Chapter 8 - The Accountant’s Last Message
Harold Pike’s death was ruled suspicious before the medical examiner finished the first examination.
He had been discovered sitting in his car with the garage door closed. The engine was off, the windows were open, and a glass of water rested on the hood.
“Why leave water?” I asked Luis.
“Because whoever staged the scene wanted us to notice it,” he said.
The water came from Bennett Water Systems.
Vanessa sat beside me in the police interview room, pale and exhausted. Since the assault, she had barely slept. I still did not know whether I wanted her beside me or far away.
“Harold knew about Daniel,” she said.
“He knew about Ethan and Marcus,” I replied.
“Maybe the film is incomplete.”
Luis placed an evidence bag on the table. Inside was Harold’s phone.
“He sent one message before he died,” Luis said. “To Samuel’s old number.”
The message contained a photograph of a ledger page and three words: Not Ethan. Look deeper.
The ledger page listed payments from a shell company called Blue Orchard Holdings. The recipient was not Ethan. It was a trust account created under Samuel’s name.
Miriam studied the image. “That account was closed twelve years ago.”
“Who had access?” I asked.
“Harold. Samuel. And one other person.”
“Who?”
Miriam looked at Vanessa.
“Daniel Voss.”
Vanessa stood so quickly her chair struck the wall.
“My father was alive?”
“The account remained active for six months after his disappearance,” Miriam said. “Money was deposited and withdrawn in small amounts.”
“By whom?”
“The records were erased.”
Luis shook his head. “Not erased. Hidden.”
He placed a second evidence bag on the table. Inside was a memory card recovered from Harold’s garage.
The card contained scanned documents. One was a passport issued to a man named Daniel Vale. The photograph showed Daniel Voss, older but unmistakable.
“He changed his name,” Vanessa whispered.
“He may have changed more than that,” Luis said.
Another file contained a bank transfer from the shell company to an account in Mexico. The transfer description read: protection for the girl.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“My father was paying someone to protect me.”
“Or someone was using his name to make you believe that,” Miriam said.
I remembered the red mitten and the letter. Daniel had feared his daughter would be used as leverage. Perhaps he had disappeared to save her.
“Why did Samuel keep this hidden?” I asked.
Miriam turned toward me. “Because he was sending money too.”
“To Daniel?”
“To the same protection account.”
Vanessa shook her head. “Samuel knew my father was alive.”
“Possibly,” Luis said. “But we still need to know why he let everyone believe Daniel had vanished.”
That evening, a man approached me outside the courthouse. He wore a gray cap and held a folded newspaper.
“Mrs. Bennett,” he said.
I stepped back.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
Luis moved between us.
The man lifted both hands. “My name is Daniel Vale.”
Vanessa had followed me out. She stopped when she heard the name.
The man looked at her with wet eyes.
“I’m your father,” he said.
May you like
Vanessa made a broken sound.
Then Daniel looked at me and added, “But your husband was wrong about one thing. Ethan did not make me disappear.”
