Chapter 16 - THE MAN WHO KNEW RICHARD
The next breakthrough came from an unexpected person.
An elderly accountant named Samuel Brooks.
He had worked with Richard before the arrest.
Samuel lived alone outside the city.
When Lena showed him her father's notebook, his hands began shaking.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was in his office.”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“Richard knew they were watching him.”
“Who?”
“Whitmore.”
Lena sat forward.
“What happened the night before my father was arrested?”
Samuel hesitated.
“He called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said if he disappeared, I was supposed to send a package to a federal investigator.”
“Did you?”
Samuel's eyes filled with shame.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone threatened my daughter.”
Lena went silent.
Samuel continued.
“I was a coward.”
Victor's voice was calm.
“You were afraid.”
Samuel looked at him.
“That doesn't make it right.”
“No,” Victor said. “But it explains it.”
Samuel stood and walked to an old cabinet.
He removed a sealed envelope.
“I kept it.”
Lena stared.
“What's inside?”
“Richard's original evidence.”
Her hands trembled.
Four years.
Four years of waiting.
And the missing evidence had been sitting in a man's home.
Samuel handed it to her.
“I should have given it to you sooner.”
Lena held the envelope.
“You gave it to me now.”
May you like
For the first time, Samuel cried.
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