Chapter 17 - THE LAST SECRET AT MURPHY'S|
Emma returned to the diner before opening time.
Sal was in the kitchen, preparing pie filling as if nothing had happened. When she told him Anthony was alive, he sat down without a word.
“Your mother trusted me,” he finally said. “She came here after Daniel died. She was terrified, but she was determined to make sure the truth survived.”
“Did she give you another ledger?”
“Not a ledger. A recording.”
Sal went to the office and returned with a small tin box. Inside lay a cassette tape wrapped in a dish towel.
“I kept it in the wall behind the old pantry shelf. Nobody knew it was there.”
Emma took the tape.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I promised Margaret I wouldn't reveal it unless someone from the family came looking for it. And because I was afraid.”
She looked at him.
“You've spent years being afraid.”
“Fear keeps a man alive.”
“Sometimes it keeps him from doing the right thing.”
Sal nodded.
“Your mother used to say the same thing.”
They found a recorder in the storage room. Emma pressed play.
Margaret's voice filled the office.
“If you're hearing this, then the people who wanted to bury the truth have failed.”
She explained that Daniel had uncovered evidence of illegal payments, but the ledger alone could not prove who had ordered his death. The second recording documented a meeting between Arthur, Vincent, and a third man whose identity Margaret had never discovered.
Then came a voice Emma recognized.
Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
“Arthur, you promised the girl would be left alone.”
Arthur answered, “She is a child. She knows nothing.”
“Her father trusted you.”
“Daniel should have minded his own business.”
A chair scraped.
Then Vincent spoke.
“You're making this more difficult than it needs to be.”
Arthur laughed.
“That's because you still believe this family can be saved.”
The recording continued, revealing that Vincent had arranged the meeting, supplied Daniel's route, and later helped conceal the evidence. But the final minute was different.
A third man spoke.
“Once Daniel is gone, we need to deal with Margaret.”
Vincent answered, “No. The girl stays out of it.”
“Then you deal with the mother.”
The tape ended.
Emma stared at the recorder.
The voice belonged to someone she had heard before, someone who had stood beside Dominic in the courthouse, someone who had spoken with the confidence of a man accustomed to controlling the investigation.
Detective Marcus Reed.
“No,” Emma whispered.
Sal looked at her.
“Who is it?”
She replayed the final minute.
The voice was unmistakable.
Emma called Dominic.
“It's Reed. He's involved.”
Dominic didn't ask how she knew.
“Where are you?”
“At the diner.”
“Lock the doors. Victor is on his way.”
A car pulled up outside.
Emma looked through the window.
A police sedan.
Reed stepped out, adjusted his coat, and walked toward the entrance.
Sal reached for the phone.
Emma stopped him.
“No. If he knows we have the recording, he'll take it.”
The front door opened.
Reed smiled.
“Emma. I was hoping we'd have a chance to talk.”
She slipped the cassette into her apron.
“About what?”
“About your mother.”
May you like
He closed the door behind him.
“And about why she died.”
