Chapter 16 - The Copy They Couldn't Burn
Leah visited two days later, escorted by a state oversight investigator named Patricia Sloan. Sloan did not wear a uniform. She carried a notebook with numbered pages and never asked a question twice.
“Did you personally see the body bag?” she asked.
“Yes. Outside my cell at night.”
“Did you personally see Gloria moved on the stretcher?”
“Yes. Nurse Singh challenged a chart saying Gloria was dead.”
“And did you personally see your father at Cedar House?”
“No.” My throat tightened. “I believe that's where he is. I won't pretend I saw something I didn't.”
Sloan's expression softened for the first time. “Good. That's how we build a case.”
She explained a preservation order had been issued for Blackwater's medical and transfer records. Investigators had obtained copies of the overnight logs from the state system before local administrators could modify them.
“What about the missing phone?” I asked.
“An employee surrendered a device,” Sloan said. “I can't discuss its contents yet.”
Leah slid a sheet against the glass. It contained a still image from a recovered video: a hallway monitor, a date stamp, and a list of patients. Beside SOFIA BELL was a destination field that read CEDAR HOUSE. Below it was another line.
THOMAS CALDER - EXTERNAL CONSULTANT - OBSERVATION.
I stopped breathing.
“Is he alive?”
“We have evidence he arrived,” Sloan said. “We're seeking access to the facility.”
“Please hurry.”
Her voice was steady. “I intend to.”
When the meeting ended, Sloan took a written statement from Ward, who admitted driving the van. He surrendered a private copy of the vehicle log. Leah told me the state had made a formal request to inspect Cedar House that evening.
I returned to my cell wanting to believe the worst was over.
May you like
Instead I found Colson waiting inside. He held a lighter in one hand and my father's photograph in the other.
“Tell me,” he said, “how much evidence does it take to make you forget him?”
