They reached Arthur's house shortly before midnight.
Nobody spoke during the drive.
Rain struck the windshield in steady bursts while the three men and Evelyn sat in separate pockets of silence.
Daniel held the ledger against his chest.
Arthur sat beside him.
His breathing was uneven.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
Arthur nodded.
“Old bones. They complain.”
Daniel looked at the bruise on his face.
“Who attacked you?”
“I never saw him.”
“You're lying.”
Arthur looked out the window.
“Yes.”
Daniel waited.
“I saw his hand.”
“What?”
“A scar.”
Daniel remembered the crescent-shaped scar on the wrist in the photograph.
“Where?”
“Across the palm.”
Daniel's mind raced.
“Did you know him?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Arthur didn't answer.
When they arrived, Daniel refused to enter the house.
“We go somewhere else.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why?”
“Because whoever started that fire knows this house.”
Arthur looked at him.
“You're learning.”
They went to a small workshop behind the property.
Arthur had used it for repairing farm equipment. The building smelled of oil, cedar, and old metal. There was no telephone line and no visible connection to the house.
Daniel placed the ledger on the workbench.
“Now tell me about Thomas Reed.”
Arthur sat down.
“Thomas was the attorney who handled the Vale estate.”
“Your attorney.”
“Yes.”
“And Michael trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“I did.”
Clara's warning echoed in Daniel's mind.
Thomas knows where Michael is.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“You said Samuel controlled everyone.”
Marcus nodded.
“Thomas was the exception.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas knew where every document was buried.”
Arthur's face tightened.
“He also knew where every body was buried.”
The sentence hung in the room.
Daniel looked at him.
“You mean literally?”
Arthur didn't answer.
Evelyn sat near the window.
“I never liked Thomas.”
“Why?”
“He always spoke softly.”
Daniel frowned.
“That doesn't sound like a crime.”
“It wasn't his voice that bothered me.”
She looked at Arthur.
“It was how carefully he listened.”
Arthur nodded.
“He never forgot anything.”
Daniel picked up the photograph of Michael.
“Where was this taken?”
“Outside the old Vale office.”
“What's behind him?”
Arthur leaned closer.
“A telephone exchange.”
Daniel looked again.
Thomas Reed stood beside Michael.
But there was another detail.
A clock above the doorway.
8:43.
Daniel turned to the date on the photograph.
June 14, 1988.
The same day written on Clara's first photograph.
“What happened at 8:43?”
Arthur stared at the image.
“Michael called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Samuel had opened an account in your name.”
Daniel looked at the ledger.
“Before I was born.”
Arthur nodded.
Michael had discovered the trust arrangement before Daniel's birth.
He knew Samuel planned to use the unborn child as leverage.
Daniel turned another page.
“Why would Samuel want control over me?”
“Because the trust contained the controlling shares of the company.”
Daniel's head snapped up.
“What?”
Arthur reached across the desk.
“Your father owned forty-one percent.”
Daniel stared.
“I thought the family owned everything.”
“The family did.”
“Then why didn't I inherit it?”
“Because I transferred the shares into a protected trust.”
“Under my name.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“You knew?”
“I knew there was money.”
“Not shares?”
“No.”
Arthur sighed.
“I kept you away from the company because I believed wealth would make you a target.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It already did.”
The workshop door rattled.
Everyone froze.
Someone tried the handle.
Marcus stood.
Arthur raised a finger.
“Don't.”
The handle stopped moving.
Then three knocks sounded.
A man's voice came from outside.
“Arthur?”
Daniel recognized it.
He had heard the voice once before.
On the phone.
The older woman had been the caller.
But this was different.
The man outside said:
“My name is Thomas Reed.”
Nobody moved.
Daniel looked at Arthur.
Arthur's face had become expressionless.
Thomas continued.
“I have something that belongs to Daniel.”
Daniel stepped toward the door.
Arthur stopped him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know if that's Thomas.”
Daniel looked through the small window.
An older man stood beneath the porch light.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark raincoat.
He held a metal case.
Daniel had never met him.
But the face matched the photograph.
Thomas Reed.
Arthur opened the door.
Thomas smiled.
“It's been a long time.”
Arthur said nothing.
Thomas looked past him.
“Daniel?”
Daniel stepped into view.
Thomas studied him.
“You look like Michael.”
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Thomas's smile faded.
“That is why I'm here.”
He lifted the metal case.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
Daniel stared.
“The recording?”
Thomas nodded.
“I kept it for thirty-eight years.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Daniel almost smiled bitterly.
“Everyone seems to be.”
Thomas looked at Arthur.
“Some fears have better reasons than others.”
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
“Where have you been?”
“Moving.”
“From whom?”
“Samuel's people.”
“Samuel is dead.”
“His money isn't.”
Thomas opened the case.
He removed the recorder.
“Listen.”
The machine clicked.
Static filled the workshop.
Then a man's voice.
Michael.
Daniel recognized it immediately, although he had never heard it before.
“This is Michael Vale. If anyone finds this recording, I need you to understand something.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Michael continued.
“Samuel did not steal the money.”
Arthur looked at Thomas.
Daniel stared at the recorder.
The voice continued.
“The theft was arranged by someone else.”
A pause.
Then Michael said a name.
Daniel's heart seemed to stop.
The recording crackled.
The name was unmistakable.
Evelyn.
Daniel slowly turned toward his mother.
She stood frozen beside the window.
Marcus whispered, “No.”
The recording continued.
“Evelyn knows why I have to disappear. She knows where the documents are. She knows who is helping me.”
Michael's voice became softer.
“If Daniel is ever born, protect him from everyone who knows about the trust.”
The tape clicked.
Then Michael said:
“Especially Arthur.”
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Daniel looked at his grandfather.
Arthur's face had gone gray.
Thomas closed the case.
“That is only the first recording.”
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
“There are more?”
Thomas nodded.
“Three.”
“Where?”
“Not with me.”
“Who has them?”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“Clara.”
Daniel's head lifted.
“She survived the fire.”
Thomas nodded.
“I expected her to.”
Arthur stood abruptly.
“You knew she was going to be there?”
Thomas looked at him.
“I knew she was coming.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“What did my mother do?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Evelyn began to cry.
Arthur said quietly, “She didn't betray Michael.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then why did he name her?”
Arthur's eyes met his.
“Because Michael knew she was the only person capable of making the truth disappear.”
Daniel frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Thomas moved toward the door.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“To the place Michael went after the recording.”
Daniel looked at Arthur.
His grandfather said nothing.
That silence told him everything.
Arthur knew.
Thomas opened the door.
“The truth about your father isn't buried in the orchard.”
He looked at Daniel.
“It is buried in the town where he was last seen alive.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Town Had Forgotten Michael Vale, but One Abandoned House Still Held the Evidence That Could Destroy the Family’s Last Lie
The Letter Arrived Before Dawn, and What It Demanded Would Split the Family Before Breakfast
Part 6 of 20
