Chapter 5 - A Tow Truck in the Rain
Lena didn't confront the driver. She photographed the truck from inside the shop, noted the time, and called Detective Reyes. The vehicle stayed for thirteen minutes, then pulled away without anyone approaching the building.
The detective said the visit might be innocent and could not be treated as proof of intimidation. He asked her to preserve the images and notify him if someone threatened her. Lena disliked his caution until she remembered how quickly she'd assumed Jax's restored truck proved he was the man who killed Ben.
She wanted accountability, not a story constructed from the shape of her fear.
North Creek's owner, Walter Dunning, had known Ben for years. He was fifty-six, with a reputation for rescuing stranded drivers after blizzards and an equally strong reputation for billing late. Lena remembered him arriving at the shop with coffee and jokes that always made Ben roll his eyes.
Priya reviewed the invoices and found that North Creek had participated in a municipal vehicle-storage contract. The contract contained specific rates and release procedures, not the open-ended fees shown on some of the documents Ben had flagged. Priya suggested contacting the city's procurement office for publicly available records and a complaint process. She made no claim that the discrepancy alone established criminal fraud.
Lena attended a meeting with a procurement analyst. She brought copies of the disputed bills and explained Ben's notes without speculating about his death. The analyst promised to compare the bills against the contract and refer any material discrepancies to appropriate oversight staff.
"Will they tell me what they find?" Lena asked.
"There may be limits while a review is underway. You can request public records and receive whatever the law allows."
It was another answer with no clear ending. She walked back to her car and wondered how Ben had stayed patient long enough to record all those numbers.
At the dealership Luis agreed, with legal advice, to give a statement confirming when he photographed the dashcam and who instructed him to alter the inventory description. He said Jax had seemed worried about a competing buyer obtaining access to the truck's storage compartments. That was his impression, not a fact he could certify.
Detective Reyes called Lena later that week. He had located a traffic-camera image captured near the crash scene at an intersection three miles away. It showed a North Creek vehicle on the route at a time consistent with Ben's recording. The image was too grainy to identify who drove it or whether it was the precise truck in the video.
"We have a reason to ask questions," Reyes said. "We don't have a reason to announce we've solved the collision."
Lena agreed. After hanging up, she searched her computer for Ben's last saved notes. A folder named SHOP AUDIT contained spreadsheets comparing tow records with storage charges. Another file was a photograph of a license plate, blurred along the edge. The digits matched a fleet registration listed in one of the municipal records.
The next afternoon Walter appeared at the shop door. He wore a rain jacket and held a brown paper bag with cinnamon rolls.
"I heard you've been asking questions," he said.
Rosa remained beside Lena. The lift behind them hummed, and one of the technicians paused to see what would happen.
"I have questions about invoices Ben recorded," Lena said. "You can talk to my lawyer."
Walter put down the bag. "Ben made a mistake. He thought every duplicate charge meant someone was stealing. Sometimes the system bills twice and gets corrected later."
"Then why does a form carry his signature after he died?"
Walter's expression tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Priya does."
He glanced toward the service bay. "Don't trust Jax. He'll say whatever protects his dealership."
"I'm not trusting anyone without records."
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Walter left the cinnamon rolls untouched. As he turned, Lena noticed a fresh gouge along the side of his tow truck. The paint beneath the damage was cherry red, almost the same shade as Ben's old pickup.
She did not point it out. She took a photograph after he drove away.
