Chapter 4 - Wren's Folder
"Grandpa used to make me write down things I didn't understand," she said. "He said a record can outlive a lie."
She pulled a small spiral notebook from her backpack. Robert had given it to her when she was sixteen, telling her to keep track of chores at the boathouse. The first pages listed life jackets, dock repairs, and the dates he changed batteries in the wildlife camera he mounted near the reeds to watch herons.
"October 2: Caleb wants the land sold before winter."
"October 5: Asked Dean about the trust transfers. He denied everything too quickly."
"October 8: If anything happens, check the birdhouse camera."
The last entry was written the day Robert died. Under it, in heavy pen, he had added: "Wren knows where the spare key is."
"In the blue birdhouse at the end of the dock. The one Grandpa built."
Mara didn't let us go there. She called Deputy Melissa Grant, a local officer who had worked the original drowning case but was now with the county investigations unit. Grant agreed to meet us at the station before anyone approached the property.
"I remember the camera," she said. "It wasn't in the evidence log. The first deputy said it had been broken for months."
Grant's expression changed. "Then either he was wrong, or someone wanted us to think it was broken."
She requested the original case file and promised to arrange a lawful search of the property. As we left, Wren took my hand.
"Grandma, what if Dad knows about the camera?"
May you like
Before I could answer, my phone lit up with a text from Caleb.
Mom, please come home. Stacey says you are making things up again. We need to talk before Monday.
