Chapter 8 - The Burning House
Firefighters found Howard alive in the driveway.
He had been hit over the head.
The house burned nearly to the foundation.
The recorder was gone.
Howard claimed Darius attacked him.
Darius claimed Howard staged the fire.
Both men hired lawyers.
Neither explained the missing charity money.
Then a firefighter found a metal case beneath the collapsed garage wall.
Inside were backup drives.
One survived.
The first recovered clip showed Catherine entering the red-door apartment with Elena.
The second showed Darius.
The third showed Howard.
The final file was damaged.
Technicians restored thirteen seconds.
Catherine stood in the apartment kitchen.
She held a black ledger.
"We have enough."
Elena answered.
"Then tell Grant."
Catherine shook her head.
"Not until I know who inside his company is helping them."
A knock sounded.
Catherine froze.
The video ended.
Metadata showed the file was copied forty-eight hours before her death.
There was also a cloud sync address.
The account belonged to Avery.
Grant stared.
"She was eight."
"Seven then," Nolan said.
Catherine had hidden evidence inside her daughter's cloud storage because nobody would think to search a child's account.
Grant opened Avery's old tablet.
The password hint read MOMMY'S SONG.
Avery knew it.
The account opened.
Thousands of family photographs appeared.
Then one folder.
LILY.
Nolan's chest tightened.
Inside was a video recorded by Elena.
"Nolan, if you're seeing this, I couldn't keep you out of it anymore."
His dead wife looked directly at him.
"And I'm sorry."
Then she named the person she believed had ordered Catherine's death.
Not Darius.
May you like
Grant Vale.
