wedged behind the unit's metal frame. It contained a photograph of Dad standing beside Deputy Chief Pike and Peter Lang.
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On the back, in black marker, were four words:
THEY ALL KNOW WHERE.
