Chapter 13 - The Boy in the Photograph
The photograph showed Eli standing outside the greenhouse on Saturday night. His face was turned away, but the embroidery on his work jacket was clear. Colin stood beside him, one hand gripping Eli's shoulder. Brielle was in the background, holding the same folded papers I'd seen in Asha's invoices.
"Owen didn't know if it mattered," Tara said. "He showed it to me after the recording."
I forwarded the original image to Renee. Then I called every hospital and station where Eli's family might have asked for help. Renee reminded me not to conduct my own search or interfere with witnesses. I stopped and gave her his supervisor's contact information instead.
By evening she had found him. Eli was nineteen, staying with his older sister in a small apartment outside Asheville. He hadn't disappeared because he'd done something wrong. He'd hidden after someone took his employee badge and threatened to report him for theft.
Renee asked whether he would speak with her. He agreed if his sister could stay in the room.
I wasn't allowed in for the interview, and I was glad. The boy didn't need the man whose signature he'd questioned staring him down. I waited with a vending-machine coffee and watched the clock.
When Renee came out, her eyes were tired. "Eli found noncompliant exit hardware. He photographed it. He says Colin told him to change the test result. When Eli refused, Colin locked him inside the rear service room for two hours, then accused him of stealing tools."
"Did Brielle know?"
"He says she was present for part of the argument. We need corroboration."
Eli had saved a copy of his rejected inspection checklist on a school laptop. His sister had kept the device while he hid.
"Will he be all right?" I asked.
"He has people with him," Renee said. "And he'll have the chance to tell his own story."
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Then she handed me a copy of a photograph he'd consented to share.
It showed the north exit bolted shut on a day when forty children had been inside for a volunteer rehearsal.
