{"id":29402,"date":"2026-10-03T18:51:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T18:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29402"},"modified":"2026-10-03T18:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T18:51:31","slug":"part-22-thomas-vale-hid-eleanors-dashboard-recording-for-six-years-and-the-final-seconds-changed-what-we-thought-samuel-had-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29402","title":{"rendered":"PART 22 \u2013 Thomas Vale Hid Eleanor\u2019s Dashboard Recording for Six Years, and the Final Seconds Changed What We Thought Samuel Had Done"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nora Bell remembered the camera.<\/p>\n<p>Not immediately.<\/p>\n<p>At first she denied Thomas ever bringing automotive evidence into the office.<\/p>\n<p>Then Christopher described the device Gerald claimed Thomas removed from Eleanor\u2019s car.<\/p>\n<p>A memory surfaced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmall black plastic housing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher leaned toward the speakerphone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora inhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas kept something like that in his private safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike was already standing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the archive room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur old office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou moved buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to the safe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe brought it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still use it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike looked at us.<\/p>\n<p>Within forty minutes, we were at Vale &amp; Bell again.<\/p>\n<p>This time the office felt different.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely old.<\/p>\n<p>Layered.<\/p>\n<p>Every cabinet seemed capable of holding another piece of somebody\u2019s guilt.<\/p>\n<p>Nora led Pike to her office.<\/p>\n<p>Behind a framed landscape was a wall safe.<\/p>\n<p>She opened it.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were deeds, wills, sealed client files, a small velvet box, and an unmarked evidence pouch.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher recognized the pouch immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s Thomas\u2019s handwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the label:<\/p>\n<p>E.L. VEHICLE \u2014 DO NOT DESTROY.<\/p>\n<p>Nora sat down heavily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never opened it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike asked, \u201cWhy keep it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas told me if anyone ever asked about Eleanor\u2019s car, I should give them this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd nobody asked?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot until now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gerald had known Thomas took it.<\/p>\n<p>Yet apparently never recovered it.<\/p>\n<p>That alone explained years of tension.<\/p>\n<p>The pouch contained a damaged dash-camera memory unit.<\/p>\n<p>Old.<\/p>\n<p>Partially melted.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle fire after the crash had not been severe, but water and impact had damaged electronics.<\/p>\n<p>A forensic technician took custody.<\/p>\n<p>No one promised recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel asked how long.<\/p>\n<p>Pike refused to guess.<\/p>\n<p>We waited in Nora\u2019s conference room.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher sat apart from everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel watched him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou really didn\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas never mentioned it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe built the whole mirror archive and forgot the most important recording?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher looked hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why hide it separately?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause if the archive was found, this survived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Layer after layer.<\/p>\n<p>Different people holding different pieces.<\/p>\n<p>Safety through fragmentation.<\/p>\n<p>The same strategy Eleanor used.<\/p>\n<p>The same strategy Anna used.<\/p>\n<p>The opposite of Gerald, who centralized secrets so he could own them.<\/p>\n<p>After two hours, Pike returned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have partial video.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartial?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast four minutes before impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlay it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at Gabriel.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>So did I.<\/p>\n<p>The recovered footage was grainy.<\/p>\n<p>Rain distorted the windshield.<\/p>\n<p>The road curved through trees.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s hands appeared occasionally on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n<p>Audio from the cabin matched parts of the call we had already heard.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald telling her to pull over.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor refusing.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s security truck appeared ahead.<\/p>\n<p>It slowed.<\/p>\n<p>Not stopped.<\/p>\n<p>But slow enough to force Eleanor to brake.<\/p>\n<p>She moved left.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel moved left.<\/p>\n<p>She moved right.<\/p>\n<p>He moved right.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel whispered, \u201cHe\u2019s blocking her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Deliberately.<\/p>\n<p>Then Samuel accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor passed.<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds the road opened.<\/p>\n<p>She breathed hard.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald\u2019s voice came from the speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop the car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel is done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said that before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am telling him to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the recording, another engine became audible behind her.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s truck.<\/p>\n<p>Closing.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor glanced in the mirror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why is he coming?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gerald shouted away from the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not staged.<\/p>\n<p>Not calm.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald sounded genuinely angry.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s headlights filled the rear window.<\/p>\n<p>Then something struck Eleanor\u2019s bumper.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel flinched.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel gripped the chair.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>A second impact.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor shouted.<\/p>\n<p>The car fishtailed.<\/p>\n<p>She corrected.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald yelled through the phone:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A distant voice.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel, apparently on Gerald\u2019s other line or radio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe has the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gerald:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gerald:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said back off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The third impact was harder.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s car spun.<\/p>\n<p>The camera image tilted.<\/p>\n<p>Trees.<\/p>\n<p>Road.<\/p>\n<p>Sky.<\/p>\n<p>Then the vehicle went down the embankment.<\/p>\n<p>The video froze.<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel covered her face.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>Pike let several seconds pass.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel had lied.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely scared her.<\/p>\n<p>He struck the car repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald had lied too.<\/p>\n<p>Not about that moment.<\/p>\n<p>About everything after.<\/p>\n<p>The recording showed him ordering Samuel to stop.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Legally.<\/p>\n<p>Morally.<\/p>\n<p>Emotionally.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel looked almost angry at the fact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told him to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Pike said.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel raised her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter sending him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe put Samuel on that road.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Samuel made the final choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what the video appears to show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No clean villainy.<\/p>\n<p>No clean absolution.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald created the confrontation.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel escalated it.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor paid.<\/p>\n<p>I thought of Aunt Chloe.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel confronting her too.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald later protecting him.<\/p>\n<p>The pattern was not Gerald ordering women killed.<\/p>\n<p>It was Gerald repeatedly using a dangerous man, knowing what that man was capable of, because Samuel remained useful.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction would matter in court.<\/p>\n<p>It did not make Gerald less responsible for creating risk.<\/p>\n<p>Pike rewound one section.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s words:<\/p>\n<p>She has the ledger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe black notebook?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe Eleanor had copied Gerald\u2019s leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike looked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould she have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf she accessed the marina safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas knew about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas again.<\/p>\n<p>He had known almost everything and spoken almost nowhere.<\/p>\n<p>The recovered video continued after impact for twelve seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Audio only.<\/p>\n<p>A hiss.<\/p>\n<p>Rain.<\/p>\n<p>Then Eleanor\u2019s weak breathing.<\/p>\n<p>No more.<\/p>\n<p>Pike stopped it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis corroborates the post-crash audio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happens to Samuel now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharges will be reconsidered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMurder?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not predicting charging decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he cause the crash?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe video strongly supports that he intentionally struck her vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was enough for now.<\/p>\n<p>Pike left to speak with prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>Nora remained.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did Thomas keep this secret?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stared at the blank monitor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher flinched.<\/p>\n<p>Nora continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd because he was trying to become less of one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two could be true.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had helped Gerald.<\/p>\n<p>Then feared him.<\/p>\n<p>Then tried to help Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>Then kept crucial evidence hidden for six years.<\/p>\n<p>He was neither hero nor simple accomplice.<\/p>\n<p>Just another person damaged by the system he once enabled.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel asked Nora, \u201cDid Thomas ever tell you why Mom trusted him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he admitted his part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShortly before she died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he admit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat he helped Gerald use Marlow Consulting after Chloe Marlow\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe drafted the transfer documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing Samuel had left her in the water?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know when he learned that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut later he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd still said nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood why my mother trusted Thomas only enough to hand him recordings, never enough to rely on him completely.<\/p>\n<p>Nora reached toward me.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor being one more person who didn\u2019t ask enough questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>There was nothing useful to say.<\/p>\n<p>Pike returned near evening.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s cooperation offer had changed.<\/p>\n<p>Now that police possessed the dash recording, his leverage had collapsed.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted protection.<\/p>\n<p>Not immunity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says Gerald\u2019s network will kill him,\u201d Pike said.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad is in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNetworks don\u2019t vanish when one person is arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLucas still has people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLucas is detained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis companies aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike looked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel offered information on the black notebook entries.<\/p>\n<p>Financial crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Threats.<\/p>\n<p>People who had paid Gerald.<\/p>\n<p>People Gerald had paid.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, he offered evidence connecting Lucas Harrow to ongoing evidence destruction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthbridge backups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher\u2019s head lifted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel claimed a data center used by Harrow stored mirrored server images.<\/p>\n<p>If true, investigators could recover surveillance logs, communications, staged-document planning, and perhaps proof of who accessed our devices.<\/p>\n<p>Pike already had a warrant application underway.<\/p>\n<p>Then Samuel offered one more piece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout Aunt Chloe?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says Thomas Vale was not the only other person at the reservoir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGerald.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That contradicted earlier statements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel said Gerald found out the next morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe lied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel muttered, \u201cShocking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel claims Gerald arrived before Chloe Marlow went into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to Samuel, Gerald tried to stop the confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That surprised everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel says Chloe had a folder containing evidence of both Gerald\u2019s transfers and Samuel\u2019s theft. Gerald wanted the folder. Samuel wanted it destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they argued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChloe ran toward the dock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Gerald chase her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel says both men did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when she fell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel says Gerald jumped into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went completely still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo save her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is his claim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGerald couldn\u2019t find her in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Not because it was funny.<\/p>\n<p>Because nothing fit the shape I wanted anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald may have tried to save Aunt Chloe.<\/p>\n<p>Years later he ordered an ambulance for Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>Then covered up the circumstances of both deaths.<\/p>\n<p>He did not need women dead.<\/p>\n<p>He needed consequences controlled.<\/p>\n<p>When danger became real, perhaps he wanted them alive.<\/p>\n<p>Afterward, he still chose himself.<\/p>\n<p>That was the pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel seemed to reach the same understanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe always stops one step short in his own mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe creates the situation. Sends the person. Makes the threat. Then when something happens, he tells himself he never wanted that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel whispered, \u201cAnd if he tries to fix it afterward, he thinks that makes him innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Pike\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>He answered.<\/p>\n<p>Listened.<\/p>\n<p>Then frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at Christopher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthbridge\u2019s primary data center is empty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmpty?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cServers removed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity says overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAuthorized vendor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich vendor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike read the name.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher went pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVale Systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen whose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher stared at the paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone went silent.<\/p>\n<p>We had heard almost nothing about Christopher\u2019s father.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Vale\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n<p>Pike asked, \u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher looked shaken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t spoken to him in twelve years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hated Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he believed Thomas destroyed our family by protecting Gerald.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike\u2019s expression sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Richard do for a living?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNetwork infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel whispered, \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another technical expert.<\/p>\n<p>Another relative.<\/p>\n<p>Another person standing beside the story unnoticed.<\/p>\n<p>Pike asked, \u201cWas he connected to Northbridge?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot when I owned it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about after Harrow took over?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike checked corporate filings.<\/p>\n<p>Vale Systems had become a Northbridge subcontractor eighteen months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had authorized it.<\/p>\n<p>Lucas Harrow.<\/p>\n<p>So while Christopher secretly investigated Gerald through Northbridge, Harrow had quietly brought Christopher\u2019s estranged father into the same network.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Nora spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI might.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We turned.<\/p>\n<p>She looked ill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard blamed Thomas for Chloe Marlow\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe believed Thomas had the evidence to stop Gerald and Samuel before Chloe died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would Richard care about Aunt Chloe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora looked directly at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>My great-aunt had been more connected to the Vale family than anyone told us.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had been on the boat.<\/p>\n<p>Richard loved her.<\/p>\n<p>Then she died.<\/p>\n<p>And thirty years later, Richard Vale had just removed servers containing evidence capable of destroying Gerald, Samuel, and Lucas Harrow.<\/p>\n<p>Pike stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Richard now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christopher shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nora looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know where Thomas said Richard went when he wanted to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pike turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reservoir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not the marina.<\/p>\n<p>Not the maintenance building.<\/p>\n<p>The abandoned cabin on the opposite shore.<\/p>\n<p>A place that had belonged to Chloe Marlow.<\/p>\n<p>My great-aunt.<\/p>\n<p>And according to property records, Richard Vale had quietly purchased it after her death.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=29403\">Click here to continue reading: PART 23: Richard Vale Had Hidden Northbridge\u2019s Servers in My Great-Aunt\u2019s Cabin, but He Wasn\u2019t Trying to Protect Gerald From Us<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nora Bell remembered the camera. Not immediately. At first she denied Thomas ever bringing automotive evidence into the office. Then Christopher described the device Gerald claimed Thomas removed from Eleanor\u2019s &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29437,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29402\/revisions\/29437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}