Chapter 15 - Claire's Photograph
Locker B-19 contained almost nothing.
A folding chair.
A broken lamp.
A cardboard tube.
Inside the tube was one photograph.
Claire stood beside her car outside Reed Development, arguing with Raymond Vale.
The date stamp was two days before her fatal crash.
On the back, Daniel had written:
CLAIRE FOUND THE FIRST TRANSFERS.
Mara sat down hard on the folding chair.
"This means the theft started before Daniel knew."
A second envelope held the private investigator's notes.
Claire had discovered small unauthorized transfers from an account connected to Ethan's grandfather's estate.
She confronted Raymond because he managed vendor payments at the time.
Then she died.
The investigator never proved sabotage.
But one witness had seen Raymond near Claire's car the evening before the crash.
That witness disappeared before giving a sworn statement.
Detective Cole reopened Claire's case too.
Ethan didn't cry until that night.
He sat on Mara's kitchen floor and finally said what he had been holding in.
"What if everybody around me gets hurt because of that money?"
Mara knelt beside him.
"Money didn't do this. People made choices."
"Dad died. Mom died. Lily got taken away from me."
"Lily wasn't taken away from you. She's safe while adults fix what adults broke."
The next morning Lily arrived with Denise for breakfast.
She shoved half a waffle onto Ethan's plate without asking.
He stared at it.
She stared back.
"You're my brother. Eat."
He laughed for the first time in weeks.
Then Mara's phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph taken through the kitchen window.
Ethan and Lily were visible at the table.
May you like
Underneath were four words.
GIVE ME THE LEDGER.
