Chapter 19 - The Empty Coffin
The recording began with Thomas speaking fast, as though he knew he had only minutes.
"My name is Thomas Navarro. I helped them move two people before I understood where the vans went. I signed papers I should've questioned. This is my statement. Don't let my family turn me into a saint. Tell the women I am sorry."
A door slammed. Thomas gasped. Another voice said, "The fire will make the identification easy. Put the driver's watch with the remains."
Keene identified the voice as Grant Larkin, his former investigative partner. Larkin had accepted payments from Vale, intercepted Thomas's evidence, and approached Nora at school to frighten Lucie into silence. The song Nora recognized had been taken from Thomas's recorded interviews.
Investigators determined that the body in the warehouse belonged to a transport driver killed during the cover-up. Thomas survived the fire and hid at a motel, hoping to meet Keene. Eight days later, Larkin tracked him down. A recovered burial report and forensic evidence pointed to Thomas being killed near Cedar Ridge.
The new evidence was devastating. Lucie had spent seven years mourning a man who lived eight days longer than anybody had told her. Those days might have been enough to save him if one person had spoken.
At a hearing six weeks later, Mercer and Vale faced charges involving unlawful imprisonment, conspiracy, forced labor, and evidence tampering. Sloan was charged over the forged authorizations and her role in planting the courthouse documents in Lucie's car. Larkin was charged in connection with Thomas's death. All were entitled to trials; none could erase the records already in investigators' hands.
Valérie gave a sworn statement naming the women she'd threatened, the medicine she'd taken, and the orders she'd followed. Her lawyer told her to say less. She refused.
"I hurt people," she said. "I want those people to hear me admit it."
June testified from a safer facility, and Rosa gave evidence about the missing medical supplies. Nico began treatment and agreed to cooperate. At last, the investigation had names instead of rumors.
Lucie's conviction was still on the books, however. The court scheduled a separate hearing on her petition to have it overturned.
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Then Mara called with news that stopped her cold.
"The state isn't contesting the new evidence," she said. "The judge wants to see you tomorrow."
