Chapter 11 - The Watch
Anna’s watch had stopped at 9:17 p.m.
The exact time of the crash.
I kept it inside a wooden box in my bedroom.
I had never repaired it.
Could never bring myself to.
Police retrieved it from my house.
Detective Collins turned it carefully beneath a desk lamp.
Nothing looked unusual.
Then a technician removed the back plate.
Inside, beneath the movement, was a folded piece of paper no larger than a postage stamp.
Three numbers were written on it.
42.
43.
44.
Michael recognized them.
“Storage lockers.”
Victor and Anna’s father had once owned a private records facility.
Locker 42.
Row 18.
Unit 7.
The building still existed.
By the time we arrived, Victor had beaten us there.
The lock was broken.
The unit was empty.
Almost.
A single folder remained on the floor.
Inside was a copy of Anna’s investigation into the Hart Foundation.
She had traced stolen donations to Victor.
She had also discovered Evelyn covered for him.
But the final page contained something unexpected.
A bank transfer to Michael.
Dated two months before Anna died.
$250,000.
I looked at him.
He went pale.
“That wasn’t mine.”
“Your name is on it.”
“I know.”
“Then explain it.”
Michael stared at the page.
“Victor used my company.”
“He moved money through it without telling me.”
Detective Collins shook her head.
“You signed the account authorization.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I signed blank forms.”
I nearly laughed again.
His entire life seemed built around giving dangerous people blank spaces and acting surprised when they filled them.
Then a technician called from the hallway.
Security footage from the storage facility had been recovered.
Victor appeared on camera at 6:12 that morning.
He entered the locker.
Seven minutes later, he left carrying a black metal box.
He also made a phone call.
The audio was unavailable.
But the number was traceable.
It belonged to Evelyn’s criminal defense attorney.
That seemed ordinary.
Until Detective Collins called the attorney.
He denied speaking with Victor.
His office records showed no call.
The phone number had been spoofed.
The real recipient was another person entirely.
A retired police officer.
The same officer who had supervised the original investigation into Anna’s crash.
His name was Frank Delaney.
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And according to phone records, Victor had paid him $80,000 six days after Anna died.
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