Chapter 10 - The Man Behind Daniel's Car
Samuel Brooks refused to come to Manhattan.
“I stayed away from Bellamy people for twenty-four years.”
His voice shook over the phone.
“I’m not changing that now.”
So Grace and Harrison went to Queens.
Samuel lived in a narrow brick house on a quiet street.
He opened the door only after checking them through the curtains.
When he saw Grace, his expression collapsed.
“My God.”
“What?”
“You look like him.”
Grace had heard that before.
But never from someone who sounded heartbroken about it.
Samuel invited them inside.
Harrison remained unusually quiet.
They sat around a small kitchen table.
Samuel placed an old cassette tape between them.
Original - Martin Locke.
Grace looked at Harrison.
Samuel noticed.
“You never heard it.”
Harrison shook his head.
“No.”
“Daniel wanted you to.”
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“He waited almost an hour.”
“I know.”
“No.”
“You know he waited.”
“You don’t know how he looked.”
Harrison lowered his eyes.
Samuel continued.
“He kept looking at the door.”
“He still believed you were coming.”
Grace reached under the table and took Harrison’s hand.
He squeezed once.
Samuel pointed to the tape.
“Daniel gave me that at eleven eighteen.”
“He said if anything happened, I should get it to Sarah.”
“Did you?”
“Not immediately.”
“Why?”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Because Martin Locke walked in.”
Harrison looked up.
“At Bellamy’s?”
“Yes.”
“After closing.”
“He asked where Daniel was.”
“I said he left.”
“Martin went back outside.”
“Then Adrian arrived.”
Grace’s pulse quickened.
“Adrian?”
“Twenty-three years old.”
“Scared.”
“Angry.”
“He asked the same thing.”
“Where’s Daniel?”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth.”
“He left.”
Samuel rubbed his hands.
“I watched from the window.”
“Martin got into his car.”
“Adrian got into another.”
“Both drove the same direction Daniel had gone.”
Harrison whispered, “Why didn’t you tell police?”
“I did.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“I told a detective.”
“He wrote it down.”
“Then two days later another officer came.”
“He told me Martin and Adrian had both been at a charity event across town.”
“He said I was confused.”
“Were they?”
“I don’t know.”
“I know what I saw.”
Grace looked at Harrison.
“Why wasn’t this in the case file?”
“I never saw it.”
Samuel stood.
He walked into another room.
Returned carrying a yellow envelope.
“Because someone wanted things missing.”
Inside was a photocopy of Samuel’s original police statement.
Both names appeared.
Martin Locke.
Adrian Locke.
Grace read it twice.
“Did anyone threaten you?”
Samuel nodded.
“A week after the funeral.”
“Who?”
“Walter Caldwell.”
Harrison stood so quickly his chair scraped.
“Walter?”
“He came here.”
“He said Daniel’s death was a tragedy.”
“He said sometimes grieving people create stories because they need someone to blame.”
“Then he put ten thousand dollars on my table.”
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“He left it anyway.”
“I gave it to charity.”
Grace asked, “Why keep the tape?”
“Because Daniel trusted me.”
Samuel looked at Harrison.
“And because you didn’t.”
The words hit.
Harrison did not defend himself.
Samuel pushed the cassette toward Grace.
“Your father recorded Martin.”
“You should hear it.”
They found an old cassette player in Samuel’s basement.
The recording crackled.
Daniel’s voice came first.
“You understand that these invoices are fraudulent.”
Then Martin Locke.
“You understand very little about how companies survive.”
“I understand twelve million dollars disappeared.”
“Nothing disappeared.”
“It moved.”
“To Walter Caldwell.”
“Among others.”
Harrison closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
“If you don’t explain this to my father, I will.”
Martin laughed.
“Your father knows more than you think.”
Harrison opened his eyes.
Grace looked at him.
He shook his head immediately.
“I didn’t.”
On the tape, Daniel said, “That’s a lie.”
Martin answered.
“Ask him why certain partners never get audited.”
“Ask him why he built Bellamy using men like me.”
Then Daniel asked one final question.
“Is Adrian involved?”
There was a long silence.
Martin’s reply came softly.
“My son will own more of Bellamy than you ever will.”
The tape ended.
Grace sat motionless.
Samuel looked toward her.
“There’s something else.”
Grace almost did not want to hear it.
“What?”
“Daniel didn’t leave Bellamy’s alone.”
Grace stared.
“But you said Martin and Adrian followed him.”
“They did.”
“Who was with Dad?”
May you like
Samuel swallowed.
“Your mother.”
