Chapter 7 - The Man From the Garage
Nina Bell arrived at the police station the following morning.
She was twenty-six, with dark circles beneath her eyes and a canvas bag clutched against her chest.
Detective Ortiz met her in an interview room.
“You told Maria Santos you saw Vanessa Sterling with someone the night Claire Cole died.”
Nina nodded.
“His name is Graham Voss.”
Ortiz wrote it down.
“What does he do?”
“He manages transportation and vehicles for the Cole estate. He was assigned to the foundation when we needed drivers.”
“Did you know him well?”
“No. He frightened me.”
“Why?”
Nina looked toward the closed door.
“Because whenever Vanessa needed something nobody was supposed to know about, Graham handled it.”
Ortiz waited.
Nina explained that Claire had asked her to organize copies of construction invoices.
The foundation's financial records didn't match the conditions at the housing properties.
Claire planned to meet an outside accountant before discussing the findings with Adrian.
The evening she died, Nina had stayed late at the foundation's storage annex.
At approximately eight forty-five, she saw Vanessa arrive in a dark SUV.
Graham was driving.
“They were arguing,” Nina said.
“About what?”
“I couldn't hear everything.”
“What did you hear?”
Nina pressed her palms against her knees.
“Vanessa said Claire had taken something that belonged to the foundation.”
“Documents?”
“Maybe. I don't know.”
“And Graham?”
“He told her he wasn't getting involved unless she paid what she owed him.”
Ortiz looked up.
“Did he say how much?”
“No.”
Nina swallowed.
“Then Vanessa said, 'If she reaches Adrian first, none of this matters.'”
Ortiz let the silence settle.
“Why didn't you come forward after Claire died?”
“Because Vanessa told the staff Claire had been confused and driving recklessly. Then Graham came to my desk and asked whether I'd seen anything unusual that evening.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
Nina's eyes filled.
“He said that was good. That people who wanted to keep their jobs should stay out of family business.”
Ortiz asked whether Nina had anything that corroborated her account.
Nina opened her canvas bag.
Inside was an old scheduling binder.
“I wasn't supposed to take this home. But after Claire died, Vanessa ordered me to throw it away.”
The binder contained staff schedules, handwritten delivery notes, and visitor entries for the storage annex.
Nina pointed to the page dated the evening of the crash.
Graham Voss had signed out a foundation vehicle.
His handwritten destination was listed as East Ridge.
The same road where Claire died.
Ortiz studied the entry.
“Did you alter this?”
“No.”
“Can you identify anyone who saw you take possession of it?”
Nina nodded.
“My supervisor was there when Vanessa told me to destroy the old schedules.”
Ortiz closed the binder carefully.
For the first time, she had a specific person to investigate in connection with Claire's final drive.
Later that morning, she contacted Adrian.
“I need you to confirm whether Graham Voss currently has access to your property.”
Adrian checked with Owen Pike.
Graham had access to the vehicle garage, employee entrance, and transportation offices.
His last recorded shift had been the previous evening.
“Do you think he hurt Claire?” Adrian asked.
“We're investigating that possibility.”
Adrian looked toward Oliver's hospital room.
His son had narrowly survived an attempt on his life.
And somewhere inside the organization Adrian had spent twenty years building was a man who might know how his wife died.
“Should I confront him?”
“No,” Ortiz said firmly. “Do not contact him or warn him that he's under investigation. I'll coordinate with your security department.”
Adrian obeyed.
But after ending the call, he stood at the hospital window for a long time.
He remembered an old photograph of Claire standing beside a newly delivered family vehicle.
Graham was in the background, holding the driver's door open.
Claire was smiling.
May you like
The photograph had been taken just six weeks before her death.
And Adrian suddenly wondered how many dangers had been standing beside his family while he looked somewhere else.
